Harman Red – My First Roll Experiences

Harman recently released a new film, Harman Red. In case it’s not obvious from its name, it’s called Red because it’s a red scale film, i.e. it makes red photos. Now, I should say at this stage that I have been a massive let down to Harman here as Michelle sent me a roll to play with ahead of the launch and I didn’t get this post ready in time… In my defence, I have been very busy so far this year, and I did tell her I would be late. But there is late, and, well… it’s been well over a month now. Must do better!

My shame aside, at least I got there eventually. I even managed to shoot a variety of subjects too. So many, that whilst I had originally intended this to be a 5 frames post, I have in fact decided to share a few more images. As to whether they are good photos or not, I will let you be the judge, but hopefully they do at least show some of the features of this film.

Ok, so to kick off, a bit about red scale film. For the uninitiated, red scale film is actually just normal colour film. Well, in the case of Harman Red, in theory it’s as normal as Phoenix film, which in itself is pretty abnormal as far as film goes. It is though, the same stuff. That is to say, Harman Red is Harman Phoenix film, just rolled into the canister with the emulsion side facing out instead of in. I’m sure it’s common knowledge for a lot of people, but in case you don’t believe me, here is a little tutorial I made years ago on how to make red scale film for yourself.

The reason it goes red is because the when you shoot colour film the wrong way round, the red layer is facing out first instead of last. As a result, the light hits the film red side first, and since this isn’t how it is supposed to be used, you get red photos. In theory, the more you expose it, the more light will travel through to the layers beyond and you will eventually start to see more other colours. In reality though, results tend to consist of pretty much red, orange and yellow. Or, in other words, sort of post-apocalyptic looking.

Personally, I don’t tend to shoot much of these sorts of films. I am no stickler for colour accuracy (whatever that means…) but I do tend to prefer my standard colour films. I often film myself with the fear that if I am shooting a roll of something like a red scale film, or even Phoenix, that I will find myself in a situation where I wished I had a “normal” film. On this occasion though I decided to embrace it… well, sort of… I just took my recently acquired Panasonic Lumix LX100 everywhere I took the Red-loaded Contax meaning I had a camera to fall back on in case, I dunno, the end of the world happened or something and I wanted to capture it in full colour… …

Anyway… back to Harman Red.

For my first outing with Harman Red, me and the family went to Puzzle Wood in Gloucestershire. If you haven’t been, I can definitely recommend it. It’s a little pricey to get in, and there was quite a few people there even when we visited in February, but it is a magical place that is almost undoubtedly occupied by trolls, or at very least small dinosaurs when the visitors leave at the end of the day. I really have never seen anything like it, and even my colour photos don’t get anywhere close to doing it justice. Of course, what I really didn’t take into account was that red scale film is less sensitive than the colour film it is derived from. Phoenix has a box speed of 200, Harman Red is 125, but really, the rule tends to be to shoot at least one stop slower when making your own red scale film, and in my experience even that is a little optimistic unless you want lots of dark reds and areas of underexposure.

I had the roll loaded in my Contax 139 set to 100, which made shooting with my 45mm f/2.8 lens in a dark wood somewhat challenging. That said, by using various hand rails and bits of tree, I was still able to get a few shots I liked.

Next I wanted to get a couple of portraits with it, just to see how it looked really – so as per usual, I grabbed a couple of shots of the kids whilst at a park one day. You’ll have to excuse the dodgy framing and unusual facial expressions. I’m not convinced this sort of photo is really suited this sort of film either – your mileage may vary.

I had also decided I wanted to take a couple of more urban shots, and so when I happened to be traveling to meet clients in Bristol I decided to take some snaps on the way from their offices back to the carpark. These I think are more successful – though I would have been happier if I hadn’t been too slow framing the second one and had captured the person I’d seen walking past the two pillars moments before.

Finally, and perhaps my favourite of the lot, I got a few shots whilst out on a dog walk at Pitchcroft park in Worcester. I’m not sure why I am so taken with these, but I think it’s just something about them that feels to me that it they are most suited to the type of film – the last one in particular just works for me. (Pitchcroft is also where the horse racing happens in Worcester – in case you were wondering about the fences).

Overall, I would say I am pretty impressed with the results. Somewhat ironically, I feel like they are almost more conventional than the results I have had from Phoenix. Ok, they are mostly red, I’ll give you that, but they don’t look dramatically different from other red scale films I have shot, whereas I would say Phoenix definitely can look dramatically different from other “normal” colour films. I had half expected to somehow see more of the Phoenix look than I can see here, though in hindsight, I’m not sure what I was expecting to see – perhaps even more contrast…?

With that said, there is one Phoenix attribute that definitely shines through, and that’s the haloing around sources of light. Personally, I think this really makes Harman Red a very compelling option for someone looking for a red scale film as it somehow manages to add something else interesting to the final images beyond, well, them just being shades of red, orange and yellow. Of course, like all red scale film, it also responds in an interesting way to both over and under exposure. Under expose and you get dark sometimes muddy reds. Over expose and your image can shift in the spectrum to featuring a lot more yellows.

Overall, whilst shooting red scale isn’t something I am likely to do often, I think having shot Harman Red now, I think this would probably be my choice going forward. I quite like the post-apocalyptic look, and as I say, I think the haloing really adds to that vibe!

You can find out more about Harman Red on their website here
You can also buy it from Analogue Wonderland here, and – like I did – get it developed using their lab here.

Share this post: