Celluloid Silence III
Photography by Frank Hoogeboom (Netherlands)

This shot was made on one of the many lovely beaches on the Isle of Harris, Scotland. The Outer Hebrides is full of soft colors. At times you wonder whether you are really in Scotland and not some tropical resort in Asia. Anyway, since I have a profound preference for black & white photography, I started experimenting with black & white film in this environment, hoping that the shapes, forms and patterns you would normally look for in monochrome images make up for the lack of color. I must say this image nailed it for me.

I was always told that the beaches on the islands of the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, in this case Harris, were typical subjects for color photography. I see where this is coming from, since these beaches all are excelling in soft and beautiful colors, making a harsh environment feel gentle. At the same time, I experimented with some black & white film to discover if color is really necessary to capture the feeling of this area. I am undecided but am curious for what you think.

Hasselblad 500C with Carl Zeiss Distagon 1:4 50mm, ND grad filter, ND 10 stops filter, tripod, cable release.

Analog shot on Ilford Delta 100 film, using my trusty Hasselblad 500C with Carl Zeiss Distagon 1:4 50mm lens. Film was developed by a professional photolab and after that I digitalized the negatives with my DSLR. Post-processing was done in Lightroom, Photoshop and Silver Efex.