Monday, May 4, 2009

Cross processing for more drama

First of all, let me confess that I virtually never use cross processing. But before moving on to another color topic, I wanted to take some photos and see how cross processing might enhance their look. The idea here is based on Ilan's comment that sometimes people use effects to cover up a bad photo. So the following represent three photos that I already like in their plain old unretouched versions and one photo that I never really liked until it was cross processed.

In this photo, the muted tones of the wall around the Louvre become a yellowish-green, and the contrast between the background and the man on rollerblades is strengthened. In my opinion, the cross processing works here because of the increased contrast.

I like the original of this photo because of its strong graphic nature. Here, the cross processing intensifies an already strong contrast and turns the previously green-gray walls a color of blue that works well with the sign.

The washed out background and yellowish tint—both due to cross processing—make the skater (who is about to wipe out) a more clear object of focus. If I were to make an even trendier look, I would probably use some brushes. I did, however, add a slight yellowish vignetting.

This last photo did not interest me in its original version. But here, it becomes an almost surreal study in color. My own conclusion is that cross processing could work well for stylized and very graphic pieces.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

From some reason, I wasn't able to find my comment on the previous post so I can't see exactly how I phrased my things, but what I meant to say was - Processing bad photo, most probably will resolve in a bad processed photo.
Good photo on the other hand.. It's a whole different story. Good photo might become excellent with the right processing.
The first two photos are good example for that, in my humble opinion :)

James K said...

the thing i like about cross processing is the unpredictability of it. my fave technique is to cross process colour slide film - you get some really wild colours!

i wrote i little guide to cross processing film which may be of interest.