Using Film Speed Effectively (Black & White Film Thoughts)

It's hard to find sometimes but it's making a resurgence, black and white film. If you've never used this film now is the time to try it out. Here are some tips to using b&w film and what you can expect from the results.

1. Forget color. This is the hardest thing to do and the number one reason that you will not get good results with b&w film.

2. Look for contrast. Once you can ignore color look for contrast. You will want your image to have a bit more contrast than you would normally want in a color image.

3. Consider shooting situations that are more formal. Black and white film gives such a wonderful timelessness to an image and it's perfect for formal situations.

4. Keep your photos simple. Black and white film simplifies so don't fight it. Keep the images simple by keeping close to your subject or place your subject against a simple back drop.

5. Babies and pets look great on b&w film. Place the pet or baby on a white background and you'll be stunned at the beautiful results.

Black and white film creates a timeless simple look. It's wonderful for portraits and formal events. After shooting a few rolls of b&w you'll notice that you start to pay attention to composition of your image more, since you don't have to worry about color. If you're just learned photography try using b&w film for awhile it will help you teach yourself good composition. Think of light and dark, black and white, and good composition and you'll find that b&w film could be a whole new hobby for you.

Copyright 2004 Kelly Paal Kelly Paal is a Freelance Nature and Landscape Photographer, exhibiting nationally and internationally. Recently she started her own business Kelly Paal Photography (www.kellypaalphotography.com). She has an educational background in photography, business, and commercial art. She enjoys applying graphic design and photography principles to her web design.

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President-elect Barack Obama, second from the left, stands with, from left to right, Vice President-elect Joe Biden, Secretary of State-designate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., and National Security Adviser-designate Ret. Marine Gen. James Jones, at a news conference to announce his national security team, in Chicago, Monday, Dec. 1, 2008. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)AP - President-elect Barack Obama picked a national security team headed by former campaign rival Hillary Rodham Clinton and Bush administration holdover Robert Gates on Monday, and said he wants to consult with military commanders before settling on a firm timetable to withdraw U.S. combat troops from Iraq.



In thgis Nov. 18, 2008 file photo, Paul Nawrocki, from Beacon, N.Y., wears a sign as he looks for work near the David Letterman studios in New York. The U.S. economy has been in a recession since December 2007, the National Bureau of Economic Research said Monday.  (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File)AP - The U.S. economy has been in a recession since December 2007, the National Bureau of Economic Research said Monday.



U.S. Army soldiers from Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment pray before heading out on patrol in Baqouba, , 35 miles (60 kilometers) northeast of Baghdad, Iraq on Sunday, Nov. 30, 2008. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)AP - Barack Obama says the U.S.-Iraq security agreement approved by Iraq's parliament puts the U.S. on a "glide path" toward reducing forces there.



Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Capitol Hill, November 18, 2008. (Molly Riley/Reuters)AP - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Monday that further interest-rate cuts are "certainly feasible," but he warned there are limits to how much such action would revive an economy likely to stay weak well into next year.



AP - Authorities responding to a shooting at suburban Miami mall say one person has been shot and taken to a hospital.

Shoppers are reflected as they enter the Nike Store on Chicago's Magnificent Mile Saturday, Nov. 29, 2008. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)AP - The Thanksgiving shopping weekend may not have been the disaster some had feared, but unprecedented discounts and tempered buying likely resulted in overall soft sales as a buying binge on Friday quickly fizzled. Now, online retailers are ramping up deals to turn skittish shoppers into "Cyber Monday" spenders.



People place petals and touch the photographs of slain policemen at a prayer meeting to pay tribute to Mumbai's policemen who lost their lives in the recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India, Sunday, Nov. 30, 2008. India's top security official offered his resignation Sunday, a senior aide said, as the government struggled under growing accusations of security failures following the Mumbai attacks. (AP Photo / Gautam Singh)AP - India demanded Pakistan take "strong action" against those behind the 60-hour siege that left at least 172 people dead, as new details emerged Monday about the gunmen and the survival training that enabled them to thwart Indian commandos.



AP - Israel has gotten fed up with spam. Anyone who sends out messages without receiving the recipient's consent can now be slapped with a big fine.

In this April 22, 2008 file photo Tina Fey makes an appearance on MTV's Total Request Live at MTV Studios  in New York.  (AP Photo/Evan Agostini, file)AP - Tina Fey's husband is talking about something the "30 Rock" actress would rather not discuss: the scar on her left cheek.



New York Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress arrives at a police station, Monday, Dec.1, 2008, in New York. Burress was expected to be charged after accidentally shooting himself in the right thigh. Burress shot himself at a Manhattan nightclub Friday night and was released from a hospital early Saturday, the Giants said. (AP Photo/ Louis Lanzano)AP - Plaxico Burress was led out of a police precinct in handcuffs Monday after surrendering on a weapons possession charge, and authorities said that teammate Antonio Pierce is being investigated over his role in an accidental shooting at a Manhattan nightclub.



Ambassador to the United Nations nominee Susan Rice listens as President-elect Barack Obama announces his national security team during a news conference in Chicago, December 1, 2008. (John Gress/Reuters)Reuters - U.S. President-elect Barack Obama named former rival Hillary Clinton as secretary of state on Monday and said Robert Gates would remain defense secretary in a national security team charged with recasting America's leadership role in the world.



A trader on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, November 13, 2008. (Brendan McDermid/Reuters)Reuters - Stocks stayed near session lows on Monday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said that the U.S. economy remained under considerable stress.



Members of ZAKA, Israel's non-governmental rescue-and-recovery organization which specializes in collecting human remains to ensure a proper Jewish burial, speak with policemen after performing religious rituals in front of Nariman House in Mumbai's Colaba area, December 1, 2008. (Jayanta Shaw/Reuters)Reuters - India on Monday demanded Pakistan take swift action over deadly attacks in Mumbai it said were carried out by militants from its rival neighbor.



U.S. President George W. Bush gestures in a conversation with Pastor Rick Warren during the Saddleback Civil Forum on Global Health during World AIDS day in Washington December 1, 2008. (Jason Reed/Reuters)Reuters - President George W. Bush said the biggest regret of his presidency was flawed intelligence that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and told ABC "World News" in an interview airing on Monday that he was unprepared for war when he took office.



An anti-government demonstrator chases after a suspected pro-government supporter in Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport on December 1, 2008. (Kerek Wongsa =/Reuters)Reuters - Thai protesters prepared to end their three-month occupation of the Prime Minister's office on Monday to consolidate their grip on the main airport ahead of a court verdict that could dissolve the elected government.



Workers wearing T-shirts with company slogans at Siemens MR Center located at the Shenzhen High-Tech Industrial Park in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen in Guangdong province, November 25, 2008. (Bobby Yip/Reuters)Reuters - European leaders clashed on Monday over how much public money to spend on battling recession as data showed factories were slashing output in the United States, Europe and China.



Speaker of the House Rep. Nancy Pelosi speaks during a news conference in the U.S. Capitol in Washington November 21, 2008. (Molly Riley/Reuters)Reuters - Democrats in the House of Representatives likely will seek passage next month of an economic stimulus bill costing about $500 billion, a House Democratic aide said on Monday.



Birmingham Mayor Larry P. Langford in an undated photo. (Handout/Reuters)Reuters - Federal authorities arrested the mayor of Birmingham, Alabama, on Monday in a corruption probe surrounding a massive sewer bond debt that has forced Jefferson County to the brink of bankruptcy.



US President-elect Barack Obama (L) nominates Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-NY, as US Secretary of State during a press conference in Chicago, Illinios. Obama on Monday nominated Hillary Clinton to be his AFP - Barack Obama on Monday nominated Hillary Clinton to be his "tough," "smart" secretary of state and his former foe vowed to give her all to steer America through a perfect storm of global crises.



A Federal Bureau of Investagation (FBI) official leaves the police headquarters in Mumbai. India has formally accused AFP - India on Monday formally accused "elements" in Pakistan of being behind the devastating Islamic militant attacks in Mumbai and demanded that Islamabad take "strong action".




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