Which Film? - A Personal Choice

            What filmstock you use is very much a matter of personal taste and preference and usually the result of either a lot of testing or sheer experience, sometimes both.

            I had some 110 35mm films from a four-week trip to Japan processed recently at my favourite London lab, QE6 in the music street of the capital, ‘Tin Pan Alley’-- more correctly, Denmark Street. I was picking the transparencies up in batches as they were heavy, and as I collected the last lot, one of the guys there asked why I even bothered with Kodak film, especially the Elite amateur one.

            Somewhat taken aback, I replied that I liked its faithfulness in reproducing colours. I have used Fuji Velvia extensively for landscapes and scenic work, and it is without doubt the best for this type of travel work. But in city streets the excessive contrast is far too much for it to cope with, unless you shoot with the sun over your shoulder all the time. As this is not always either practical or desirable for the shot, in these circumstances I find the contrast latitude of Elite much better.

            This is of course a personal preference; we all have our favourites.

            I attended a talk given by one of Britain’s key contemporary photographers recently, Martin Parr, a member of Magnum. His choice is Agfa, and he readily admitted that he must be one of the few people using it. But that hasn’t stopped or even slowed his rise to success, with fifteen books published to date.

            When I’m on a trip in a far-off location, the thing I need from a film is to be able to rely on it. The Kodak Elite amateur film is very amenable, as normal temperature differences have no impact on it, and it does not have to be refrigerated. Fuji Velvia is a pain in hot countries because it needs to be kept in a refrigerator, usually far too much bother when moving every few days.

            So do your own film testing, settle on your preferred film or films, then concentrate on the real matter of getting pictures taken!

            Nothing is cast in stone so you can always reappraise and try new films when they arrive on the scene. Personally I seem to just stick with what I know and trust. These are films that I know will help me to create pictures when travelling that sell to make a living, the very business of being a stock photographer.

Jeremy Hoare is a freelance travel photographer residing in London, England. Phone/Fax: +44 20 7722 2065. E-mail: jeremyhoare@hotmail.com. Web: www.travelwriters.com/jeremyhoare