White balance not digital

[Tobiko]

I know this is a digital forum but I know a lot of people know a lot about photography here, so i might as well ask. I would like to take a picture of my shower faucet. I want to shot the contrast between the white tile and silver metal. How do I get the white, very white? This is with black and white iso 400 film.

Thanks, Tobiko

[mbze430]

to increase contrast with B&W film you would use a yellow filter. And make sure you partial or spot meter the white than add +2/3 to +1 in exposure. You might want to try +1.5 also.

[chtgrubbs]

With B&W film contrast can be increased by either increasing the developing time or printing on a higher grade of paper. The best way is to increase the developing time. If you are not processing the film yourself you should ask the lab to increase the developing time by 20% or to "push pocess thefilm one stop". You may have to go to custom lab to get this done. If you are doing your own processing start with a 20-25% increase in developing time and have a test print made. If this isn't enough contrast add another 10% and that should be enough.

[Jon]

Soft (diffuse) light and use a contrasty film (or develop for contrast). A polarizer might help, but since you're only dealing with white and shades of grey coloured filters won't especially. Setting up a black panel so that it's reflected off the faucet might also help.