Woodland Tri-X experiment

[ian_s]

In retrospect I suspect Tri-X 400 film maybe wasn't the best film choice for woodland images, where the contrast was already quite high with bright light shining through the canopy. I wasn't ready to swap the film over so proceeded anyway, and have probably over compensated and bumped into the films dynamic range when trying to edit. To some extent I have found the shadows and highlights less forgiving than a digital sensor.

Let me know what you think

 

[Steve]

I like the 1st shot the most. Could you scan the negative twice one for the shadows and other for the highlights and then merge them together?

 

[ian_s]

I like the 1st shot the most. Could you scan the negative twice one for the shadows and other for the highlights and then merge them together?

Yes that's my favourite too, followed by the forth. I am using a Nikon Coolscan V with Vuescan s/w so will need to investigate the settings for shadows / highlights separately. I have set it to create DNG raw files and then convert in Lightroom hoping that covered the best dynamic range.

 

[Steve]

Yes that's my favourite too, followed by the forth. I am using a Nikon Coolscan V with Vuescan s/w so will need to investigate the settings for shadows / highlights separately. I have set it to create DNG raw files and then convert in Lightroom hoping that covered the best dynamic range.

I like the grittiness of them all - good old Tri-X.
I am not an expert but I have bleached overdeveloped negs in the past with ferri, obviously this can wipe out the shadows so care not going too strong! If I scan negatives I use a digital camera and just set the camera to manual shoot in raw and bracket to get the best compromise. Modern software I find incredible and seems to reveal so much of the image if it's there.

 

[Martin Henson]

All a bit mid gray with little contrast, per single exposure film has a wonderful ability to hold both shadow and highlight detail, dare I say better than digital, it is all about the process of reading the light, exposing for the shadows and developing for your highlights even in a woodland scene. Even if you get all that right the Hybrid workflow from a scan takes time to get right, a learning curve. On the bright side, I like the composition of the 1st and 3rd image

 

[Flyingzebra]

1st and 3rd for me

I *like* the contrast

Thanks for sharing these photos!

 

[ian_s]

All a bit mid gray with little contrast, per single exposure film has a wonderful ability to hold both shadow and highlight detail, dare I say better than digital, it is all about the process of reading the light, exposing for the shadows and developing for your highlights even in a woodland scene. Even if you get all that right the Hybrid workflow from a scan takes time to get right, a learning curve. On the bright side, I like the composition of the 1st and 3rd image

Martin, I am metering the shadows and exposing two stops higher. As for developing for the highlights that I assume is referring to the printing ? Either way I send mine off for commercial development so that a bit out of my control. I have added a bit more mid tone contrast to a few, so let me know what you think ?

 

[Martin Henson]

Yes a little better
Spot meter of a shadow area of choice then under expose by 2 f/stops to place them on zone 3

Developing for the highlights in the image, ideally you need to determine the scenes dynamic range , 5 stops in a perfect world, if the range extends to 6 stops the film development time needs reducing to bring the highlight density back to 5, if the range was 4 stops then over develop to bring the density to 5 , it’s called +- development , works best with single sheet film , that’s what is meant by meter shadows develop for highlights

If your using roll films then meter the shadows, then the highlights and take an average exposure from both, try to estimate the lighting conditions as flat, medium or high contrast and develop accordingly if it’s flat light under expose and over develop if it’s high contrast over expose and under develop ,this is called pushing and pulling the film, medium contrast dev as normal increase paper contrast.

You can use roll film using plus minus development, however, the lighting and DR on the scene needs to be very similar for each frame on a roll to alter dev times accordingly,

You might be aware of all this so apologies for pointing out the obvious

 

[ian barber]

To some extent I have found the shadows and highlights less forgiving than a digital sensor.

Shadow detail is all about exposure, dont give it enough light and there will be very little there. Highlight detail is all about development and scene dynamic range.

5 stops in a perfect world

If the film is going to be scanned then you will find that its actually more than 5 stops.

 

[Flyingzebra]

If the film is going to be scanned then you will find that its actually more than 5 stops.

The hybrid workspace with film and the scanner / electronic darkroom is amazing