BW photos

Cuervo79 · Oct 29, 2006

OK, here's the deal. The thing is I took some photos of the same subject with my dslr (rebel xt) and with my 35mm (rebel) with the ilford 5ht (it says illford delta professional 100 in the negatives)

I played with some of my digital photos with the chanell mixer to convert them to bw and 1 in particular looked stunning. So I developed the bw film and there is a pic with pretty much the same theme and action (a water spray) but it looks completely different from the digital one.

Now my question is, how do I speak with the people where I develope and get my copies to have that kind of look. I was thinking of scanning the film and then adjusting it so that it looks the way I want it, then tell them to make a copy that looks as much as possible like the print I did. (I need this because the club I'm in there is a BW category in wich all the developing and copying has to be done manualy no digital manipulation and print) Still I would like to know more for future reference and not take all the time to go back to my house adjust and then come back.

I leave you the 2 photos 1 is the digital one and the other I scanned it and adjusted it so it looks like the copy I received
Thisone is the digital one

thisone is the film one

This is kind of what it looked like, other than "contrast" what else should I tell them? with just the contatc sheet...

Torus34 · Oct 30, 2006

The two basic b&w controls are brightness and contrast - just like a b&w TV set. Additional procedures such as dodging, burning in, softening, etc. are the province of the home darkroom and the [expensive] pro lab.

From what I can see, the only adjustment you can make is to increase the contrast while setting the exposure so that the print carries almost a full white in the highlights and a full black in the shadows.

Incidentally, if b&w interests you [you're already using b&w film], why not consider doing your own processing? That way, you can achieve much greater control over the finished print.

Cuervo79 · Oct 30, 2006

well, that would mean I would have to invest in a home dark room, although it sounds interesting its not really my thing, well the "expensive" pro lab is where I send my rolls for developing, that's why I was asking.

Also is there anything else I can do "in camera" or the adjustments are done al post processing?

Torus34 · Oct 30, 2006

A home darkroom can be a temporarily-converted bathroom or a corner of a basement.

In the case of this shot, post-processing, using a higher-contrast enlarger filter setting [VC paper] or a higher contrast grade of single-contrast paper, is the answer.

In general, the best thing you can do with b&w camera exposures is to try to capture all of the detail you can. A normal b&w film can handle a range of about 9 f-stops. As long as the range of your subject doesn't exceed this, expose for the middle of the range. An 18% gray card, used correctly, can pin this down to perfection.

If the range exceeds 9 f-stops, you might have to content yourself with losing detail in either the shadows, the highlights or both, depending on just where you set your exposure.

Cuervo79 · Oct 30, 2006

so the way I'm taking the photo is the best way then allways trying to expose correctly, so I have about 9 f stops up or down to do in post process, I have an idea of how much space is needed for a home darkroom that's why I'm not that into it cause i don't have the space to do it right now

usayit · Oct 30, 2006

In film based photography (especially B&W), the actually exposing of film is just half the story. The other half of the story takes place in a dark room. If you require that much control and detail in the final print you need to tell both sides of the story. I've seen people setup a temporary darkroom in their bathroom shower... it doesn't take much space. Some photolabs will even have a darkroom for you to rent by the hour.

In the photos posted, the digital photo seems to be adjusted towards the highlights thus loosing details in the back as well as higher contast. The intent seems to bring attention to the water droplets. The scanned photo seems to be adjusted towards a more neutral exposure preserving the background while maintaining a less brilliant light from the water droplets. A different intent and way to present the photo... a decision one needs to make during processing.

markc · Oct 30, 2006

If the processing is done automatically (most is), the goal is to have an average grey. If most of your image is either black or white, things need to be adjusted manually to get proper white and black points. The second image has no black, because most of the image was black, and it was shifted to grey. If you show the lab an example of what you want, they should have no trouble giving you that first image. If not, find another lab.