It’s been a year of film photography for me. There have been a lot of lessons learned, 11 of 26 (currently) cameras explored, and a lot of film experimented with. I made Aerochrome my final challenge.
During my year of film photography, I happened upon Aerochrome when researching Lomography’s Lomochrome Purple film. They do not work the same but have similar effects. Lomochrome, I will write more about it in a future post, but all you need to know is it shifts greens to purples, yellows to pinks, and leaves reds mostly untouched. It also doesn’t require Infrared light, which makes it more creatively useful (in my opinion). After looking into Aerochrome, I thought that its limitations of light sounded like a good challenge, and after researching it more and staring at the prices for a few months, I finally bought a 35mm roll of Kodak’s Aerochrome III.
What is Aerochrome? Aerochrome was an experimental infrared film created by Kodak for the military to be used in aerial surveillance. The film, when used with a red, orange, or yellow filter, can shift organic greens to reds when the sun is out. Plantlife is a great absorber of UV light which is exactly what this film needs in order to work effectively. Man-made objects stay relatively the same colors, which makes them stick out in the sea of red that they may be hiding in. Sadly the film was discontinued in 2009ish and is now becoming rare and expensive. My roll was over $100.
The roll came from Russia, which already made me uneasy because I had to hope it wasn’t a scam, hope the film was not at any point opened and revealed to light, and cross my fingers it was not x-rayed going through customs (X-rays will ruin the roll), and pray it arrived at some point. There was a tracking number, but it didn’t really tell me where it was. Somehow it arrived almost a month early and looked like it was in great condition. The mailman questioned why it said “DO NOT X-RAY” on the package, and I explained it; he was confused that people still used film cameras.
The next hurdle which camera do I pair it with? I originally went with my Pentax Program Plus because I already had a red 025 filter that fit the 50mm thread. I changed my mind after I received a Canon AE-1 Program. The Canon I received had multiple lenses, all of the same thread size, which meant I could be more flexible with what I wanted to shoot. I have a 28mm, 50mm, 70-200mm, and a 2x extender, ironically I stuck with the 28mm the entire time because I wanted as much red in the shot as possible. I also purchased a 056 orange filter to go with it because most people said the red filter would shift the whites more yellow, and the reds would be washed out and not look as nice. If I ever get another roll, I plan to compare all three color filters just to see what happens between the 3. There are other comparisons online, but I imagine each will vary due to the film’s expiration and how sunny it is when you take the shots.
The video above highlights the trip I took, as well as other shots and my thoughts on the film. My goal was to finish the roll and document the experience before my birthday so that I could release the video as a gift to myself. I tried different lighting scenarios, including full sunny days, hazy days, and sunsets, to see how much variation there was between shots. The full sunny days from noon to 4 pm, I believe, were my best shots. Even though the film says E-6 processing, I chose to go with a C-41 cross-process for two reasons. For one, convenience. My friend develops film using C-41. Second, I read that the main difference between the two processes was that C-41 created more contrast in the images, and I like the contrast. I could have sent the film in to be E-6 processed, but due to my uncertainty of whether the film actually worked, I did not want to spend the extra money and time to find out.
The images above were taken mid-day in full sunlight. I made sure to avoid the sun being covered by clouds. I do believe that because the film is expired, I should have shot one stop overexposed. I think this would have helped with the grain. Some of the shots I did have to bring up in brightness as well. The film did have a slight yellow cast to it, and the blues were a bit green originally. I did not want to adjust the colors too much as I prefer to leave the film’s overall look untouched, but I felt a white balance adjustment would not hurt. The reds and the muted tones stay about the same while making the sky look slightly more natural. You can see it below.
As it became later in the day and the light was not as bright, I noticed the reds shifted more magenta, and the blacks started to show more of a blue tone. It is interesting to note that other colors are more muted with this film. I was under the impression that it mainly affected organic greens and left everything else untouched, but that is not the case. The World’s Fair Wisconsin Pavilion, pictured below, has a very yellow roof. but that is not the case in the photo. Even without the white balance adjustment, the roof is very muted.
As you can also see in the car pictured above, the sky is a bit more green. I did not want to adjust this photo too much because I find it very interesting. The car is a vibrant green (you can see it in the video). I thought the film would only mess with organic greens, but the green paint is completely gray in this photo. I was very tempted to put the green color back in because I was hoping for a green car in a sea of red grass and trees, but I wouldn’t do that. The trees in the background were dying, which gives this interesting look of the red mixed with the gray of the dead areas.
Attempting portraits was interesting. One person had red hair and a blue denim dress. Her hair became more muted, and her dress shifted red. I didn’t think the dress would shift, but now I know. I had a friend wear a white shirt hoping his skin tones and the shirt would be mostly untouched. The shirt became a light yellow-orange, and his skin almost matched. For his portrait, I did do a little more of an edit so that the colors weren’t so close.
I loved shooting with this weird film. Every shot made me really slow down, more so than with regular film, which was why I got back into film photography in the first place. I oddly enjoyed how stressed out the film made me. Is this shot going to work? Is it too late in the day? Is this shot worth it taking? I didn’t do anything too crazy compositionally, and I know that. I wanted to make everything a monument in a sea of red, and I think I accomplished that goal. I would love to try Aerochrome again now that I have worked with it and try more dynamic shots, switch up the lenses, and test out different filters. Next time, I will also send the film in for E-6 processing so that I can see the difference in contrast between the two rolls.
If you want to see more, check out my Instagram: mike.makes. Send me a message or email if you want me to elaborate more or if you have any other questions!