Shoot with Redscale in Overcast Weather!

22

Do you like overcast weather? I prefer sunny days for going out and shooting films, however, I also do like overcast because it’s the best time to shoot with redscale! I love shooting in redscale, and in this article I’ll let you in on secrets for how to master shooting in redscale in overcast weather!

The comparison between a sunny day and overcast weather

The photos above are taken on the same day, same redscale film, and same setting.
They’re obviously different aren’t they. Which do you like better? It’s one’s preference, but I do like the one taken in overcast weather better. The deep red color pours through with the redscale film. The one taken in sunny weather has the red color looking more yellowish which I feel to be a bit too shiny. Now, I will introduce some tips on how you can maximize the quality of redscale films by paying attention to the particular weather and time.

1. Shoot in overcast weather
The coolest thing about the redscale film is simply that it’s drenched in vibrant red, orange and yellow colors. In the photo above, of the sunny day, the sky doesn’t appear too red, the reason being the sky was too blue.

Red and blue are complementary colors. Red and cyan are opposite complementary colors so when you want to see red but are shooting blue they merge (remember learning about this in 101 art class?) and cannot achieve the pure red color you so desire.

What about overcast (or rainy day) weather? The sky gets grey and you can actually see the heavy cloud’s outline and gradation. Those elements get washed in red through use of redscale without any interruption from other colors. The dark gradation of the rain cloud is described better with the color red (redscale works in various tones and actually does describe shapes and gradation better than the color slide negatives). This is one of the reasons why redscale is a good match with overast weather. In addition, the contrast usually gets lower in overcast while the subject color gets weaker. It’s ideal for painting the subject red should you wish (except, if the contrast is too low, the photo result wont look good)

2. Shoot with backlight
Another tip would be to shoot with backlight. If you shoot with backlight, the subject’s contrast gets stronger. The things you need to emphasize on the redscale isn’t the color, but the shape and lines (small details of different color get united by the special effect of redscale).

With backlit photography you get the sharper edge of the subject and dynamic photo results. On the shadow side of the subject, it gets darker, and red color gets added, so what results is a pretty nice color effect. Even if you shoot under the blue sky, you can over expose the sky by the backlight. It is quite effective to shoot with backlight.

Photos with backlight

3. Shoot the sunset
If you like to emphasize the red color, it is best to shoot a sunset.

If you use redscale film, you can get a dramatic result with red sunset saturated with a beautiful, dreamy, flavor. Sometimes you cannot get strong red color effects on the color slide film, or the red color is not enough on the color negatives, or the sunset simply does not look that good (which actually happens quite often for me). In this case you’d use the redscale to assist you in shooting the sunset (however, you need to be careful if the sunset is too red, the result gets too reddish.

Comparison between cross processing and redscale.
Sunset and sunrise.

4. Shooting at night – darker location
If you are shooting at night, indoors, or in a dark location, you can get very interesting results with redscale photography. If you like to do so, use the tripod, and cable release to have a long exposure. Your night view will be red color – it’s just so pleasantly unique, you should give it a shot!

Night, indoor shot.

5. Cross process for sunny day, redscale for overcast
At last, I will introduce my daily shooting style. As you can see from the above, redscale is not the best for a sunny day (of course a nice result depends on how you shoot it). In this case, I choose to shoot color slides during sunny days a lot, and when it is an overcast day I will shoot resscale. That way, you have films for every day of the week! Do not let bad weather let you down but use it to your advantage! Remember, redscale film is like sunshine in a canister!

Comparison between cross processing with sunny day weather and redscale with overcast weather.

How did you like this article?
Hope it helps! Always experiment with different settings, and good luck on your shooting!
Enjoy your Redscale life!

written by hodachrome on 2012-11-12 #gear #tutorials #night #film #weather #sunset #lc-a #redscale #backlight #cloudy #tipster #overcast #technique #holga #select-type-of-tipster #select-what-this-tipster-is-about #technic

22 Comments

  1. castiana
    castiana ·

    Love the way how you take pictures! amazing pictures

  2. sapphire-st
    sapphire-st ·

    "Sunshine in a canister!" I love it :)

  3. lostlittlekid
    lostlittlekid ·

    Great article! Thanks for sharing!

  4. awesomesther
    awesomesther ·

    Fantastic article! Can I feature this in my site?? :) @hodachrome

  5. jazz_cafe
    jazz_cafe ·

    Love the long exposres!

  6. ovonovo
    ovonovo ·

    right now i'm shooting with a redscale film in overcast days! coincidence! this article gives me more motivation to do it ;)

  7. ihave2pillows
    ihave2pillows ·

    Master class!

  8. luffyblu
    luffyblu ·

    Beautiful images and great tips! Thank you. :)

  9. erikagrendel
    erikagrendel ·

    great article!!! thank you @hodachrome and @whynotwinnipeg

  10. hodachrome
    hodachrome ·

    Thanks for reading and the comments. And thanks always for your translating @whynotwinnipeg :) :) :)

  11. hervinsyah
    hervinsyah ·

    Very enjoy the article, hope it will be the book next year ;)

  12. buckshot
    buckshot ·

    Excellent tipster and very informative! And from Master Hodaka himself...! Will definitely be taking your advice, Sir! :-)

  13. oldham90
    oldham90 ·

    Thanks for this tipster - let's try it!

  14. aldana
    aldana ·

    @hodachrome amazing pics !! I've written down everything haha. I'll try them and we'll see !

  15. cikmamal
    cikmamal ·

    nice! thanks for your info..

  16. jiloo
    jiloo ·

    i always admire your photos and now i can learn something from you.
    i prefer sunny weather redscale, but it doesn't matter ;) thank you for the great tipster!

  17. darkman66
    darkman66 ·

    nice article...even nicer pictures...

  18. totatigre
    totatigre ·

    man! how I liked this article?! loved it

  19. stolenorange
    stolenorange ·

    Your work is the best! Love it!

  20. gmbernsteing
    gmbernsteing ·

    I learned a lot. Thanks.

  21. johbeil
    johbeil ·

    Some great tips for shooting redscale!

  22. stolenorange
    stolenorange ·

    Interesting. If you make redscale 800, do you start with colour 3200?

More Interesting Articles