At 22:49 2/9/02, Clendon Gibson wrote:
I have a number of portraits of a friend that would be
perfect except for the fact that the exposure is off.
I took these pictures with the subject under a tree.
The tree supplies good shade.
The meter in the good ol OM2n gave me reading
including some brighter areas that where not shaded by
the tree, thus under-exposing my subject, and making
her look washed out.
Is there a way to correct?
I am presuming this is negative film . . .
Look at the negative carefully with a magnifier. If you can see some
details in the deepest shadow areas of your portrait subject on the
negative (the thinnest or most transparent areas) you should be able to get
a print out of it.
The problem with consumer print labs is the automated print machines
wanting the entire print to average to 18 0ray. Look at the back of the
print. If there is a cryptic string of numbers and letters printed on it,
these contain codes about the color balancing and "print density" used by
the print machine to make the print. Go back to the lab and ask them to
make several prints, increasing the "density" of each one starting with one
more than the setting used for the one you have. Print "density" is the
proper terminology for how dark the print is. A print with more density is
darker looking than a print with less density.
Do I want to have a good lab take a crack at it?
If the lab looks at you quizically when you request what I suggested above,
or if they bungle it, then it's time to find another lab anyway.
Is a digital method preferred?
You can scan the washed out print, but trying to readjust the "density"
from an under- or over-exposed print usually doesn't work very well. You
cannot retrieve contrast and color details that just aren't there. (Been
there, tried that.)
-- John
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