Cross-processing slide film with Lomography's X-Pro 200 Film Stock

Hi there! I recently experimented with slide film and wanted to share my results as well as some general information about the process for those that might be unfamiliar. Slide film, otherwise known as color reversal or positive film, produces an image that is in itself a final product. Negative film, by contrast, produces an image with reversed colors, so that one must invert them through printing or scanning to return the image to its natural color palette.

Slide film is known for rendering rich, saturated colors in a way most color negative film stocks can't replicate. The downside is that you're working with much less exposure latitude, as little as 1 1/2 stops in either direction. This means in order to get a proper image, your metering has to be exact. Lomography's slide film, X-Pro 200, isn't exactly a traditional reversal film stock; it was designed to be cross-processed.

Since color reversal films have a different chemical makeup than color negative films, they have to be developed with a different process. The standard process for color negative is called C-41; for reversal film, it is E-6. Cross-processing is when you develop a reversal film in the C-41 process. This leads to unpredictable color shifts in the image, and is desirable as a tool when pursuing more abstract photography.

Lomography advertises "citrus" tones in their X-Pro 200 stock, and I certainly saw some of that. However, I found that scanning and editing these images was a pretty difficult process. With colors that have shifted in unnatural ways, it is challenging to work the scanner and subsequent color balancing to achieve the right look, because you're not really sure what the right look is. The whole point is that the colors are off, so how do you get them "right?"

Well, I'm not really sure. But I did my best and ended up with a few images I liked. I hope you like them too!

All images were shot on a Yashica FX-D 35mm film camera using a Yashica ML 50mm f1.7 lens and Lomography's X-Pro 200 film stock. The roll was developed at home using the C-41 process. Be sure to follow me for more film photography fun!