Color Film Questions

[noahx1]

Hello all! I am pretty new to film and had some questions about the colors of my photos. Attached are a few examples from my latest batch (developed and scanned at my local film store). I've noticed many have a blown out sky and greyish tones. Is that standard, or am I making mistakes? (The attached files have not been edited) The film for these was Fuji Pro400H. I shot these on an old Canon AE-1 Program. Thanks for the help!

 

[dxqcanada]

You will somehow show us images of the negative ... as poor scanning can cause this ... but overcast sky's with over-exposure can also cause this.

 

[webestang64]

Look like bad scans to me. But the sky is there.......

 

[noahx1]

You will somehow show us images of the negative ... as poor scanning can cause this ... but overcast sky's with over-exposure can also cause this.

Yeah, here is a better example. When reading, I thought that exposing for the foreground was the best way to do it, but when I did that, the sky was blown out in this one. I am so used to using my ND grad filters or circular polarizers, I may have become too reliant on them!

 

[noahx1]

You will somehow show us images of the negative ... as poor scanning can cause this ... but overcast sky's with over-exposure can also cause this.

Gotcha! I've become a little confused, because looking at examples of over-exposed pictures, many have been quite forgiving, so I may have been way off in my settings. What is the best way to take a picture of a negative? A bright light underneath it and a macro lens?

 

[dxqcanada]

From @webestang64 edit, it does show that there is data in the sky ... meaning the neg does not have over-exposure of the sky.

 

[noahx1]

From @webestang64 edit, it does show that there is data in the sky ... meaning the neg does not have over-exposure of the sky.

Interesting. So likely that would mean it was a poor scan?

 

[dxqcanada]

You should learn how to "read" your film, the neg/slide will tell you everything.

 

[noahx1]

You should learn how to "read" your film, the neg/slide will tell you everything.

I will definitely look into it! I plan to invest in a scanner at the least one day. Just need to make some room for it first.

 

[AlanKlein]

Expose for the ground and use an graduated neutral density filter to darken the sky.