Cinematic Magic - Artificial Studio Lighting on 35mm Film
A look at a night out at a Sydney creators event.
Hey Film Fam, welcome back!
Can you believe another fortnight has passed already? Time surely is flying!
I’m still kind of mind boggled that we’re already well over a week into November, and I swear as soon as Halloween was over and done with, all the Christmas themed goodies came out in full swing. And yes, even I have been bitten by the early decorating bug.
This newsletter is a little recap of what’s been going on in the film world for me, as well as what’s coming up next. I’ll be doing another round of film developing and scanning over the next 3-4 weeks as I’ve been invited to be Media at a women’s centered charity car show hosted by For The Girls. I’m so thrilled to be shooting some more film at a car event and truly love how wholeheartedly the greater car scene has embraced capturing their sweet rides on 35mm Film.
I’ve definitely found my ‘niche’ where I get to play around a lot more with my experimental and unique editorial film style, alongside my love for all things cars!
Speaking of experimental, this newsletter will touch on a few key things to keep in mind when shooting Cinefilm using RGB studio lighting - it won’t go super in depth, I’ll have a future paid newsletter for an editing tutorial on that, but I will give you some handy tips to get you started at least!
As always these newsletters will still have the vibe of catching up with that one friend you haven’t seen in a while who’s just very passionate about all things film. So if that’s your kind of jam, you’re in the right place!
The Ricoh Obsession - Justified.
In late September I was invited to a Sydney creators event which included my all time favourite brand Ricoh (and Pentax too!) and when I tell you I was over the moon to tag along, that’s an understatement.
If you don’t already know, I’m quite literally the biggest Ricoh fangirl and I make it my mission to rescue and repair as many forgotten second hand film cameras that I can from eBay and thrift stores. I’m a sentimental gremlin and once I become emotionally attached to a specific brand that’s it, game over.
My collection of Ricoh cameras is in the double digits now which is kind of ridiculous, but they all have a purpose and get used frequently so I kind of justify it based on that.
I also think they’re such a versatile and underrated film camera brand. I don’t see many around locally and I don’t know of any other photographer who rocks something like an old school Singlex TLS for portrait and automotive work like I do. I hardly see any in content online either.
I know a lot of people kind of turn their noses up at Ricoh’s because they aren’t ‘super flashy’ like a Canon or Nikon, but the fully mechanical ranges are unbeatable beasts and I absolutely adore each and every Ricoh camera I own.
Even my KR-10M is a 90’s beast in its own right, with decent continuous frame per second, multiple exposures (as many times as you like!) and the self timer setting will even take multiple photos for you with enough of a countdown for you to actually get into the frame. The AE lock and auto bracketing is also super handy, and the ‘Auto’ mode is also satisfying to use (I’m a fully manual girl as we know, but the KR-10M is the exception!)
Sure it doesn’t have fancy program modes or automatic focus - but it’s truly the best of the 80’s and 90’s technology combined before some of the Ricoh cameras got too complicated and automated for my liking. (The XR-M comes to mind. I have one but she’s dying, and haven’t decided if I want to replace it… unlike the KR-10M where I now own 3 bodies)
Ricoh cameras are easy to find in working or restored condition, the mechanical ones are super easy to repair (if you aren’t afraid to try), and overall the KR and XR models regardless of the variations deliver such a user friendly experience for all levels of photography skill. Some of course are marketed as more ‘professional’ than others, and some are just fancy point and shoots.
The XR-6 is the simplest one I own with auto everything and no manual mode at all, but is surprisingly fun and has become my dedicated flash camera as it’s designed to be used with the XR speedlite systems. Where as the KR-5 Super is a mechanical queen with a mirror lockup on self timer mode (battery needed for that though) and has an auto off feature unless the lever is pulled out slightly. The XR-1s is even beefier with multiple exposure mode, aperture setting display, depth of field review, shutter lock, and has a satisfying mechanical shutter.
You can even go back to basics with an SLX 500, but you’re limited to a handful of settings and the camera is on par with what Minolta SRT 100’s can offer, just at a more attractive price. And of course the very fancy TLS 401 with the dual viewfinder is the heaviest camera I own but the most unique.
Still, the KR-10 Super sits kind of in between as a consumer friendly model with plenty of manual modes, an electronic shutter and manual advancing - but as we know I got mine rebuilt and turned it into a professional tank that handles everything I throw at it. She’s blasted through hundreds of rolls with absolute ease with repeatedly consistent results. So how could I not talk about it?
And no, I’m not sponsored - I’m just utterly obsessed with my collection of them and want to see more Ricoh film cameras out there in the wild!
Lights, Camera, Content - Sydney Creators Event, Hosted by C.R.Kennedy Imaging
Enter the creator event - where I showed up sticking out like a sore thumb even amongst the crowd of over 50 photographers with a shiny metal box - my Ricoh Singlex TLS - swinging around my neck … heh
I will be completely honest and say that I struggled in the beginning of the event. The location is not the most disability accessible and when I realized I’d have to walk a few blocks down the street, and then carefully climb steep stairs I was a little worried about how I’d handle the aftermath the next day (which was painful and with a few days recovery as always thanks to Fibro). Following that the sheer number of people set off my anxiety and once everyone was set free to move around and shoot some photos, I started having a full blown panic attack. Yikes.
My partner Jordan was with me and he kept me grounded. He pulled me aside and simply told me “Just get out your camera, and start shooting. That’s what you’re here for, remember?” and so that’s what I did. I found a spot amongst the crowd where I could stand still and prepare my gear for the night ahead.
Immediately we were greeted by a fellow film photographer who commented on my little film loading moment as Jordan recorded it for some BTS, and said how surreal it was to watch us working in person. They'd been following both myself and my partner on Instagram for a while, and we struck up a conversation. Immediately I felt at ease and knew my anxiety was now shifting into excitement for the event.
Ben mentioned that he was feeling just as overwhelmed, so we kind of bonded over our anxieties for a moment, and he was just so lovely as we kept running into each other throughout the evening - chatting about all things film, what we like to shoot, labs we’ve tried, the film dev process, editing film and everything in between. It was so nice meeting someone just as passionate about film as I was. Check out his Instagram here which is full of some absolute bangers!
Once I settled into the familiar routine of shooting film, I looked around and noticed all the photographers were being quite shy. Nobody was going up to the models and directing shots but rather they were all standing back with their zoom lenses, just passively snapping away as the models moved about on their own.
I was genuinely confused because every event I’ve been to in the past it’s quite chaotic and usually you have to almost fight for some air time with the models. But not this one - nobody was actively getting in there and having a crack.
I started feeling out of place and asked Jordan what I should do. I needed to get in the action, whip out my light meter to take proper readings, and calibrate my cameras for each shot. This meant I needed to be able to talk to the models face to face, and not just expect them to read my mind from a distance. But I also didn’t want to piss anyone off or get in the way of peoples shots.
Jordan was the voice of reason again and said “You just gotta push in front of them and act like you’re on a normal shoot. Do what you do best!” and he quite literally nudged me towards the models.
I looked back at him a little unsure, he encouraged me with a nod, and I asked the first model if I could take some photos and direct them. I was greeted with such warmth and excitement, and the usual ‘Of course! I’m happy to do any pose you want!’ - and they were all so chill as I fiddled around with my film cameras.
The next time I stepped back to take a break, I watched as Jordan got right in the models' space and took his usual dynamic shots. Slowly but surely other photographers noticed too and started being less shy. They were going up, asking for poses, trying new shots, and moving lights around where needed.
I think there’s a common thread of not wanting to ‘do the wrong thing’ even though events like this are designed specifically for creators to just get in there, have some fun, and create cool art in their own unique styles. Once one person takes the risk and they see they’re okay, it almost gives permission to go ahead and let loose.
It was super cool to see all the other photographers begin to unwind and focus on creating their own art! I’m really glad I worked up the courage to push past my initial fears and have fun with it.
Playing With Light
I eventually found MalificentImages - who was the one to invite me to the event. We caught up and chatted a bit about my film cameras and what I was aiming to capture. There were so many big lights and fancy RGB tubes that were throwing off vibrant colours around us, and then he mentioned what was happening in the set downstairs - I was sold. I knew I wanted to grab a few shots of that set on the roll Cinefilm I had grabbed from Ethereal Film Store just for this event - Kodak Vision3 500T.
I know Cinefilm can be challenging to shoot, but it’s also designed to flourish in scenarios just like this where there’s lots of bright studio lighting, and well being Tungsten based film what better environment to test it than this?
You’d think with as much light as there was available you’d get away with fast shutter speeds, but most of the time I was shooting 1/125th - 1/250th unless I was right up next to direct lighting. This was faster than what I experienced not long ago at Unmarked which was a nice change of pace.
Studio lighting like this also meant I had to keep my aperture wide open on both my KR-10 Super with the XR 28mm f/2.8, and my Singlex TLS with the Rikenon Auto 50mm f/2 (I took a handful of photos at f/4 but it was few and far between.) Wider apertures are great for those dreamy portraits, but not so great for distanced shots with the 28mm where it’s bloody hard to get pinpoint accuracy. But as always - I pulled it off.
In the area surrounding the cyclorama wall there was barely any space as it was absolutely packed with people keen to learn studio lighting techniques, and I had to just creep in amongst the other film shooters who were all crammed in the same general area near the staircase.
We were all there with our loud shutter slaps, trying to wait for the perfect moment to capture the model because there was no way to get her attention or to have a moment of holding a pose. So you just had to shoot and hope for the best!
Some of my favourite photos were taken in this space. Although there is a common theme across both the Kodak Vision3 500T cinefilm and the daylight balanced Kodak Ultramax shots - which is that I didn’t account for the green cast that always happens with artificial lighting. Oops.
This can be corrected two different ways. The first is to use a purple filter designed to counter this ‘in camera’ and the second way is of course in post processing by adjusting the colour slider - and if necessary, colour grading the image as well.
The HSL adjustments will differ from film to film. If you’re editing on the raw negative conversion in Lightroom Classic after using Negative Lab Pro like I do, it’s opposites - so you’ll be adjusting the orange slider, not the green, and the green/magenta tint will also need to be shifted. This will change the overall tones of the image to be more purple/blue and leans harder into the Tungsten aesthetic, so then you’ll have to bring some natural skin tone and warmth back with adjusting white balance, and correct the pink lighting slightly with the green slider.
Here’s a comparison of the before and after of this photo below:
Before - Raw scan conversion
White Balance: 2650
Green/Magenta: +22
Tone Curve: Default
HSL: Default
After - Edited Image:
White Balance: 2575
Green/Magenta: +12
Tone Curve: Adjusted to my liking
Highlights, shadows, etc: Adjusted to my personal editing style, but it’s not much, generally -2 to -10 across a handful of settings (similar to my Black and White editing tutorial.)
HSL: Orange, Yellow, Green, all adjusted to my personal style.
And finally I went through and did my dust removal as always.
You can really see how Cinefilm shifts everything towards blue and purple tones and has a unique aesthetic in comparison to Kodak Ultramax which is more orange toned being daylight balanced film. That orange tone can also be corrected with the right kind of filter (80A for indoors), but I really like how vibrant the images are as is and it really makes the pink pop.
Ultramax didn’t have much of a green cast as Daylight balanced film handles RGB extremely well I’ve found and it’s become my go-to film stock for a lot of my personal shoots and client work where I use coloured artificial lighting.
After I shot a few photos, I made my way back to the entrance hall where there was a massive ball pit and swing setup and this is where I spent a good portion of time. There were less photographers here and the lighting was plain which meant I could get more accurate light meter readings both straight out of camera, and with my external meter.
Into The Ball Pit
How bloody cool is the ball pit?! I was SO tempted to nosedive into it myself because it looks so fun! This was the first time I’ve experienced a studio having a set like this.
In this area there was a bright spotlight setup which could be moved around (thankfully! You need to bring the light in reaaaaaally close for film) along with some ceiling mounted lights, and there was more than enough room for me to maneuver around with both my cameras so that was nice.
I was using my (new to me) Minolta Flash Meter IV which is more for incident metering, but can be used reflectively. I could have used my trusty selenium Sekonic, but I decided to get a bit fancy and test a more advanced digital light meter instead.
As I used it throughout the event I found the incident mode worked better for a 50mm as I was stepping in close, reading the light falling on the model and area and staying relatively close by. Where as with the 28mm I was stepping back to get quite a wide shot without re-measuring the scene to check if it was accurate. Rookie error, but I was a tad bit overwhelmed and just trying to get my shots while I had a chance.
The Kodak Ultramax image I shot is measured reflectively and +1 stop compared to the 500T which makes a difference as well, if it were identical exposure settings despite the metering differences it would be set at 1/500 at f/2.8 (but I won’t get too technical with the how’s and why’s here - I’ve got an in depth guide for understanding light metering coming out soon!)
So as you can imagine the images I shot with the incident metering in other areas of the studio throughout the first half of the event are all slightly underexposed too until I swapped the incident metering mode to a reflective one on the Minolta IV. Thankfully underexposed film is kind of moody and turned out to be a vibe, and the cross screen in some of the photos didn’t blow out the highlights which is nice.
Luckily events like these it’s encouraged that you try new techniques and gear is the perfect setting to play around and figure some stuff out so if something like this happens it’s all pretty low stakes.
Here’s a few more of my favourite shots from the Ball Pit set. Have a look at the tone difference between the Tungsten and Daylight balanced film. Sometimes it’s obvious like the balls being purple instead of pink, and other times it’s just a subtle hint of blue compared to Ultramax.
I adore both sets of images, and actually enjoyed using the 28mm for the up close portrait in the phone booth. I don’t usually like doing this as wider lenses can cause a bit of distortion and some people are more sensitive to that, but I think it worked out really well here.
Man Do I Suck At First Impressions…
At this point was when I was officially introduced to one of the event hosts - Clem - who was super inviting, really cool to talk to, and caught me at the perfect time in between photos.
I of course couldn’t stop harping on about the damn cameras swinging around my neck and let it slip that I “fucking hated the KR-10 Super at first, until I actually learned to use it” and that tumbling out of my mouth as casually as it did has quite literally haunted me since - even though everyone always tell me it’s better to be honest about gear than to lie.
I probably could have said it differently in the moment but I’ve always told the story of how I came to get my camera the same way - that it was totally user error and my own stubbornness that made me almost miss out on something that changed the entire way I approached film photography. That damn little Ricoh totally bamboozled me for the longest time but I’m (still) grateful for it.
It didn’t seem to phase Clem though who was just keen to see what the end results would look like and was intrigued by my choice of cinefilm - as was everyone else I came across that night. I was beginning to worry maybe I made an error with how many people commented on it - but being the experimental nut that I am I trusted I’d be able to work my film developing magic after the event.
I can’t help but cringe at myself (and be honest about it too!) because I don’t ever want to sound like I’m a ‘know it all’, or act like I have all the answers when I don’t. I’m just someone who’s painfully obsessed with all things 35mm film, and specifically Ricoh cameras. (no seriously don’t send me any more listings of forgotten half broken Ricohs because I WILL rescue them! It’s becoming an issue…)
Overall was really nice to meet so many people and representatives of each brand involved in the creator event and check it all out - like the goodies at the Pentax stand, all cool Zhiyun gimbals (I wouldn’t have a clue how to use those!) and their lighting around the Mimmynvovo Studio, and I was of course eyeballing some Ricoh digital cameras here and there photographers had brought along to the event to shoot on.
It was great to see so much excitement in the community, get a chance to try new things, and of course the joy of mingling with a surprising amount of film photographers who turned up to a predominately digital event.
I got less awkward and anxious as the night went on and realized we’re all there because we love the art of photography and every single person I chatted with was on the same page.
Winner Winner, Maccas Dinner.
So part of the event was a chance to win some gear, and it’s always a fun incentive to try to keep as many people till the end of the event who would otherwise dip out halfway through. I made a quick little story as per the requirements, tagged everyone I needed to and went about my night not thinking anything else of it really.
I was not expecting to win anything so by complete surprise my name was called and I won the coolest pocket light - a Zhiyun FiveRay M40 combo kit!
This thing on even on the lowest damn setting its insane. At full strength you can kiss your eyeballs goodbye. I kind of want to use it for camping even though it’s not meant for that. It’s absolutely ridiculous the amount of light this little thing gives off!
Once the winners were called and the event was coming to an official close I stayed and chatted to some friends of Jordan’s for a little longer, and then once I was ready to go Jordan and I headed home from the city back to my place - stopping at good old Maccas to get a little snack after a long evening shooting some really cool photos.
I had such a fun time at the event and met so many incredible people. I didn’t manage to get everyone’s social media info but I’m certain we’ll cross paths again at future events.
So if you ever see creator events or just random workshops popping up in your area, why not give them a try? You never know who you’ll meet or what will arise from them. And at the end of the day, you walk away with some new goodies to add to your portfolio which is always an awesome bonus!
Coming soon…
Hopefully a first look at the For The Girls charity car event I’m attending on November 18th! Yay!
I’ll also pop another newsletter up soon with some resources for those interested in camera repairs, along with tips and tricks I’ve learned from rebuilding/restoring my Minolta SRT 100 - and I actually have a Minolta SRT 100x I plan to pull apart and rebuild, so if that arrives in time that’ll be included. I’ll also touch on simple mechanical repairs and resetting stuck shutters, fixing light seals, testing shutter speeds etc on various Ricoh SLRs.
Plus soon I’ll have some wacky film shots from a vintage rainbow prism filter I found and tested during my road trip this week to Wiseman’s Ferry with my best friend. Those rolls will be in the next film dev cycle around the same time the FTG photos are done.
Thanks as always for popping by, I hope you have a great week ahead - Happy Friday! See you again really soon.
Until the next roll, take care!
xoxo, Josie