I’ve felt inspired mostly at late, but my inspiration commands me to make changes or attempt to make changes in the mediums that i use to exhaust my inspirations. This round it was to test a different black and white film against my trusted black and white film. Actually i think if this was a supreme photo nerd comparison it would immediately be off because my variables in which i tested the film we entirely different. I shot ilford hp5 400 at 35mm on a Canon EOS3 with my pal Houston down the street from his abode in the middle of an summer Phoenix day when the light was at its absolute worst and the temperature was at its most high. I shot both films at box speed but overexposed slightly when shooting 1/4 a stop. I have always enjoyed how much detail i get out of ilford hp5 whenever i overexpose and usually i am pushing the film when I shoot to maximize that and to get a certain grain that i enjoy with black and white film. Anyhow, hp5 worked as great as it always does and have no complaints about it….(no surprise) Now on to ilford delta 400……… I shot this roll in studio at Blok with Lara. Same settings as before in the amount of overexposure. I knew delta was much flatter overall than hp5 so i decided to mostly expose for the shadows to see just how much detail the film would retain in the highlights. To say the least, I was completely unsatisfied from this point. Highlights seem to be blown out on some photos which just was never a problem with hp5. However, i do enjoy the middle ground of grey that the film expresses because I enjoy that flat look on about half of the photos i take that are black and white. I think with delta 400 you must be precise when shooting it, and maintain shooting it at box speed. This isn’t the only roll of delta 400 that i have shot, and i have noticed similar things which each roll that have become annoying. I think for now I will stick with hp5 and leave those delta 400 rolls at the store…..forever. 

Camera: Canon EOS 3

Film: ilford HP5 400/Delta 400

Model 1: Houston 

Model 2: Lara