The Dark Side of Bream

While visiting Paris for a few days, Kathleen Magner Rios published an exquisite series of pictures on Facebook and I couldn’t believe what I was seeing when I came across a picture of a merry-go-round and the Eiffel Tower with a wide black frame…

That’s when Kathleen told me about the bug that was "afflicting" the Bream film: its wide white frame can, in certain circumstances, become black. I’ve just published an entire series by Kathleen turning this ‘bug’ to her advantage; you can check it out here.

This Bream bug is rather peculiar in the sense that it only reveals itself in the company of certain lenses and flashes, and that you have to use the "Cropping" option. Here’s an example of how it works:

1. Select a picture in your Hipstamatic library.
2. In Pro Mode, change your lens (in this case, Lincoln), film (Bream) and add Juicy Orange Gel flash.

3. Use the "Cropping" tool to zoom in, even if it’s just a fraction, or move the picture slightly up or down (if you took your original in Portrait mode) or left/right (if your picture was taken in Panorama mode).

4. Save the picture.
5. Watch out though, in certain cases (depending on the type of iPhone or iOS you use) the bug won’t appear… but, close the picture and when you reopen it, boom, it appears!

Here’s a video that runs you through the different steps:

A few things worth mentioning:

• I, of course, can’t test 150.000 possible combinations but, I can tell you that the bug does work when using the Lincoln and Rudolph lenses and, seemingly, all the Gel-family flashes: Laster Lemon Gel, RedEye Gel, Juicy Orange Gel, Purple Raindrops Gel… If you’ve come across any others, we’re dying to know! Drop us a line in the comments.

• UPDATE: it's working also with Wonder (thanks to Barry Conway), Doris (thanks to Lori Hillsberg) and Takashi (thanks to Lívia Nagy-Balogh).

• You can also copy the effect (your chosen combo and the bug) by holding your finger on the edited picture; a menu appears with "Copy Effect". This way you can copy it onto other pictures ("Paste Effect").

• Don’t forget that by doing this you will also be copying the Zoom or slight shift you performed while cropping. These effects will also be applied to all other pictures.

This post is also available in: French

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