Kodak doesn’t call it Portra for nothing — it’s meant for portraits. And that’s what I used it for, mostly. I’m trying to build my portraiture skills, so I loaded a roll into my Nikon F2AS and shot more than half of it on my sons. I hoped for some good shots of them to print for the family. I finished the roll on the kinds of subjects I usually shoot.

Angel

This film ran cold — every photo had a blue caste to it. Portra 160 NC is said to tend naturally toward low color saturation. Maybe that’s Kodak’s interpretation of “natural color,” which is what the NC in the film’s name stands for. Kodak also offered a VC (“vivid color”) version of this film that boosted color saturation. I say “offered” rather than “offers” because both of these films were replaced a few years ago with a new formulation simply called Portra 160.

Also, this roll was expired, and I don’t know how it was stored before I got it. Careless storage can lead to shifted colors, which might also explain the blue caste.

Photoshop’s Adjust Color for Skin Tone tool warmed the portraits up right away, especially bringing out the chestnut highlights in my youngest son’s hair. Unfortunately, I won’t be showing you that, as I don’t share photos of my sons online. They have asked me to let them decide when and where to share their faces online. Fair enough.

I shot some of the portraits in cemeteries near my home. This isn’t out of the ordinary for us, as we walk through cemeteries all the time. We once even rented a house on a cemetery property. And cemeteries frequently have quaint benches, ornate chapels, or other not obviously death-related structures that make great portrait backdrops.

One visit was to Crown Hill Cemetery, one of the largest cemeteries in the nation. This shot looked as lifeless as its dead-tree subject when it came back from the processor, so I adjusted color temperature to bring it back to life — the photo, I mean, as the tree is beyond my help.

Dead tree

I gave this scene the same treatment. This monument is on the ascent to the highest elevation in Indianapolis.

Short steps

I thought this looked okay as shot, so I left it alone. It’s not a great shot, but I liked this very old and twisted tree and all the great detail in its bark.

Tree trunk

I shot my 50mm f/1.8 Nikon Series E lens in Crown Hill, but switched to my 135mm f/3.5 AI Nikkor lens for a walk through Washington Park North, a cemetery within walking distance of my home. It’s nowhere near as interesting as Crown Hill, but it’s certainly more convenient to me.

St. Matthew

I’ve shot Washington Park North’s replica of the Liberty Bell a number of times this year. Here’s one; here’s another, from two different cameras but both on Ektar 100. I adjusted color temperature a little to warm up this shot, but it still doesn’t approach the warmth of Ektar out of the box. Do compare the Ektar shots to get a good idea of how these two films’ color signatures differ.

Pass and Stow

I wasn’t wowed by Portra 160 NC as processed and scanned. The blue nature of the shots generally didn’t appeal to me. Someday I’ll buy a roll of the reformulated Portra 160 and see how it compares.


Comments

14 responses to “Shooting Kodak Portra 160 NC”

  1. nick Avatar
    nick

    Hi Jim,
    I just received my Portra 160 back from developing. I used it for travel documentation with my boys holidays trip to Austria, shooting with Olympus RC35. I like the colors very much.
    Using old film demands some warming filter that will fit to the color shift of the old film. I’m doing this with Agfa Vista100 (made by Agfa Gevaert expired 2002) using KR3-5 filters depending on the light situation. It is such a low grain film that it’s worth the effort. Anyway consistent results will only be made if you have a bunch of film in the same condition.
    Hope you’ll like the new Portra too.
    Nick

    1. Jim Grey Avatar

      Hi Nick, and thanks for the tip on the warming filter. Adjusting the color temperature in post-processing is, I suppose, much the same thing. But the filter would have been less work.

      1. nick Avatar
        nick

        Hi Jim,
        the one thing I am interested in making photographies is the ability to actually hold a real picture in my hand without needing electricity or risk of dataloss over coming decades. I don’t recall for shure wether I read it in your blog or bodegabayf2 showing a photo of boys in a christmas scene underlined : thanks for taking the picture dad.
        Postprocessing is for the digital stuff – hobby. Familypictures are important to me – serious.

        1. Jim Grey Avatar

          I’m kind of over prints. I know that must sound strange from a fellow who is committed to film. But prints take up space. I print photos that I want to frame, like a couple I just framed of my sons.

  2. Gerald Avatar

    Ooh a cemetery. You know how I feel about cemeteries….

    As you know, I don’t shoot much colour, but I have shot a few rolls of the new Portra. The colours are nicely neutral and in terms of latitude and grain it’s incredible stuff. But it’s expensive and unless you need those characteristics (probably for professional use) it’s a bit characterless. I really like the very recognisable colour signature that i see in the pictures that you shoot with Fujicolour.

    PS. I used the word ‘colour’ a number of times…please accept my apologies for what must seem to you like spelling mistakes!

    PPS And ‘ recognisable’

    1. Jim Grey Avatar

      Toldja some cemetery pics were coming up! I’ve got more in the hopper.

      I was disappointed recently when I couldn’t find more Fujicolor 200 at the big-box store. I was reduced to ordering six rolls of Kodak Gold 200 online, as it was the cheapest color film I could find. It could well change the look of my whole blog!!

      And please, colour my world. I realise you can’t help it.

  3. Eduardo Biscaia de Queiroz Avatar
    Eduardo Biscaia de Queiroz

    Hi,

    Are these photos also post processed? If so, could you share at least one original to compare?

    Regards,

    Eduardo

    1. Eduardo Biscaia de Queiroz Avatar
      Eduardo Biscaia de Queiroz

      Reading again I got my answer about post processing.

      1. Eduardo Biscaia de Queiroz Avatar
        Eduardo Biscaia de Queiroz

        Thank you. In this case, it looks colder. I bought Kodak Ultramax and some (not all) photos got a bluish tone, specially those with large aperture, but different from the ones you got. On weekend I’ll try to share

        1. Eduardo Biscaia de Queiroz Avatar
          Eduardo Biscaia de Queiroz

          Jim,

          The photos are here. Not the best ones (I don’t know why, my wife like always makes weird poses) but they show the problem I regarded earlier.

    1. Jim Grey Avatar

      I see what you mean. I wonder if there was a fault in the scanner. Have you tried manipulating the bluish shots in Photoshop to remove the caste?

      1. Eduardo Biscaia de Queiroz Avatar
        Eduardo Biscaia de Queiroz

        It could be if it happend ramdonly. But I shot a few times changing the aperture (covering the lens and half-pressing the shutter) and the normal reading ones I got good images and the ones I tried the trick the photos turned that way. Anyway, I have another roll and I’ll process in another lab.

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