Transparency or slide film
Some of you remember the slide projectors of days past. Families would gather around the projector and watch vacation pictures projected on a screen. Countless memories were captured on Kodachrome film until it was discontinued in 2009. Many of Steve McCurry’s images from National Geographic were shot on Kodachrome. Paul Simon even wrote a song about it - “Mama, don’t take my Kodachrome away”. The lyrics went like this:
Kodachrome
You give us those nice bright colors
You give us the greens of summers
Makes you think all the world's a sunny day, oh yeah!
I got a Nikon camera
I love to take a photograph
So Mama, don't take my Kodachrome away
A few slide films are still available today. Kodak Ektachrome, Fuji Provia and Fuji Velvia to name a few. Fuji Velvia is still a favorite with some nature photographers. I captured the image below of a stream in the Smokey Mountains on Fuji Velvia.
Kodak recently released a new version of Ektachrome film. The image at the beginning of this post and the photograph below of the Mayflower Cafe were both captured on Kodak Ektachrome.
If you own a film camera and have never used slide film consider giving it a try. I must warn you that slide film is not very forgiving when it comes to exposure. However, when exposed correctly these films can offer some beautiful results.