Giles wrote:-
SNIP
> Colour negative film has the greater dynamic range. This is not true of
the
> paper it is printed on,however, so there is a loss of dynamic range when
images
> are printed.
>
> I found this intriguing because if the technology were up to it you might
be
> able to get better results by scanning colour negatives rather than colour
> positives.
When I caught the Photography bug a couple of years ago, I shot color neg
film exclusively and relied on Mini Labs and later "Professional" Labs to
handle the processing and printing. Properly exposed scenes of average
contrast came back from the lab looking ok. Sunsets/Sunrise scenes however,
were pretty much always coming back as a disappointment and I started to
wonder if I was at fault.
So I began to examine my color negs compared it what came out on the print.
I started to get the feeling that I was practicing my photography with
blinkers on - there is detail on the negs that weren't making it onto the
print. When I mentioned this to one particular "Pro" lab, I was told that
some of the details on a given negative are not practically possible to
print.
As a result I got myself a cheap color head enlarger, print processor and
RA4 kit and had a go at printing one particular beach sunsrise that came
back from the Lab looking rather ordinary - the sky looked more like a
midday sky, the foreground sand however had a nice pearly luminosity to it.
When I yanked my home made print out of the processing drum I got a glorious
sky with lovely pinks,orange and blue colours and nice detail in the wispy
clouds that were hanging about at the the time, yes this was what I had in
mind on the morning I took that photo. OM content - used an OM4 and Zuiko
24/2.8
Unfortunately the pearly luminous sand had turned black, sacrificed to see
what colours lay in the sky in my first print. I hope with a little
judicous dodging, to make a second print that brings out both the sand and
the sky. Now there are many more color negs I've got that should be worth
printing again to see what other potential I can draw out of them. I've not
done anything about gearing up for scanning color negatives yet, what with
the bargain basement prices darkroom hardware can be had for at present, but
I suppose the same if not better results can be had using this technology
when I switch to it.
While I've lately been shooting mostly transparency film, now that I have
printed some of my own color negatives and seen what results can be acheived
with its wider latitude range over transparency, I'm going to include color
neg again in my film stocks for my next attempt at serious shootin. I
encourage anyone who has been considering taking the photo processing part
of photography into their own hands to go ahead and give it a go, it is
truly rewarding! - IMHO.
Regards
S.C.
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