MATAHATI PHOTOGRAPHY

Where The Wind Blows....

Talent : Khansa & Lala
MUA : Yeny Krismarliya & Ricka
Camera : Mamiya RB67, Nikon F80
Film : Kodak Ektacolor Pro, Fuji Superia

Cover Calendar

Photographing bank employees for their calendar is not easy. The hardest part was directing & styling (costume, make-up, hair style, and gesture). Fortunately I was helped by the make-up artist, Yeny Krismarliya and lighting expert Andreas.

Out of Place

With Melisa and Kodak Ektar 100, I think this film is too saturated for portrait, but it's grain is very smooth, as kodak claim, the world's finest grain.

THE DANCER

She looks serious and sharp when dancing, but so different when she's herself, she is Mila.

The photographs bellow is the one that brought me back to film. I myself do not think film is better than digital sensors, or vice versa. This is only a matter of suitability of the users. I find myself more suitable to use film. Some of the reasons are:
1. Film have a typical color rendering that I love
2. Film have a higher latitude than digital sensors. I can shoot four stops over or two stops under without losing detail especialy in bright areas. (digital is superior in shadow detail)
3. Last, but the most important for me, film made me work slowly and carefully to determine the composition, directing models or subjects, as well as seeing and modifying the light.

Digital camera has its own place, so does film. for studio work, where everything is under controll, I would prefer a digital camera. whereas for outdoor I'd pick films.

The light on the model's face (bellow) is four stops darker than the brightest area. I set the spot metering in the camera on the face shadow. The results are kept in balance. Color characters of films I liked was the bluish shadow.

The pictures bellow is a quick comparison film and digital in the real world,

I need 15 minutes to tweak the digital version to match the film look. While Kodak Ektar is too saturated for portrait (in my taste), I reduce the "orange" saturation in Adobe Lightroom, just a few click, less than a minute. Next time I'll try Kodak Portra :) (the digital version was taken by my sister, Ricka)