Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
My local lab has four employees. One handles all things Photoshop, one does the actual darkroom stuff, another mostly handles sales, and one does the color developing (via machine) and the slide and negative scanning. As far as I know the scanner they use is nothing special, and the scanned images are roughly 3000 pixels wide. But like I said, the scans always look sort of pale; washed out. Sometimes it's worse than others. When I first started having negatives scanned there I didn't notice. I just assumed the look was due to the film. But when I got prints, they looked MUCH better, so once I realized that I started adjusting the levels of my scanned negatives and slides so they'd have more contrast like the prints. I actually posted a lot of film shots on this board before I started adjusting them.
Note: I may have upped the contrast a little too much on this one, but it definitely shows the difference!
You are fortunate to have a real lab. All of ours have closed up. Pharmacies and box stores now have taken over the film developing business here. I drive 80 miles one way to get real lab service. I spent some time last night plundering my digitals inside functions and zeroed them all out. In a few more hours I hit the road with it. I think I can post from the road, If not I'll see you with some unaltered and if they are not what I saw then we will know the camera needs to be tuned to render what the eye is seeing. One lab that was doing prints for me long ago told me to not edit in Photoshop as their print process evaluated and corrected on the fly. They didn't want over correction. What you have said about the way the labs print is very true. As I looked last night at photos taken years back all I could think is that I could have done so much better even though at the time the prints going out looked very good and customers were very happy. If I don't post until Monday it will be because I'm out somewhere with a big piece of black cloth over my head or riding shotgun aiming a Canon out the window.
You are fortunate to have a real lab. All of ours have closed up. Pharmacies and box stores now have taken over the film developing business here. I drive 80 miles one way to get real lab service. I spent some time last night plundering my digitals inside functions and zeroed them all out. In a few more hours I hit the road with it. I think I can post from the road, If not I'll see you with some unaltered and if they are not what I saw then we will know the camera needs to be tuned to render what the eye is seeing. One lab that was doing prints for me long ago told me to not edit in Photoshop as their print process evaluated and corrected on the fly. They didn't want over correction. What you have said about the way the labs print is very true. As I looked last night at photos taken years back all I could think is that I could have done so much better even though at the time the prints going out looked very good and customers were very happy. If I don't post until Monday it will be because I'm out somewhere with a big piece of black cloth over my head or riding shotgun aiming a Canon out the window.
Well that sounds like me aiming out a window...lol ( but no black cloth over my head)..
That was very interesting to read about the labs, and also the over correction.
I don't generally post my raw photos, but I was really happy with this one:
For the final product I did still end up color correcting it to give a few more reds that were present in real life compared to the image, but this is how it appeared straight out of the camera.
The biggest problem I've encountered with local scanning is that it's a clerk doing it a lot of the time instead of a photo tech. That and some give low res scans and won't even consider a high res because it takes longer. I finally bought my own film scanner for that very reason. A few years back while taking a college digital photo class we could shoot film and have it scanned and the prof made the arrangements for us to get hi res scans. Getting a local scan to render as our eyes see it is questionable in my thinking. I used to think that film and processing was high but doing the math you pay for film and processing up front with the price a high quality digital. Our digitals will wear out. The shutter will stop working one day. I've got an idea for a way to test if I'm getting what my eyes are seeing. I have a 13" printer that can run from a car outlet. I can shoot and test settings on the digital on the spot. This thread has made me think. Thanks Summering.
No need to thank me. I like your way of thinking and I understand it.
You give great uncomplicated explainations.....
There is a Pro photographer here in FL that will hop a flight to Bora Bora just to shoot sunsets and Provia is his film of choice. Time of day is perfect for it. I've seen his work hanging before my eyes and it makes me a little green with envy. He cuts 8x10 sheets in half and shoots 4x10 panoramas.
See...I knew there was a reason I loved that film( Provia) with photos. I once did quite a few panoramas in Hawaii. I'm sure it was just kodak film....but it made for nice shots.
I bet his work is beautiful.
See...I knew there was a reason I loved that film( Provia) with photos. I once did quite a few panoramas in Hawaii. I'm sure it was just kodak film....but it made for nice shots.
I bet his work is beautiful.
In order to get the photograph to capture what your eyes are seeing there is no one right film for every subject just as there is no on size fits all sport coat. One of the pro points that goes to digital is that you can change ISO settings and saturation from one shot to the next instead of changing rolls off film mid roll. I used to change from Kodak Kodachrome 25 to their C-41 color negative film mid roll. It was tricking not to waste to much film but it can be done. One advantage of shooting sheet film is that you can use what ever film you want to from one shot to the next. Velvia one shot, Provia if the light changes, or Astia if true to color is needed or C-41 if more exposure latitude is needed. And even black and white if a fine art texture shot is called for. True our eyes don't see B&W but our eyes miss texture, shapes, and patterns in color photos.
This one was slightly cropped and straightened otherwise straight out of the camera...
Sony NEX-3 + Sony 135mm STF
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
