Seeing Red
By Kristal Armendariz
16 Sep 2008
Redscale photography is like Inside Out Day in junior high for your camera. The premise is simple: expose the wrong side of your film. Why? Well, the technical reason has something to do with emulsion and how the light penetrates the film. The real reason is that photos come out with dramatic color shifts, usually yellow to dark red. That's where redscale gets its name.
This photographic process is super easy. On a scale of one to ten [ten being the most difficult] this is about a two. All you need are two rolls of film, scissors, tape and a dark place. No darkroom? A bathroom with no windows or that closet in the back room will work perfectly.
Step One: Prepare The Film
Choose which roll of film you want to use in your camera. Cut off the leader, saving it to use as a template later.
Step Two: Prepare The Canister
Next you need an empty canister, somewhere to put your film. Try using expired film to reduce the cost of the wasted roll. Pull out the film and cut it off, leaving a bit behind.
Step Three: Connect The Film
Using a piece of clear tape, connect the two films. Make sure that they are facing in opposite directions.
IMPORTANT: You must do the next part in TOTAL darkness!
[LIGHT OFF]Insert your scissors into the end of the empty spool and wind the film into its new canister. Wind carefully and stop as soon as you feel resistance.[LIGHT ON]
Step Four: The Final Touches
Cut the film and pull out an inch or two. Create a new leader using the old one as a guide. You are ready to load your film! Notice that the film is curling in the wrong direction. If you have a problem loading it, wrap the leader around a pencil a few times to straighten out the curl.
More Tips:
Do not choose a film for the canister that your photo lab does not develop! I used Kodachrome and the lab tech did not believe that the film inside didn't match the label. They finally developed it, but learn from my mistake and save yourself the trouble!
After doing this a few times, you should be able to complete the entire process in a darkroom. That way you could unroll the film, turn it around and attach it back to itself. No wasting film.
Use the film in a medium format camera! You can load the film backward without a problem.
When dropping off your film at the photolab, you should let them know what you've done to avoid any potential problems they may have with the tape.
See more redscale photos in the flickr group: http://www.flickr.com/groups/redscale/
1 response
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diana anderson gave props (20 Jun 2009):
cool idea! i'll have to try it. reusable film canisters and a loader are pretty cheap. then you don't waste a roll. i used to load all my own canisters, bulk film is cheaper.
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