 Yo, what up? Welcome back to another episode. Well, call me Willy Wonka because today we're gonna be reviewing this chocolate filter That and I'm the last person you want to be alone in the tunnel with Today's episode is sponsored by Squarespace Warming filters and color film if you're like me, which you're not you might think that filters are the foreplay to photography as of late I've been very interested in Injecting more warmth into my photos ever since I passed a very important milestone in my own personal life That's right. I watched dune for the 700th time I recently read an interview about the coloring and cinematography on dune where the cinematographer Greg Frazier talked about how they worked really really hard to kill the color blue on any scenes that took place on the desert planet Arrakis for example, they killed the blue skies killed the blue reflected shadows killed Duke Lado Atreides Etc. I thought that this was an interesting concept when I shoot film I do tend to lean my photos warmer because I like the overall look a bit better It feels more antique, but what if there was a way to do that more effectively from the ground up? Sure, I could just use an orange filter like the 81 B That would just add straight orange to my image the color I think I really wanted was brown not like brown, but like a nice dark and desaturated log Well long story short I came across the Tiffin chocolate one filter But was too scared to pull the trigger on it because the price is quite frightening That and there wasn't a ton of information online about it much less real-world examples that weren't anecdotal or renderings Then completely out of the blue and to my own surprise because usually when I get DMs from companies I just assume I'm in trouble Tiffin the filter company reached out and wanted to collaborate So I pitched them on the chocolate one and they're on board The chocolate one is a very nice soft brown color and I was hoping it would help accentuate tones like wood Coffee beans for or maybe even literally just chocolate itself Can we all just take two seconds real quick and agree that these are total ass not these beauties these? Additionally, I was pretty determined to try the chocolate one filter on a myriad of different stocks So in this video, I test it with portrait 400 synestil 800 t and of course ectochrome e 100 With that all in mind my platonic boyfriend Caleb and I headed out to a nearby neighborhood I loaded up some portrait 400 in my Makina 670 and firmly affixed that beautiful chocolate filter to the lens This filter requires a sacrifice. It cuts out about one stop of light There are mixed reports online some saying that it cuts out about one and one third stop of light But in all my tests, it was pretty much just one stop Of course, the best thing you can do for yourself is just use a TTL meter if at all possible Which I didn't do in this video So can you really trust anything I say ever the Makina 670 doesn't have TTL metering So I just rated the portrait 400 at 200 to account for the one stop of light lost due to the filter I know that might all be kind of confusing, but get used to it life is confusing As we climbed upwards not only were my calves finally becoming more sculpted because I'm pretty out of shape and have no future Plans to start working out, but the light was getting good Here's a quick comparison of the same shot with and without the filter So what's the consensus on the chocolate one slash portrait 400 combo? Honestly, the difference seems incredibly minute almost imperceptible in this comparison We can see a slight shift in the warmth of the shadows killing off some of the blue, but it's very small Here's what I think is happening color negative film is very much so open to interpretation Specifically portrait 400 has so much range that any color filter balance might be somewhat corrected out by the software You're using to invert the negative. I guess the AI is already out to destroy my tones if the vibes aren't even sacred then what's next? So the chocolate one filters weren't actually used to shoot dune as far as I know However, the chocolate line of filters were used by Gordon Willis when he shot the godfather more specifically the scenes that take place in Sicily For reference Willis did shoot the exterior scenes with a heavier filter than the interior scenes Apparently David Lynch's lost highway was also shot mostly with a chocolate one filter Chocolate filters come in three levels of intensity with three being maximum effect and one being minimum effect Anyway, I was a bit more curious about the results with Cinestelle 800 T a famously tungsten balanced film stock Shooting a tungsten film stock in daylight will result in a overall cooler and more blue image With the chocolate one attached. I want to see how much of that blue is actually baked out Turns out quite a bit The tungsten blues on Cinestelle 800 T seem to go more purple slash brown, which is just shaggadalic, baby This is more of the effect that I had in mind when I was researching the filter You do Yeah, you're right if I turn off the arsonist slash pathological liar inside of me for once I'd say that this shot almost kind of looks like Fuji Pro 400 H a little the dead giveaway Of course being the halations. Here's a comparison of Caleb and also Caleb without the chocolate one See how he's a little sadder. Anyway, the chocolate one seemed to inject a good amount of warmth comparatively Looking back, I would definitely have to say that this filter has a pronounced effect on Cinestelle 800 T I really dig it and if it means I can shoot more Cinestelle 800 T in daylight without the dreaded 85 B Then catch me at B&H buying up all their inventory Anyway, enough color negative interpretation bullcrap. It was time for the big leagues. No more baby I want to see what the chocolate one looked like with the stakes at maximum when there's no room for error And a mistake could cost you big time. I wanted the truth So I nervously loaded up some fresh Kodak flex to Chrome e100. Why am I calling Ektochrome flex to Chrome? Well, because paying for a role that nowadays is sadly kind of a flex Anyway, Caleb and I climbed this mountain that overlooks LA and took some pretty photos at this point Our calves were looking downright chiseled, but I'll save those photos for our patrons over at onlycavs.com It looks like there's like a beam of light shining down on you right now Here's a comparison of raw Ektochrome and of course Ektochrome with the chocolate one filter Admittedly, I was a little disappointed. I would have thought the effect would have been more substantial It's kind of like when you get a dog and you're excited to play fetch all day long at the park But then you find out that your dog is actually really lazy and just wants to try and eat all your food instead E100 is a beautifully rich color positive film, but in my own findings It seems like it leans pretty hard into cooler tones, which is something I've been trying to avoid a lot lately And finally this shot it's perfection now. I remember why Ektochrome is daddy I think the chocolate filter balance this image out quite nicely, especially that sunset light peeking into the left of the frame I can honestly say I think the filter made this frame look more normal if that makes sense There's a very solid balance of colors here and for sure it's going into my portfolio But on the topic of photography portfolios I'd like to thank today's sponsor Squarespace if you're a photographer looking for work or simply to dunk on your other photography buddies chances Are you'll need a sleek and stylish photography portfolio that exudes not only confidence But a strong sense of modernism encapsulated in a professional looking design luckily for you That's never been easier with Squarespace Squarespace is an all-in-one website building platform that allows you to customize your own Corner of the internet with ease building up from Squarespace's hundreds of template options has never been easier with Squarespace's promise to never Require any downloads plugins patches or updates if building a website isn't your thing and you run into any trouble Squarespace even offers 24-7 award-winning customer support to get you going So what are you waiting for if you're ready to build a website? You can start a free trial today at Squarespace comm slash grainy days and if you use the code grainy days at checkout You can get 10% off your first purchase so I'll be the first to admit it my calves are still sore and I still have no plans to go to the gym that and I thought that the Chocolate one filter would have a greater overall impact on the photos But with the chocolate one being the least dense filter in the set Maybe it's time I level up to a chocolate two or a chocolate three which have a heavier effect But also cut out more light so with that and the fact that a lot of paintings have the color brown as an undertone I'm definitely gonna keep shooting the chocolate series of filters because I'm a total whore for making my photos look like paintings And this feels like a step in the right direction as well If you yourself are tired of pounding the ever-loving out of the warmth slider And then just giving up because lightroom doesn't understand your artistic vision and maybe this filters for you Anyway, that's a wrap on this video. I guess the only thing to do now is see what this filter looks like with lomo purple