Film photography is fraught with pitfalls and most celluloid shooters will have a story or two to tell about a darkroom disaster.
As was the case for one rookie photographer who couldn’t understand why his film had come out blank. “Recently purchased Canon AE-1,” the Redditor writes on the Analog Community forum. “Watched loads of videos about, loaded film up, and nothing has been captured.”
While acknowledging that the film had expired nine years ago in 2016, something that shouldn’t be an issue, the Redditor admits that he is “relatively new to using 35mm film.”
“I have 3 rolls of Kodak ColorPlus 200 I plan to use with this camera,” the Redditor explains. “I’ve purchased the JJC LED light set to scan the negatives with my DSLR when I did, nothing showed on the negatives! I’ve set the speed to 200 and when taking pictures with film in and winding the film, the film crank would rotate.”
A Crucial Mistake
The camera’s rewind knob rotating when the film was being winded is a surefire way of knowing that the film inside is being exposed, so what went wrong?
Well, for this unfortunate Redditor, it appears they did not know that after the film is taken out of the camera it must be developed. When asked, “Did you get the film developed,” it turned out they had not — a crucial error.
It appears the Redditor shot the film and then pulled it out of the back of the camera and put it straight onto a scanner. Of course, as soon as the film was exposed to light it would have been ruined as unprocessed film must be kept in the dark before it is chemically processed.
In the Redditor’s case, he should have developed the film via the C-41 process, which is the standard method of developing Kodak color film and one that all labs will be able to handle.
Despite the hiccup, the OP [Original Poster] still has two rolls of film left and will learn from their mistake. Film photography is having a renaissance thanks to its nostalgia and beautiful color palettes. If you’re interested in learning more about it, then you should check out PetaPixel’s comprehensive film photography guide.
Image credits: Header image by Matt Growcoot
Source link
