Dramatic Landscapes in Black, White, and Grey: Richie Duque's Impressions of the New Babylon Kino B&W ISO 13 Film

This LomoAmigo needs no introduction. Richie Duque has been a reference with his cinematic eye, dramatic shots, and passion for composition. Richie has tested our new Babylon Kino B&W ISO 13, and for someone who had never shot at a low ISO before, this challenge ended up being quite an (enjoyable) adventure.

Although in his daily job as a videographer, Richie tends to favor a higher ISO, this film forced him out of his comfort zone. The result? Some mystical landscapes, painted in a palette of light blacks and dark whites, for old school sceneries photographs. With its wide spectrum of pigments, it easily lends itself to more control and tweaking from the photographer's part, may it be while shooting, developing, or post-processing.

"I think the Babylon Kino lends itself well to those who might want a bit more control in the edit."

"ISO 13 reminds me more of Ilfordhp5, with less contrast and light grey blacks. I added a touch of contrast and increased the blacks on that one. I think it’d lend itself well to those who might want a bit more control in the edit."

His experience shooting at a low ISO opened new doors of experimentation for him, leaving more space for his creative endeavors in his analog journey.

"I like some of the shots of my dad with the cat tails blowing in the wind in the background, but more than those, one of my favorites is the one of him walking straight towards the ocean. It’s not really the best composition and it’s really out of focus, but something about it feels other worldly. It makes me feel something a bit more than just the more traditional portrait style shots I took of him."

"Being able to bring shutter speed very low in daytime instead of waiting for low-light scenarios to get that motion blur and dragged shutter look seemed like the perfect application for this low ISO film. I really enjoyed my experience with it overall! I’ll definitely be using it again."

In terms of use, Richie sees the film being used for street, portrait, and architecture, given the photographers take into consideration its slow ISO and need for a fast aperture. "I think it’d have a pretty universal application for most of your black and white film purposes," he says ."Film speed is very low so do keep in mind needing to shoot with low shutter speeds and fast apertures, which may not make it the most friendly for run & gun street photography. Otherwise I think it’s great for every style of photography."

For more of Richie's work, head over to his website and Instagram.

written by tamarasaade on 2020-04-28