Choose The Right Film Type

Publishers currently want transparencies, so that is what you have to use. That makes the choice easy, but transparency film demands correct exposure at all times which can be a problem. Correct exposure is a technicality, of course, and it might be that half a stop under or over is more aesthetically pleasing. It pays to bracket if you can, although in one-off situations that is impossible so learn to use your camera with total confidence and know what it is really doing. This means a lot testing in actual simulated conditions, as there really is no substitute for experience.

Film Speeds

I have a simple rule: use the slowest speed possible at all times, which for the last few years has meant Fuji Velvia 50 ISO. For an all-round film to use in good light, 100 ISO will cover most subjects. I use Kodak Elite II amateur film, but never the 200 ISO, as the 100 ISO can be pushed one stop easily. For shooting in low light I use Elite 400 ISO, which I often successfully push up to 2000 ISO. This means I travel with just three film types, giving me a speed range from 50 to 2000 ISO.

Film Quantities

However many film rolls you calculate are needed for a trip or project, double the figure, and it may be about right! Try not to "economise," as even a large film supply will probably be only a small percentage of your overall cost of a trip. Expect to have failures; it is part of the work. I am always apprehensive before my first look at a batch of slides from a trip, and have horrors in case of camera or human error, although that hasn't happened - yet!

So I over-shoot most things as an insurance, and have calculated that I throw away around 7-8% of everything. On a recent three-week trip in Japan I shot 5256 exposures (144 films) and junked 386 frames (10.72 films). If that seems wasteful or extravagant, just think of the problem a 'non result' would be.

I have this motto which I keep in my head when on location, "film is cheap; getting here wasn't!", so when in doubt I shoot first. I believe the Hollywood ratio principal works - the one blockbuster and the rest mostly okay, will make it all worthwhile!