Wow websearcher,
Interesting! But didn’t the photo processing company stick one of
those little notes in with your pictures that said “Why your picture
didn’t come out”? :-)
Now, you’d think I’d know this answer off the top of my head given
that I spent 10 years as a graphic designer sharing studio space with
a photographer. I must have heard him explain these things a million
times.
Here’s an explanation to “why orange?” in photographer’s terms –
“… the reason that this happens is related to the amount of light
getting through the back, if it is excessive (i.e, fogging ALL layers,
even the blue sensitive via the yellow filter layer, then the film
will be clear, but if you allow just enough to fog the red and green
layers (in that order), and allow yellow light (from the layer) to
reach the blue sensitive layer (no exposure as such) then the blue
sensitive layer will develop ONLY in the color developer, hence yellow
dye......all very unpredictable, but related to the "accidental" time
and intensity...”
PHOTONET
http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=0008Tf
You follow?
Me neither … so we’ll go with the easy answer …
Somehow that one frame got exposed to a perfect source of exactly the
right light to create a uniform color across the whole picture. It
probably didn’t happen by opening the camera while the film was in it,
or you would see a blur spreading across the picture and maybe even to
the adjoining frames.
Here are some examples of what opening the camera will do – in case
you’re lucky enough to have never experienced this first hand.
(scroll down to “Exposing the Film”). You can see in those pictures
that the color you refer to is part of the spectrum that appears.
KID OUTDOORS – PHOTOGRAPHY – WHAT NOT TO DO
http://www.kidcrosswords.com/kidoutdoors/what%20to%20do/photography_what_not_to_do.htm
And, as you can see, orange is part of the spectrum for accidental
light exposure –
“Suspicious Streaks -- This is the result of light reaching the film
in ways other than through the lens. The effect can range anywhere
from fog on the edge of the film to orange streaks running through
each image. One cause is loading or unloading the film with direct
sunlight falling on the cartridge. Another possibility is that someone
unintentionally opened the camera back while there was film in the
camera (hopefully, this would never happen intentionally)."
BLOOPERS AND BUNGLED SHOTS
http://www.winonapost.com/031101/photo031101.html
Likely your picture happened as kriswrite said, accidentally
photographing a perfect consistent light (or actually temperature)
source. Color photography works based on “color temperature.” The
orange is probably related to tungsten or incandescent light which
normally causes an overall orange tint to any photograph, unless you
use Tungsten Balanced film. Or maybe the camera was in a semi-opaque
bag when it got clicked and the filtered light had that hue.
I’ve ruled out print processing mistakes for two reasons. First,
because only one picture was affected and second, because you said the
film is blank as well as the photograph. So it happened before print
processing.
Also, based on your explanation, I've ruled out that it's really a
photo of something that color. Besides, it would be extremely hard to
get that kind of consistency across the whole photo, even if you
tried.
For more explanation of how color film works, here are some further
links --
FILM BASICS
http://www.sederquist.com/clafilm.html
HOW STUFF WORKS – FILM
http://www.howstuffworks.com/film.htm
Now, your challenge, should you choose to accept it, will be to try to
determine the exact color temperature that you’ve achieved and then
try to recreate that shot. :-)
Happy photographing!
-K~
search terms:
Common photographic mistakes orange
Film exposure orange
Film processing mistakes
Color film open camera
Photograph overexposed orange
“How film works” |
