Going on old-school holidays

As many film photographers, I usually refrain from experimenting with my film stock. Once you’ve found a favorite kind – in my case Kodak Portra for color and Ilford Delta for b/w shots – that’s usually what you gravitate towards again and again. You get a feeling for how the film renders colors, how it behaves in certain conditions – you get the idea.

Well, screw that, because your average photo lab in Tokyo has a wider selection than I had every seen in Germany. One of the brands that was new to me is Hillvale Holiday 200. Apparently produced from upcycled rolls of Fujifilm, this one is supposed to create a feel of the good old times during your childhood holidays.

Immediately, you can notice a violet color cast, especially in the mid tones. Not to mention that the colors in general are a little subdued. This effect can have quite an appealing effect if used appropriately, but I don’t love it in all my images. Especially portraits turned out to be a hit or miss, this high-contrast one below being one of the better ones.

And that’s really what it boils down to – given that film is more of an investment (both of time and money) than just shooting away on your digital camera, I’d like to know what pictures I’m gonna get out of it. I’m sure if I’d shoot this particular film more often, I’d know better what to expect and how to handle it. But then there were also random flares of red in some of these frames, which ruined an otherwise okay picture. Nevertheless, it’s been fun trying something new!

The next surprise in my fridge is a roll of Iro 400 from FilmNeverDie that I picked up at the same occasion. Stay tuned!