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Saturating Colors
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We perceive the intensity of color by the amount of light it reflects. Bright colors reflect more light than dark ones; dark colors absorb more light than brighter ones.
When we take pictures, we can alter the intensity of color in a scene by giving it more or less exposure than called for with a normal light reading. In a sense, we can dim or turn up the lights by changing exposure. By deliberately underexposing our film we may be adding saturation; this represents an abstraction of the colors in a scene, a technique that can yield spectacular results on film. Color slide film is the best choice for making highly-saturated images. Because these films have fairly narrow exposure latitudes, even slight changes in exposure can have a profound effect on tones. You can underexpose slide film by as little as 1/3-stop to make a shift in color intensity. 
Of course, you don't want to underexpose slide film (or any other type of film) too much, as you may tip the scale from color saturation toward a plain dark picture. But when the light is bright, and there's a dominant color in the scene, slight underexposure can do wonders. There are a number of ways to do this. You can program in saturation by setting the film speed on the camera 1/3 or 2/3 stops below the actual speed rating of the film in use. On a bright day, for example, you can rate ISO 64 slide film at ISO 80 or even ISO 100. On certain models of cameras, you can also set the exposure compensation dial on the camera at minus 1/3- or 2/3-stops. By doing this, you automatically get an actual exposure setting that is less than what the camera meter reads. 
Many photographers who use a lot of slide film saturate colors by taking a reading of only the brightest highlight area in a scene. Because the metering system wants to turn everything to 18% gray, flooding it with only the brightest light means that all the tones below that brightness in the scene become darker. To accomplish this using a reflected light meter, make sure that most or all of what the meter's sensitivity area "sees" is the brightest highlight area. Using an incident light meter, just hold the light-sensing portion of the meter in the brightest highlight area. 
If you're serious about photography but have never shot any slide films, you owe it to yourself to experiment with a few different kinds of slide film.
While we're on the subject of slide films, you should also be aware that there are some slide films that are created by the manufacturer with the intention of reproducing the color values that appear in a scene. Other slide films are intentionally created to give a slight degree of exaggeration to the color in the actual scene. Often these "souped up" films will yield very strong results when combined with intentional underexposure. Using Negative Films: Of course, you can get saturated colors in contrasty light with color print film by simply requesting that the lab prints your pictures on the dark-side. However, this rarely yields the startling results you get with color slides. In addition, this will only work if you're using a lab where technicians control the exposure of the print. Most large automated labs and small mini-labs are unlikely to be able (or willing) to give this amount of control to the printing process. For this kind of control, you need a custom lab and you should expect to pay a premium for the service. Not every picture you take will benefit from saturation of colors. But when the light is bright, and you want a graphic look to your pictures (even at the expense of some shadow area detail) try this deliberate underexposure technique. |
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