Redscale

Last updated
The same scene shot with redscale film at 7 different exposure settings Redscale film landscape photograph at 7 different exposure settings.jpg
The same scene shot with redscale film at 7 different exposure settings

Redscale is a technique of shooting photographic film where the film is exposed from the wrong side, i.e. the emulsion is exposed through the base of the film. Normally, this is done by winding the film upside-down into an empty film canister. The name "redscale" comes because there is a strong color shift to red due to the red-sensitive layer of the film being exposed first, rather than last [the red layer is normally the bottom layer in C-41 (color print) film]. All layers are sensitive to blue light, so normally the blue layer is on top, followed by a filter. In this technique, blue light exposes the layers containing cyan and magenta dyes, but the layer containing yellow dye is left unexposed due to the filter. E-6 (color slide) film has also been used for this technique.

Contents

Depending on the type of film used, the resulting colors range from maroon, to red, to orange, to yellow.

The technique seems to have been discovered accidentally. Some people shooting large format color film would load the individual negatives backwards. This phenomenon is likely as old as color film itself. Lomography Redscale was the first purpose-made redscale film, which was available since at least 2010. Today Lomography Redscale film is available in 35mm, 120, and 110 formats. [1]

The technique is considered by some to be part of the lo-fi photography movement, along with use of toy cameras, pinhole cameras, instant cameras, and sprocket hole photography.


The amount of over exposure determines the intensity of the red. When redscale film is shot at the posted ASA the resulting photos are almost all red, over exposure allows light to reach the less sensitive green and blue layers of the film. Exposures of 5 stops or more over posted speed can result in the red layer washing out completely and the resulting images appearing mostly yellow.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Film stock</span> Medium used for recording motion pictures

Film stock is an analog medium that is used for recording motion pictures or animation. It is recorded on by a movie camera, developed, edited, and projected onto a screen using a movie projector. It is a strip or sheet of transparent plastic film base coated on one side with a gelatin emulsion containing microscopically small light-sensitive silver halide crystals. The sizes and other characteristics of the crystals determine the sensitivity, contrast and resolution of the film. The emulsion will gradually darken if left exposed to light, but the process is too slow and incomplete to be of any practical use. Instead, a very short exposure to the image formed by a camera lens is used to produce only a very slight chemical change, proportional to the amount of light absorbed by each crystal. This creates an invisible latent image in the emulsion, which can be chemically developed into a visible photograph. In addition to visible light, all films are sensitive to X-rays and high-energy particles. Most are at least slightly sensitive to invisible ultraviolet (UV) light. Some special-purpose films are sensitive into the infrared (IR) region of the spectrum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Photography</span> Creating images by recording light

Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed in many fields of science, manufacturing, and business, as well as its more direct uses for art, film and video production, recreational purposes, hobby, and mass communication.

The following list comprises significant milestones in the development of photography technology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">110 film</span> Cartridge film format introduced in 1972

110 is a cartridge-based film format used in still photography. It was introduced by Kodak in 1972. 110 is essentially a miniaturized version of Kodak's earlier 126 film format. Each frame is 13 mm × 17 mm, with one registration hole. Cartridges with 12, 20, or 24 frames are available on-line. Production variations sometimes have allowed for an additional image.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Photographic paper</span> Light-sensitive paper used to make photographic prints

Photographic paper is a paper coated with a light-sensitive chemical formula, like photographic film, used for making photographic prints. When photographic paper is exposed to light, it captures a latent image that is then developed to form a visible image; with most papers the image density from exposure can be sufficient to not require further development, aside from fixing and clearing, though latent exposure is also usually present. The light-sensitive layer of the paper is called the emulsion. The most common chemistry was based on silver halide but other alternatives have also been used.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holga</span> 120 film camera

The Holga is a medium format 120 film camera, made in Hong Kong, known for its low-fidelity aesthetic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Negative (photography)</span> Image on photographic film

In photography, a negative is an image, usually on a strip or sheet of transparent plastic film, in which the lightest areas of the photographed subject appear darkest and the darkest areas appear lightest. This reversed order occurs because the extremely light-sensitive chemicals a camera film must use to capture an image quickly enough for ordinary picture-taking are darkened, rather than bleached, by exposure to light and subsequent photographic processing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diana (camera)</span>

The Diana camera is a plastic-bodied toy camera that uses 120 roll film and 35 mm film. The camera has a simple plastic meniscus lens. Originally marketed as an inexpensive novelty gift item, the Diana has been used to specifically take soft focus, impressionistic photographs somewhat reminiscent of the Pictorialist Period of artistic photography, branded in contemporary times as Lomography.

C-41 is a chromogenic color print film developing process introduced by Kodak in 1972, superseding the C-22 process. C-41, also known as CN-16 by Fuji, CNK-4 by Konica, and AP-70 by AGFA, is the most popular film process in use, with most photofinishing labs devoting at least one machine to this development process.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Instant film</span> Photographic film which develops in minutes

Instant film is a type of photographic film that was introduced by Polaroid Corporation to produce a visible image within minutes or seconds of the photograph's exposure. The film contains the chemicals needed for developing and fixing the photograph, and the camera exposes and initiates the developing process after a photo has been taken.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Infrared photography</span> Near-infrared imaging

In infrared photography, the film or image sensor used is sensitive to infrared light. The part of the spectrum used is referred to as near-infrared to distinguish it from far-infrared, which is the domain of thermal imaging. Wavelengths used for photography range from about 700 nm to about 900 nm. Film is usually sensitive to visible light too, so an infrared-passing filter is used; this lets infrared (IR) light pass through to the camera, but blocks all or most of the visible light spectrum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toy camera</span> Simple, inexpensive film camera

A toy camera is a simple, inexpensive film camera.

The science of photography is the use of chemistry and physics in all aspects of photography. This applies to the camera, its lenses, physical operation of the camera, electronic camera internals, and the process of developing film in order to take and develop pictures properly.

Leopold Godowsky Jr. was an American violinist and chemist, who together with Leopold Mannes created the first practical color transparency film, Kodachrome.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Color motion picture film</span> Photographic film type

Color motion picture film refers both to unexposed color photographic film in a format suitable for use in a motion picture camera, and to finished motion picture film, ready for use in a projector, which bears images in color.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to photography:

Duplitized film was a type of motion picture print film stock used for some two-color natural color processes. It was introduced by Eastman Kodak around 1913. The stock was of standard gauge and thickness, but it had a photographic emulsion coated on both sides of the film base instead of on one surface only.

Leopold Damrosch Mannes was an American musician, who, together with Leopold Godowsky Jr., created the first practical color transparency film, Kodachrome.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Analog photography</span> Non-digital photography that uses film or chemical emulsions

Analog photography, also known as film photography, is a catch-all term for photography that uses chemical processes to capture an image, typically on paper, film or a hard plate. These analog processes were the only methods available to photographers for more than a century prior to the invention of digital photography, which uses electronic sensors to record images to digital media.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Photographic film</span> Film used by film (analog) cameras

Photographic film is a strip or sheet of transparent film base coated on one side with a gelatin emulsion containing microscopically small light-sensitive silver halide crystals. The sizes and other characteristics of the crystals determine the sensitivity, contrast, and resolution of the film.

References

  1. "Lomography All Film". Lomography Shop. 2023-06-11. Retrieved 2023-06-11.