Thursday, June 10, 2021

Please Purple Me: My Date with Lomochrome Purple XR

Over a year ago I was gifted a roll of Lomography's Lomochrome Purple XR film in 35mm format. Lomochrome Purple XR is what I call a ‘special effects” film, There are other films like this, dubblefilm being one example. There is an element of unpredictability with films like these, and my feelings of uncertainty were the cause of me waiting so long to shoot the roll. However, since I have been photographing flowers a lot lately, I figured that the time to give Lomochrome Purple a test drive.

Lomochrome Purple is a film that is inspired by a legendary film made by Eastman Kodak called Ektachrome Infrared EIR, commonly called Aerochrome. Ektachrome Infrared EIR was a false color transparency film that was sensitive to both visible light and infrared light, and it was used primarily by the government for arial surveillance in the detection of criminal activity in highly vegetated areas. More recently, photographs have used the Aerochrome to create color images that can be described as ‘psychedelic” with wild color shifts involving purple and pink, among other colors. Production of Aerochrome ceased on 2011, and today the film is quite rare and expensive. Now that we are in the throws of the resurgence of film photography there are a lot of photographers who have demanded that Kodak bring Aerochrome back, to no avail so far.

Enter Lomography's Lomochrome Purple XR, a color negative film formulated to mimic the psychedelic color shifts of Aerochrome without actually being an infrared film. Greens and reds are converted to various shade of purple, blue, and pink, with occasional yellows and reds appearing as well. At least that is what the bulk of my search told me. In truth, I had no idea how to shoot this film. Even the ISO is confusing. The box says the film can be shot as 100-400 ISO. So which is it? Generally speaking, I am a “box speed” photographer. And what about lighting? Does Lomochrome Purple XR like full sun or shade? 

One other concern I had is that I am quite afflicted with red/green color blindness. So I wondered if I would even notice, much less appreciate the results of Lomochrome Purple XR. 


It was a bright sunny day when I loaded my Minolta Maxxum 600si with Lomochrome Purple XR, and my wife and I drove to Gibbs Gardens, a private botanical garden that is open to the public. I reasoned that the fields of colorful flowers and full sun would be a good opportunity to put Lomochrome Purple to the test. Uncertain what ISO I should choose, I initially dialed in ISO 400. However, after about six frames, and for reasons I can’t explain, I moved the ISO to 200 and continued shooting. A few days later we were camping by a lake, and I shot frames as the sun set over the water. By weeks end, I finished the roll at the Chattanooga Choo Choo, a vintage train station that has been converted to a hotel and entertainment complex. 


Shortly afterward, I developed the roll with my C-41 kit, scanned the negatives, and looked over the resulting images. Initially, I thought the images looked as if they had been shot outdoors on slide film balanced for indoor (tungsten) light. Nearly everything had a bluish cast to it. Of course, I knew that what I was seeing was likely shades of purple, but since my color blindness renders nearly all purples as shades of blue. However, with the help of my wife (who’s had perfect color vision), I began to see shades of pink and lavender mixed in with the occasional red, orange, and even yellow. I found that I actually liked some of the images!

I do have four overall observations:

1. Subjects with multiple colors gave more pleasing results.

2. Lomochrome Purple XR is quite contrasty, and on sunny days the sky will get blown out.

3. Changing the ISO from 400 to 200 after six frames seemed to have no effect exposure nor the special effects of the film.

4. In lower light like near sunset, the images look almost devoid of color altogether.


Will I shoot Lomochrome Purple XR again? Probably not. But that’s not to say that you wouldn’t like it. It simply doesn’t fit into my current workflow, given my color blindness and the fact that I like to pre-visualize a photo and control as many variables as I can to get the intended result. However, if I were shooting for a project for which dramatic color shifts would be appropriate (like an album cover, for example), I certainly would put it to good use.  But for now, this first date with Lomochrome Purple XR is as far as we are going to get.









No comments:

Post a Comment