New to film photography and forum

Palyriot · Apr 16, 2008

Hi everyone,

I am new to the forum and also sort of new to photography. Over the past...4 days, I have been constantly researching TPF and am still confused.

Before I ask questions, I'd like to introduce my equipment. I have a Pentax ZX-50 with a Pentax 35-80mm 1:4-5.6 with a UV filter attached to it. I have been using Fujifilm 200 speed color film.

After learning all of the basics--aperture, shutter speed, light meter, thirds rule, ISO--I went and took around 14 pictures at the beach around sunset. Directly after leaving I went to Walgreen's and had them printed with their 1 hour service. After getting them back, I found that around 4 or 5 were blurry due to a slow shutter speed and shaky hands. A few were a tiny bit blurred due to a faster shutter speed, but still not fast enough. The rest I took by placing on a rock and letting it sit there with the timer.

This picture has the most light balance out of all of my pictures, but it seems grainy. The picture was scanned at 200dpi to 4 x 6 inches, then converted to 72dpi for the internet.

You can see the 200dpi photo here: http://imgpad.com/seven2.jpg

http://imgpad.com/star.jpg

I also took this picture, which seems to have better quality, but still seems like it's not printed with a high enough dpi for print. I tried out the flash on this photo, which you can tell by the sand around it

I understand that there are several things wrong with the picture, but does it seem very grainy? Once again it seems that it was printed with a low dpi. Is this because of there not being enough light or is it Walgreen's? I plan to drop off my next roll of film on my next trip to Costco. Does anyone have any suggestions for printing film? In a digital world it seems hard to find help on film.

Sorry if I didn't include enough information.

Thank you to everyone that responds.

asfixiate · Apr 17, 2008

Try scanning in a higher DPI. We have to do this type of scanning all the time where I currently work. We're dealing with 40-80,000 dollar scanners and sometimes we don't get good enough results.

Often we have to use "book scanners" to get what we need accomplished when it comes to photos. In my business we can scan greyscale though if we don't have luck.

Also it appears you need to dust off the scanner a bit. My mother has a kodak easy share with one of those all in one printers. I was looking through her pictures she took from my sister's wedding and saw one of my fiance and I that I really liked. I printed it out and took to target. We scanned it and printed out about 50 times there and gave it as christmas presents...lol.

I'm anal retentive and I thought it was great quality but if I took some type of magnification to it most likely I would have seen grainy/noise.

By the way I like this picture a lot.

Palyriot · Apr 17, 2008

I actually scanned at 600 and 1200 dpi with the same results. They were just choppy at 100%, then when sized down, looked exactly the same. I recently talked to someone and they told me that a rite-aid close to me has a frontier printer. I'm going to give them a try.

Judge Sharpe · Apr 17, 2008

I think it is a beautiful photograph. Get an inexpensive tripod or at least a monopod for slow shutter speed shots. Where is this, Big Sur or Washington coast?
Keep it up and you will get the knack in no time.
Judge Sharpe

Palyriot · Apr 17, 2008

Also it appears you need to dust off the scanner a bit. My mother has a kodak easy share with one of those all in one printers. I was looking through her pictures she took from my sister's wedding and saw one of my fiance and I that I really liked. I printed it out and took to target. We scanned it and printed out about 50 times there and gave it as christmas presents...lol.

I'm anal retentive and I thought it was great quality but if I took some type of magnification to it most likely I would have seen grainy/noise.

By the way I like this picture a lot.

Yah, I noticed that too and tried dusting it off, but it still had crap all over it. I'll just dust harder next time.

Thanks about the picture. It is angled a little bit and I fixed that in my version, but that's what you get for using a big rock as a tripod.

I think it is a beautiful photograph. Get an inexpensive tripod or at least a monopod for slow shutter speed shots. Where is this, Big Sur or Washington coast?
Keep it up and you will get the knack in no time.
Judge Sharpe

I will probably get a tripod very soon. It's my birthday in like 2 weeks and I'm sure I'll either get one from somebody or will get a little bit of money for one. I want to spend like $40 or $50 on one. When I have a tripod, I'll be able to take much better pictures. The photos here are at Larabee State Park off of Chuckanut Dr on the Washington coast. It's really a beautiful place. The island in the backround is Lummi Island and Portage Island is the small island in front of it. Both Lummi and Portage islands are part of the San Juans. I just realized while looking at Live Maps that Lummi Island is drivable and would be an incredible place to take pictures. I think after I get a tripod, I will head back to the original place that I took this picture and experiment with the light and tripod once I get it. Maybe the sunset will be a little bit better too.