Old style photographs

[stormchaser]

For my photography class I need to do a project, including lots of photos with

a theme. I chose old style - the ISO set to 1600 so it comes out grainy and the

colour set to sepia. The one thing I've been having trouble with is what to

actually shoot. I have very few antiques in my house, and those I do have are

big, heavy, and surrounded with modernity. Any suggestions?

[emre]

Formal, stiff portraits?

[mike_earussi1]

Hit an antique store, tell them about your project and ask their permission to shoot their stuff. Also do you have any have any ghost towns near you or old style or abandoned buildings?

 

Another idea, dependng on how much nerve you have and how much work you want to put into your project, would be to compare the 1930's depression era's street people with the homeless situation today, by going into a poor part of town or where beggars hang out, ask them if they would mind posing for your project and taking their picture and then find closely matching photos from the archives of the 1930's. You actually might be able to get some homeless orgainzations to help you as it would help promote their cause. Who knows, you might even get an exhibit out of it.

[Matthew Currie]

Just curious, why grainy? I suppose it depends on what you mean by "old style," but small film formats are pretty modern. Most really old photographs were done on relatively large plates and films, and tend to show very little if any grain.

[davecollopy]

Set your ISO to its lowest setting. Noise does not date an image. Next drop your contrast to -2 or -3. Now set your resolution to its highest setting. Turn off your flash. Use a tripod and remote if you have one. Your subject could be anything I suppose, so long as you present it in the required style.

[zach_abubeker]

its simple all you need is some mercury and silver halide.

[beepy]

I don't thing old photos were grainy - sometimes soft (the lenses were not coated, sometimes

not so sharp). But often, if anything, startlingly sharp (Daguerrotypes are supposed to be

really detailed). But they were LONG exposures. So, you'll get subject motion unless you

superglue your subjects in place.

[aeaster]

Avoid digital "sepia". It fools no one but the most gullible; it only turns your pictures yellow.

 

I am a very firm believer in using period gear and methods if you want period results. I do not believe that I have ever seen a modern digital image that looked anything other than a modern digital image.

 

My suggestion is to find the oldest, still usable 120mm film burner that you can, and with a simple 3-element lens. Shoot Ilford Pan-F. If you want it "toned" then use your Color Balance. Shoot your Red and Yellow over to maximum then reduce your Saturation by 90 to 96 percent. What you want is something that almost looks like B&W monochrome, but only slightly (and I do mean SLIGHTLY) aged.

[dbcooper]

Barns, sheds, old factories, country roads, WPA and iron bridges, downtown areas of rural towns with turn-of-the-20th century brick buildings. Horse-and-buggy rides available in many major cities. Use a light blue filter to simulate the color sensitivity of orthochromatic film. Use a DARK neutal density filter to get long exposure times. Stop down until you get a bit of diffraction. Convert to B&W and do the toning during post-processing...could even change the blue response then, too.

[amy cupp]

barns, covered bridges, kids in overalls, farmers, old buildings or churches