Studio Portrait

[Giel VW]

Beautiful portrait, thanks for sharing John

[John Hodgin]

What do you think John, black tabs ?
Cheers.

Thanks Giel. Many will remember we discussed this many years ago. No, I don't think the collar tabs are black.

Another fine photo from Jean-Yves Green Devils, taken in the same studio as the other photos shown here. Does anyone think the lettering of the Kreta band is black? Please note how dark the golden yellow lettering of the Kreta band appears here, and how this lettering is an exact tonal match to the collar tabs.

[Willi Z.]

Yes John, we have discussed this many times over the years. I too still do not believe they are black tabs.

I am befuddled. Are we saying the portrait which started this thread is a wartime original? J-YN presented these portraits 22 years ago in his superb book. 100s and 100s, if not 1000s, of copies have been made from the original negatives, which were discovered in the French studio. Folks even sold 8x10 copies of these in frames for $25 15+ years ago. I used to have several on the wall. They all seem pretty dark, which make it pretty difficult to identify the colors accurately. As you just pointed out.

[Jelle M.]

What a killer studio portrait, absolutely stunning.
Thanks for sharing!

[SkaraBrae]

The collar tabs and Kreta letters are yellow. This photograph was taken with orthochromatic film. Orthochromatic film is a kind of early B&W film which can basically only see blue light. It makes yellow look black because of what yellow reflects under artificial light in the visible spectrum. It was a real problem in early movies because of the resulting color distortions. Today we use panchromatic film for both B+W and color images. A more scientific explanation of the troubles with panchromatic film can be found here and elsewhere on the internet:
https://filmphotographyproject.com/c...hromatic-film/

[Renaud]

The collar tabs and Kreta letters are yellow. This photograph was taken with orthochromatic film. Orthochromatic film is a kind of early B&W film which can basically only see blue light. It makes yellow look black because of what yellow reflects under artificial light in the visible spectrum. It was a real problem in early movies because of the resulting color distortions. Today we use panchromatic film for both B+W and color images. A more scientific explanation of the troubles with panchromatic film can be found here and elsewhere on the internet:
https://filmphotographyproject.com/c...hromatic-film/

Interesting, thanks for the link and the explanation.

[Marc Shaffer]

Funny, I've looked at these photos for years in books. I figured that the MP and jump harness were photo props, but I just noticed now that several of the FJs are wearing the same helmet in a few photos on the previous page and even sharing a smock in a couple. I always figured they were wearing their own personal gear.

[John Hodgin]

Are we saying the portrait which started this thread is a wartime original?

Yes Willi, I believe the print paper to be wartime.