Going Vintage – Part 1
There’s always been an unique appeal about images from a bygone era. They seem to have a very distinct feel to them, and there’s something about them that evokes an emotional response from the viewer. It’s not just about the subject of the image, it’s about the style of it and the way that it has been lit and processed.
The term ‘vintage’ can mean different things to different people, but to me it just means something from the past. In photographic terms this could take us back to the end of the 19th Century, or to the end of the 1970′s. It’s pretty much what you want it to be!
For me, the ‘vintage’ that I like covers three decades – and these are from the beginning of the 1950′s through to the end of the 1970′s. We’re well and truly in the world of film here, and brands like Kodak were king. So, if we want to shoot in this style what do we do? Where do we begin?
There are a number of factors that make a photograph look ‘vintage”. The first is that these images were printed on papers that over time have begun to decay, and the dyes have broken down. This has resulted in colour shifts and subtle changes in the toning of the print. Another factor is the film stock used, and the developing chemicals chosen to process it. These have been under continuous development and you can often tell which combination has been used, and from which era if you study an image long enough. The last factor is the photographic techniques used at the time. In the second half of the 20th Century photographers began experimenting with processing film in the ‘wrong’ chemicals, and cross processing was born.
And this is what I’m looking to replicate – a gentle cross processed effect reminiscent of the style you would see in the late 1970′s / early 1980′s. So then – how do we do it?
The style I have in mind is lit by natural light – so the studio flash heads for once can remain in their box. All I need to bring with me is a reflector and find a large window. In this instance I’m shooting on digital. To capture a little of the aged ‘washed out’ look I’m going to over expose very slightly, just enough to ensure that the shadows remain reasonably light and don’t block out. I’m being careful though not to blow out the highlights – I actually want the image to lose some of it’s density to give it an almost gently faded look.
Next job is to adjust the colours, and for that we need Photoshop. By gently increasing the red and green channel and reducing the blue channel in the highlights, and doing the opposite in the shadows, we begin to get somewhere close to the colour of an aged image. I then check the contrast, add a little sharpening, and then add a little film grain. Last of all, lets add some dust and scratches just to give it that old ‘found in the loft’ look! There’s no skin softening and no airbrushing – a good makeup application from a professional has already taken care of that, and by using these techniques we would be straying somewhat from the aim of the exercise. So we’ll not use them!
There’s just one thing that’s not quite right though. To me it’s just a bit too, well, digital. To really do it right, and to really capture the feel of a vintage image we’ve got to shoot it on film.
And that’s where part 2 takes over . . . watch this space!
Photoshoot information:
Taken on a Fuji S5 Pro (the best digital camera for a film feel at any price!) with a Nikon 50mm lens. Manual exposure mode, metered with a Sekonic light meter and shot at 1/125 sec at f2, ISO 200 in early evening natural light (5.30pm to be precise).
A soft, natural, professional makeup application was provided by Laura Warren, and the model was Nichola McIntosh. The location was Seaham Hall Hotel in County Durham.
