Cigar Shop

[AlanO]

Some photos taken at a locar cigar shop with an OM2N with a Zuiko 50mm 1.4 lens and Ilford Delta 3200 film. C&C welcome.

Scans from 8x10 prints.

1

82100010 by Nokinrocks, on Flickr

2

pipes by Nokinrocks, on Flickr

3

hookah by Nokinrocks, on Flickr

4

Cigar (recropped) by Nokinrocks, on Flickr

 

[timor]

Tell us more about how did you make this pictures. What light did you have ? OM2N was on auto exposure ? To me it looks, like even f1.4 and Delta 3200 was not enough or you under develop this film. Picture of the man smoking pipe would be interesting if not for the fact, that camera moved.

 

[AlanO]

Tell us more about how did you make this pictures. What light did you have ? OM2N was on auto exposure ? To me it looks, like even f1.4 and Delta 3200 was not enough or you under develop this film. Picture of the man smoking pipe would be interesting if not for the fact, that camera moved.

Pictures were ambient light. 1 dim track lighting in humidor 2 show case light 3 flourescent 4 small room with lamp on table and tv.

All were deveoped 9 min 30 sec in D76 @ 68d... Prints were developed Dektol for 1 min, I was in a cold basement room and my temperature my not have been a constant 68... Ilford Contrat filter 2 1/2 used on 1,2 (?),4, and no filter on 3.

I believe I was shooting manual and they all may not have been wide open. I did have a tripod, not sure if I shook it but the smoker was moving.

I appreciate the feedback.

 

[timor]

#1 is obviously muddy, maybe more contrast should be used.
Other pictures display very narrow DoF, so the aperture was 2 or bigger.
Smoker might be moving, but the pipe not, it looks like the shutter was too slow for hand shot. Too bad, I like this shot.
Now, did you sharpen the picture after scanning ? I found out, that scanned prints still should be sharpen and adjusted for contrast. Rules of digital .
No filter is most likely equivalent of filter 2.
Also I think maybe more contrasty film developer should be used if light was so soft, but here is only my guess, I am not using D76.
One more thing, what ISO setting did you used for that Delta 3200 ? How looks negative ? Strong or weak ?
How long are you printing on your own ? I am very glad you do. Maybe you can show some other pictures made in more normal conditions ?

 

[jenko]

I like the last one. Wish there was just a tad of room above that lamp, though.

 

[AlanO]

I like the last one. Wish there was just a tad of room above that lamp, though.

Jenko, That's my pick too. I struggled with the crop and decided to remove the lamp top to put more emphasis on the cigar. Maybe I'll take another look. Thanks

 

[AlanO]

#1 is obviously muddy, maybe more contrast should be used.
Other pictures display very narrow DoF, so the aperture was 2 or bigger.
Smoker might be moving, but the pipe not, it looks like the shutter was too slow for hand shot. Too bad, I like this shot.
Now, did you sharpen the picture after scanning ? I found out, that scanned prints still should be sharpen and adjusted for contrast. Rules of digital .
No filter is most likely equivalent of filter 2.
Also I think maybe more contrasty film developer should be used if light was so soft, but here is only my guess, I am not using D76.
One more thing, what ISO setting did you used for that Delta 3200 ? How looks negative ? Strong or weak ?
How long are you printing on your own ? I am very glad you do. Maybe you can show some other pictures made in more normal conditions ?

Negs look a little weak... I've been shooting this film at 1600 but, maybe 1250 or 1000 would have been a better choice (I know the film is rated as 1000 iso). I picked up a Beseler 23c a couple of years ago, made some prints, then I got busy with other things. Now that I have a little time I plan on putting it to use. Thanks

 

[vintagesnaps]

I like the second one, has an interesting perspective and seems to capture the mood of the place.

I wondered in the first one if there was glare on the glass of a display case? Looks like you got maybe an occasional scratch on the negatives and/or dust on the enlarger. (I hate when that happens... so aggravating to get a dust spot on one of my prints!)

I've never tried the Delta 3200 but this makes me want to give it a try.

 

[AlanO]

I like the second one, has an interesting perspective and seems to capture the mood of the place.

I wondered in the first one if there was glare on the glass of a display case? Looks like you got maybe an occasional scratch on the negatives and/or dust on the enlarger. (I hate when that happens... so aggravating to get a dust spot on one of my prints!)

I've never tried the Delta 3200 but this makes me want to give it a try.

Thanks Vintagesnaps, The only glass was in photo 2 so I'm not sure if we are talking about the same photo. In photo 1 I did leave my focuser on the print (under the cigar) for about a second after starting the exposure, that might acount for the glare. My shots are full of dust, scratches and water spots, I have a hard time working clean enough to eliminate them.

 

[vintagesnaps]

That could be, that's the one I meant.

I'd been using a shared darkroom at a local university and didn't take me too long to figure out college students can be slobs! lol - no, actually the equipment just got a lot more use than a home darkroom probably would. (Well, they can tend to start to turn into slobs right before spring break!) The university darkroom had a film drying cabinet to try to reduce dust on negatives. I usually got my film developed at a lab so I could look at my negatives at home before I went up there since my time was limited using the darkroom and I wanted to spend it making prints.

I started taking along a microfiber cloth and/or soft lens cleaning brush to clean the enlarging lens every single time before I used it. More recently I've tried ROR (Residual Oil Remover) to clean camera lenses (not enlarging so don't know if that would be good or not). I just put a drop or two/a few on a microfiber cloth.

I usually leave negatives in the sleeves and I also used compressed air (like the kind made by Beseler) to clean my negatives every time before I put a strip in the enlarger. (I can't think of the name of the brand I'd usually buy, but make sure it's not something that's for electronics etc. but is for film negatives.) If it hasn't been used in awhile I might give it a squirt onto a paper towel to make sure the nozzle is clear before using it to clean a negative. I'd just use a spritz or two in a sweeping sort of movement down the length of a strip of negs to get the entire strip in one or two spritzes. That's the way I learned from taking a grad workshop in B&W film and darkroom work (I don't know anything specific about handling/cleaning color negs).

I only use products designed to be used on film negatives and/or camera equipment, and use them gently and sparingly - a squirt or two goes a long way.

 

[timor]

Negs look a little weak... I've been shooting this film at 1600 but, maybe 1250 or 1000 would have been a better choice (I know the film is rated as 1000 iso). I picked up a Beseler 23c a couple of years ago, made some prints, then I got busy with other things. Now that I have a little time I plan on putting it to use. Thanks

It all comes down to know the time for pushing to the needed ISO. Maybe 9 min 30 sec. was just too short. Delta 3200 is made for pushing.
Good luck with your printing. As everything else with film photography it requires experience.