 Candi C. Mann |
Film Developing Techniques I recently read "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson and I've been trying some of his techniques. I deliberately underexposed a backlit flower to try to make the background black. But, after I dropped the film off at my local developer, I realized that I didn't tell him that I had done this. My question is this: If I want to employ some of these creative techniques, should I bring them into my local professional developer and tell him what I'm trying to accomplish with each shot or should I send them somewhere where the developer will send the film though a machine and give me prints that aren't corrected at all? My local guy told me that he can adjust up and down several stops (up to five in one direction, I believe). Do I want him to do this? Can you tell I'm a novice? I hope my quesiton is making sense. BTW, my flower photo didn't come out as I had hoped, but I don't know if it was my fault or the developer's. Thanks!
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Jeff S. Kennedy |
Unless you were underexposing with the idea to push process the film you don't need to tell your developer anything. You may end up having to explain it to him when you get prints made if he isn't paying attention when he prints your proofs. For example I've shot sillouettes but when I got the proofs back the lab adjusted the exposure so the foreground elements were bright and the background was blown out. All I did was explain how I wanted them printed on the reprints and it was fine.
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Jeff Galbraith |
Another great way to make sure that what you shoot is what you get, is to shoot slide film. However, having good prints made from slides is costly.
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Candi C. Mann |
Thank you, Jeff. I've never shot slide film before. Do you like the quality of slide film better than 35mm?
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Candi C. Mann |
Jeff K, Please bear with me. What do you mean by "prints your proofs"? Do you get your film processed and then have a proof sheet made up? Then do you get prints made after looking at the proof sheet? I'm still at the point where I'm just bringing a roll of film in to a developer (35mm) and having the developer process the film and make prints all in one shot. Can I get a proof sheet with 35mm film? Or is that what the contact sheet is? If so, should I be having my film processed and only getting a proof sheet and then deciding which of those I want made into prints? I'm sorry to sound so dense. Thanks for your help. Candi
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Candi C. Mann |
Wait, Jeff K! I used the wrong terms in my question above. I wanted to know if an index print is the same as a contact sheet. And is there such a thing as a proof sheet? Thanks!
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Jeff Galbraith |
Hi Candi, Actually slide film is 35mm, with a difference--no negatives. The film is developed as a positive image (the colours are already as they should be.) The strip of film is then cut and each frame is mounted in cardboard or plastic. These are your slides, ready for the projector. You will find that the colours are much richer with slide film. Slides also give a much better sense of depth. On the down side, your exposures have to be more exact--slide film only has a latitude of about two stops compared to negative film's four or five--but with practice, you'll get the hang of it. I started shooting slide film about a year ago, and I hardly ever shoot negative film anymore. Give slides a try, and I bet you'll be impressed.
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Candi C. Mann |
Jeff G., Thanks again for the explanation. I'm wondering if the person who develops my film now can tell me if I'm metering correctly or if he has to do a lot of adjustments to my prints to get them to look correct. It's always the same person. Since I know he can adjust several stops in either direction, I have no way of knowing if I'm on target most of the time or not. Now, what do you do with your slides? Do you put them in a projector to view them and then take the ones you like to have made into prints? Or do you drag the old photo projector out every once in a while for a siide show for all the relatives? I get the impression that shooting slide film is a whole different ball of wax than shooting 35 mm. Thanks again for helping a newbie!
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Daniel Dimitroff |
I wouldn't say slide is a whole different ball of wax. I'd put it as it is a more demanding format. I'm fairly new to slide (about 2 years experience), but have gotten to the point of knowing which slide films work for me and which don't. I get my slides done by a lab thru a local camera store. The cleck there has been extremely helpful with tips and critique of my shots. He knows what & how I shoot, then pointed me towards films he thought would work for me. When I'm really serious about taking pictures, I carry two bodies with different speed films. I shoot mostly landscape and weather pictures, both full sun and low light, and slide film is less forgiving with its exposure ranges. I also carry around a good point and shoot camera with print film to take a 'base' shot of whatever I'm trying to photograph. This way, if I'm really off with the slide (I use Olympus OM-1 bodies), I'll still have (hopefully) a decent picture. I don't have my slides cut or mounted by the lab. I cut them myself on a lightbox, scan them with my cheap PacificImage 1800u and drop them into negative sleeves. I view the scans on my PC then get the best shots put on Kodak PCD.
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George E. Givens Jr |
Candi, There is 35mm print film and 35mm slide film. When you take your print film to your lab tell them you don't want any exposure adjustments made. That way you can see what your exposure settings are doing. If your lab person doesn't know what it means or how to set their machine to make no adjustments then I suggest you try another lab. Most 1 hour labs or drugstore/grocery store/department store (Target, Walmart, ect.) photo lab personnel don't have any idea how to stop their auto everything machines from making exposure corrections. All they know how to do is push the button. When you get a print back that you suspect wasn't printed correctly then take the negative and print back to the lab and tell them what you want. If they won't or don't know how to reprint correctly take the negatives to a different lab.
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Candi C. Mann |
Thanks, George! I will discuss it with him next time I go in. That sounds like just what I'm looking for.
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George E. Givens Jr |
Candi, You are welcome. Please let us know how things work out. By the way, if I may be so bold I would like to suggest that you read the book "Photography" by Barbara London and John Upton. I believe it is in it's 6th edition. This book has really good information about the subject of photography, from A to Z. It will make a great edition to your photographic library and be an invaluable reference tool.
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Candi C. Mann |
Thank you for that recommendation, George. I put it on my Amazon wish list. Maybe some kind soul in my family will buy it for me for Christmas! It looks like a great book. I've been reading books on determining exposure and natural light photography. My photos are improving very quickly. I'm still not brave enough to post them on this site, though! Thanks again!
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Susan |
I'm a beginning photography hobbyist myself. . .I just originally developing photos at Walmart or Walgreens. After having Ritz/Wolff camera develop a roll for me, I've never been back. They print each photo individually, rather than 'running it through the machine', and its made a huge difference.
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Lynn B |
I have been a photo technician for over a year now in a 1 hour photo lab. I also do my own photography on the side. I would like to respond to a few comments made. I work for Wal-Mart 1 hour. I can agree that alot of 1 hour techs are underexperienced. But, luckily in the lab I work in we have the most updated equipment available to us at this point. Which is an answer to one question. I have printed many slides in my lab. Better quality labs will give you the opportunity to bring in slides and have them developed. All though I can not as of now develop them, I can scan and print them. As for auto adjustments on personal photographs, we have our machines set to where if the photographer wants to have a color adjustment, they have to specify if. I will not adjust anything unless asked because it takes away from the photographer knowing what they may have done wrong. Sadly, I did not know that there were labs that did automatic color adjustments without consent or having been asked. The hard part is finding a good one hour service. If a lab is not maintaining their equipment in the proper way, your print results are going to be dramatically different. A mistake as simple as not conditioning your printer to paper with different emulsions could completely alter the overall affect and originality of a photograph. There are some really great one hour development centers around. The hard part is just finding the best. Also, on another note, a very good inexpensive slide film that I have worked with before is EliteChrome. Just a suggestion as to a good one I like.
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Tracey Lytle |
To: Lynn B. I was pleasantly surprised to hear that a Wal-Mart lab tech spoke up. I've been in photography (as a hobby) since I was 16 and am 36 now and still as nuts for it as ever. I usually take my film to Wal-mart here in Ontario, (specifically Orillia) and have always gotten excellent results. But I do have to admit, I am now getting very serious about my hobby and taking it to a higher level and am going to try to make some money, ie (wedding, portrait)after what i've seen out there, my work is pretty darn good. However, as I was saying, I will be trying a pro lab and some new pro film I've ordered to see what I can create. I will let you know. Tracey
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