Photographer’s colors are a matter of chemistry

You might say that Paley Library staffer and sometime photographer Cynthia Wilson likes to focus on the positive.

Wilson uses “cross processing,” an advanced technique often utilized in fashion photography to create dramatic color statements. Her results employing the technique in nature photography were exhibited at the Diamond Club during the summer.

“When you shoot a roll of [print] film, you have negatives. If you shoot on slide film, you’re shooting positive,” Wilson explained. “The process for developing slide film and print film is different. I develop the slide film in the negative developer.”

Slide film, or E-6 process film, records images exactly as they are (“in the positive”). As a result, transparencies have truer color than negatives.

By developing slide film in a negative (C-41) film process, Wilson tweaks the chemistry so that the color saturation becomes bolder and slightly surreal.

As a result, her flowers seem to leap out of the prints; her oceans and foliage pour forth rich greens and blues.

“With cross processing, it’s better to do things with lots of color,” Wilson said. “If you did something that’s all green, for instance, it would come out all washed out.

“Flowers, with their diversity in color, are good subjects. There’s a lot of detail that comes out with this technique.”

Those colors are exclusively a result of the process Wilson uses in developing the film. She doesn’t use color filters, although sometimes she uses a polarizer, which reduces glare from reflective surfaces.

“Sometimes I think people get too technical with the more advanced equipment,” said Wilson, who believes in keeping things simple. “It can limit their creativity.”

More important to Wilson than equipment is setting, and she counts herself fortunate to live and work in areas that offer many opportunities for nature photography.

“I find myself working a lot of places close to home,” said the Bucks County resident, whose favorite photographic haunt is the Churchville Nature Center. “That way I can monitor sky conditions and lighting situations better than if I travel. I’m lucky to live in the suburbs for that reason.”

Wilson avidly pursues opportunities to learn more about her hobby. She learned about color processing techniques from working in photo labs, and found her real passion for the art after taking a class at her alma mater, Beaver College (now Arcadia University).

“When I took my first class in photography in 1997, I realized this was something I could do,” Wilson said. “But I haven’t taken any class other than basic black and white photography; the rest I’ve picked up my own,” said Wilson.

She recently completed another basic black and white photography course at TUCC to get more practice in the darkroom, and she takes her camera everywhere.

“I take pictures all the time—during my lunch break, before work: the more practice, the better,” said Wilson. “I just want to show people the world as I see it.”

Wilson’s exhibit continues through Saturday at the Diamond Club, Mitten Hall. — Helen H. Thompson