Search and Rescue

I would like to get more into black and white photogaphy. My work

comes out more grey than anything. Any info would be appreciated.

Thanks.

With the proper exposure, this would be a good shot. The A-10 adds to the urgency of the situation and its attitude is perfect. I suspect the auto exposure is the culprit here. Try going to manual exposure, open up two stops aperature more than the indicated exposure. Or, you can go manual and use the sunny 16 rule.

Both your images look at least few stops under or overexposured. There is no shadow detail at all. If you do not have any experience with 400CN you should rate it as 400 film (This is what I do). Red 25A filter needs about 2.5 stop correction. You need at least stop compensation for sky, which makes most of your frame (unless you are using spot metering).

 

As Kodak 400CN is concern I am finding this as a very low contrast film (Ilford XP2 Super seems to be better in this area) and should be printed on high contrast b&w paper (or with high contrast filters).

 

A fellow photographer told to rate it at 100 so I would have a thicker negative. Is this true?

Have you heard of Ansel Adems Zone system? It will explain your problem.

 

Basicly, on auto exposure your camera (or light meter) wants your picture to be mostly gray. So if there is a lot of white in your frame, like sky or snow, all of it will come out gray. The camera will overexpose. You have to identify the most important subjects in your frame and adjust the exposure my measuring the light from these subjects, not the overall light.

 

The book you can read about zone system is Basic Technics of Photography, The Ansel Adams Guide, Book 1, by John Schaefer. It will also tell you how to deal with low contrast situations by changing developing conditions.

 

Good Luck.

 

ditch the 25a... you don't need it, ever. Shoot without any filters until you get a better understanding of exposure. Stick to the same film for the same reasons. Don't experiment with IR films until you get the plain old black and white down pat. I think IR is a waste of time but if you'll concentrate on getting the maximum values out of your b&w.. it'll help you refine the IR. Start reading up on the zone system like the others have reccomended. good luck