This time I decided to commit some time for the black&white look. I studied different looks, like Ilford FP4 and and HP5 Plus before I started studying the T-Max 400. HP5 seems very popular in digital form and having seen it available at quite high price from The Archetype Process (TAP), I decided I just try these looks before making a purchase. TAP makes wonderful work with films to get them to digital era and I am sure I would not regret buying the black&white pack from them if I was sure I liked the look of HP5.
When I finished my study for the HP5 I decided to compare it to the T-Max 400 and gave it a go also. What I found out is that, at least with my abilities to make the styles and see differences, they basically looked the same. There are differences in the blues for example (err, the greys presenting the blues), but most important difference I found was with the pink tones, like lips. HP5 rendered lips and pinks very lightly and here is where T-Max seemed to look more natural and, better, giving more 3D to the light skins. So, I finished a style with the look of the T-Max 400 in my mind.
There are three versions that I made. One is crisp and is meant to give the right colorscape, or tones, for sharp, crisp and only lightly grainy style for digital era. The second one adds the Tabular grain at a perceived level corresponding a film photographed with medium format camera. The third version offers a “soft” style that takes away the crispness and sharpness and also adds the above mentioned Tabular grain. I guess the third one is closest to a “real” film look, though I admit such aim is not going to end well, as there are so many film looks as there are developers of black&white film.
All the photographs here are taken with the “soft” version. I think this new look will now compete with the Classic Contrast -style that has been my all time favorite B&W -style and very well used. Now I only seem to miss the lighter pinks, but, that is another story. 🙂
| Phase | Final version |
| Colorscape or what I tried to emulate | Kodak T-Max 400 black and white negative film |
| Contrast | Medium contrast |
| Saturation | Very saturated 🙂 |
| Author’s notes | Suddenly this became a favorite black&white look to me. |
| Best used for (genre of photography) | Experimental, lifestyle, landscapes and portraits. |
| Download link | https://drive.google.com/file/d/10Du_haeWUwePyNZOOcuG65DGTn4fP_5Q/view?usp=sharing |
Capture One2Three 