Part of the joy of working with analogue photography is the often unexpected results, especially when experimenting with new film stocks. Trying out a new film is always a bit of an adventure—you never quite know how it will perform until the negatives are processed. It’s like Christmas morning, filled with the anticipation of discovering what surprises are in store.

I recently had the chance to try an experimental film stock I hadn’t encountered before. Called 'Psych Blues', this colour negative film is pre-exposed to light and hand-fogged, creating kaleidoscopic effects that vary throughout the roll. From a little digging on the web, I believe they are produced by one-man show, Dustin Adams, who, through a process of experimentation, came up with a variety of effects that are fairly reproducible, batch to batch.

At the time of writing, there are six varieties available in 35mm format, along with a newer 120mm option. Each variety promises different results. My first trial was with Psych Blues #3 and #4.

While not officially stated on the website, it's believed that Psych Blues is essentially Kodak Ultramax 400 (or Kodak Gold if you choose the 200 ISO option). Ultramax films naturally have a noticeable amount of grain (but not off-putting in my opinion) and produce true-to-life colours with pleasing sharpness. They're a great all-purpose film with decent exposure latitude.

THE PSYCH BLUES EFFECTS

Each of the Psych Blues film types vary in their effects. According to the website:

Psych Blues #3: "Red, blue, purple, pink, and orange light will appear as streaks and orbs throughout the roll and may completely dominate some frames."
Psych Blues #4: "Entirely exposed to holographic paper, resulting in multiple spectrums of color throughout the roll. These colors will come from all directions, fading in and out between frames."

You can see some of the effects below in the leader frames with no images.

Psych Blues #3

Psych Blues #4

Cost

I paid US$20 per roll (around AUD$28). Both rolls I received contained 24 exposures each. The website suggests they should be 36 exposures, but mine weren’t (possibly due to cost-saving measures?). Regardless, the price is on the higher end for only 24 exposures and something to keep in mind if you are looking for more budget-friendly film stocks.

Shooting

I shot both rolls with my reliable Canon EOS 3000n (Rebel), which generally meters exposure accurately in varying conditions. One of the rolls was home developed and the other I had developed in a lab. Both were scanned by myself at home using my DSLR scanning setup, and converted using Negative Lab Pro in Lightroom.

For #3, I took some studio shots with friends under artificial light and the rest during an outdoor walk with my family. The film performed well in both settings, with the colour orbs and streaks not overwhelming the scenes. The website’s description of #3 was pretty accurate, with pleasing reds, magentas, and golden orbs scattered throughout the frames. Some orbs were bright enough to blow out small sections of the image, but I didn’t mind—it worked well for the compositions I had.

#4’s results were quite different. The holographic paper exposure resulted in strong rainbow hues dominating much of each frame. In some cases, the effect was so strong that the underlying image was almost imperceptible. The colors were intense, and the overall tone of the images seemed cooler, which was a bit unexpected.

Summary

It’s important to reiterate that Psych Blues is an experimental film. To use it effectively, you need to be open-minded about the variety of results you'll get. For me, shooting this film was literally a bunch of fun. I loaded it without too many expectations and embraced the unpredictability.

Between the two, I personally preferred #3 and have already ordered more, along with #6, which promises to offer something different again. I also plan to try the 120mm version now available. I found that scenes that were simpler and less cluttered to be more pleasing overall (perhaps because the colour and light effects of the film can already be quite overwhelming to the senses, so the simpler the image, the better for me).

Would I use this film for an important project or a paid job? Probably not, given its unpredictable nature. But for the sake of creativity, experimentation, and capturing something unique, I will definitely be using it again. Next time I will be even more considered in where and what I shoot, aiming to having cleaner backgrounds and possibly playing with multiple exposures and silhouettes.

What really made this film special was the sheer enjoyment of the shooting process. Not knowing exactly how the effects would interact with each scene added a playful element to every frame. It felt like a rediscovery of the joy of photography. I would definitely reach for Psych Blues again when I’m looking to add a bit of surprise and artistry to personal projects or when I want to shake up my usual workflow with something unexpected.

Psych Blues Website: https://psychblues.com/

Psych Blues Instagram: @psychedelic_blues_film