ColorMeColombia — Andy Verostek, Street Photography

COLOR ME COLOMBIA

UNDER EXPOSED - EDITION 1 - WHAT’S DEVELOPING

What’s Developing explores my most recent work to give you a sense of what I am focusing on right now. In each edition of UNDER EXPOSED, you will get a tour of whatever is fresh out of the developing tank while I am still working with that material - even if it doesn’t quite fit into a theme or subject that I’ve previously worked on.

Grain vs. Pixels

Color Me Colombia was not an idea that I came up with while visiting the country in November 2020. It came about after the fact when I realized that I had shot a diverse selection of color film as well as photos from my iPhone 11 Pro. Each of these mediums produced stunning results, as in the this image of Avenida Chile shot on Kodak Portra 800.

Kodak Portra 800

I’m a huge fan of available light and night photography. I’ve been shooting low light situations almost exclusively in black and white. In spite of being comfortable in black and white, I’ve been wanting to try out some color film specifically for these low light scenarios to broaden my portfolio. I had 1 roll of Kodak Portra 800 with me in Bogotá and with a thunderstorm approaching in the late afternoon, I thought it would be a great moment to test this film in low light conditions.

Before the Rain

The dark clouds were massing in the mountains above Bogotá creating this dramatic mood. I found that this lighting really enhanced the colors. The red lights, yellow taxis, the greens of the plants, the orange of the bricks, the store logo… they all pop.

Traveling and photographing during the Covid-19 Pandemic

I was hesitant to travel in 2020 for obvious reasons. The Corona Virus-19 global pandemic has fundamentally changed how we interact with one another, at least for now. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to remember this time. I want to see people as they are, free and enjoying their daily life.
But maybe this pandemic has revealed how we are in that it has brought out aspects of our societies that we may not have realized were there - the good and the bad.
Seeing how people in another country have adapted to Covid-19 turned out to be an unexpected surprise in my visit.
The billboard at left is a shout out to those in the medical field. It reads: “Colombia is with you. Thank You #YouAreNotAlone”
More on this another time…

And then came the rain…

Quickly the sprinkles gave way to a downpour and I did not make it back to the mall where my friends were shopping without being drenched in the rain. I shot some incredible video of that as well.

Below you will find a carousel of photos that can be flipped through using the arrows at left or at right.

The first drops of rain fall on Avenida Chile in Bogota, Colombia

Family huddles under one umbrella to take shelter in the pouring rain.

It got grey really fast. Still the low light performance of Kodak Portra 800 shown here is phenomenal.

The red stop sign really pops even though the dark clouds and rain mute the overall mood of this image.

I just loved how the colors of these umbrellas popped in this image.

When grey turns to night

This part of Bogotá has bright LED streetlights and as a result, available light images at night turn out incredibly clear. The color performance is consistent. It just required some creativity on my part to work with the low light conditions because I don’t carry a tripod and in these conditions, you need to hold the camera steady.

Below you will find a carousel of photos that can be flipped through using the arrows at left or at right.

Using just the streetlights, this was the result of shooting at 1/60th of a second at f 2.8

Here is a slightly longer exposure at 1/30th of a second using a trash can to stabilize the camera like a tripod would

1/8th of a second at f 2.8 captured the reflections of the red lights as well as revealed the church at the top left of the frame, backlit by the glow of the city lights

A new pedestrian zone under construction brightly lit by street lights only required 1/60th of a second to capture this scene.

My friends are walking in front of me and at 1/30th of a second would obviously be blurry. What I really love though is the motorcycle which is completely blurred on the right side of the frame.

Fuji Velvia 50

If you want super saturated colors, this is a great film. Bogotá and the Boyacá Region a few hours north of the capital city are at high elevation, with Bogotá approaching 8,600-9,000 feet (2,800-3,000 meters) and the town of Villa de Leyva at 7,100 feet (2,100 meters). What this is means is that when you have clear skies, they are already really blue and the light is intense due to the thinner air. This effect is only magnified by being so close to the equator. Use a high intensity film like Fuji Velvia 50 and it only enhances the colors. Take a look at a couple of photos shot in Villa de Leyva:

With portraits, however, this film can be a bit tricky. First of all, slide film needs to be exposed perfectly in order for the colors to really appear ‘normal’. If you are slightly under or over exposed, all slide films - not just this one - will look horrible. But in addition to that fact, when shooting people with Velvia 50, the same effects you get with the colors of the sky or flowers popping will also cause skin tones to ‘electrify’ (for lack of a better expression). They exaggerate the natural reds, yellows and blues in our diverse skin tones. If you shoot with this film for portraits, color correction will be needed after. Nevertheless, the beautiful color in this film is fun to work with.

Model Instagram: @kristhianviajeroLighting conditions here were not optimal. Midday sun, high altitude light and the slight color exaggerations found in Velvia 50 may make for great clouds and skies and color flags, but I had to do some color correc… — Model Instagram: @kristhianviajero
Lighting conditions here were not optimal. Midday sun, high altitude light and the slight color exaggerations found in Velvia 50 may make for great clouds and skies and color flags, but I had to do some color correction and dodging here in post in order to bring out my friend’s face and to make him not look sunburned.

Fuji Velvia 100

This film is much more versatile. What you lose in the color vibrancy in Velvia 50 you gain in stability of the overall color palate. It’s my go-to color slide film. Not only is this film great under normal lighting conditions as shown directly below, it is also incredibly versatile in the low light scenarios that I love so much.

Below you will find a carousel of photos that can be flipped through using the arrows at left or at right.

Casa Terracota claims to be the world's largest piece of pottery. It was closed for Covid and therefore I made good use of my 300mm lens.

Casa Terracota is located in this lush, fertile valley.I love the contrast of the earthen oranges against the green background

Pozos Azules is Instagram famous yes, a decent low intensity hike, yes, and in the right spot the waters have amazing colors, but if you are in a hurry to explore the region this might not be for you.

Recent rains colored many of the ponds a run-off brown as opposed to the green-blue in the previous photo. Nevertheless, it's always fun to skip rocks.

The valley is prime farmland and as you walk around the Pozos Azures you get a little peak at the agriculture in the area.

Dramatic colors captured on the right film to do them justice

Fuji Velvia 100 is so versatile, it even performs in low light scenarios such as at dusk, well after the sun has set.

The monument to Simón Bolivar, one of the most important revolutionary figures in all of South America, is dramatic to say the least.

I found the Bolivar Monument to be reminiscent of a Mormon Temple with the angles and trumpets

iPhone 11 Pro

I would be remiss if I didn’t show you the amazing low light photography of my iPhone 11 Pro which honestly, rivals my film photography. I absolutely love this camera and I am only certain the folks at Apple will be improving upon it in future versions of the iPhone. One area that I hope they improve upon is the quality of images when zooming in. They are impressive but digitization / pixilation is visible at the extreme zooms. That said, the standard and wide angle quality are both outstanding and the low light features… well, I will let you be the judge…