Slide Film Advice Needed

[erotavlas]

Hi, I recently tested out some slide film that I plan on taking with me on my vacation. It was Kodak E100G.

I shot a test roll in various light conditions The images are located here
https://skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx?cid=8d8566b6a4920af6&page=play&resid=8D8566B6A4920AF6!136

I chose this film because I had poor scan results from Velvia 50 and 100. I found the shadows and dark areas very difficult for the scanner to penetrate.

I though this film might be a bit better and while it is for the most part, I find that the shadows and dark areas still very pronounced. I know slide film is contrasty but what I was wondering was if this is a result of me underexposing the image (i.e. exposing for the highlighted areas rather than the shadows) and if so if I meter for the shadows instead would that solve the issue or blow away the highlights?)

I wasn't really pleased with the shot of the car, or the one with the house, there seem to be too many dark areas where you cannot see much detail. Most of it looks underexposed to me. Those were in direct sunlight with the sun glaring off some of the objects,

Any ideas on how to improve?

One thought I had was to take two exposures (one metered for the dark areas, the other metered for the highlights) and combine them using HDR option in photoshop. Would that work for film?

 

[clanthar]

....I find that the shadows and dark areas still very pronounced. I know slide film is contrasty but what I was wondering was if this is a result of me underexposing the image (i.e. exposing for the highlighted areas rather than the shadows) and if so if I meter for the shadows instead would that solve the issue or blow away the highlights?)

You've already blown the highlights in the photo of the house. You need to decrease exposure in that photo which will of course make the dark areas even darker: rock and a hard place.

The car and house photos are both backlit. Backlighting raises the dynamic range well beyond any possible capture capacity in either film or 8 bit digital. The lighting was adverse. With those photos your choices were:

1. Don't take the photo.
2. Use supplemental lighting to moderate the extreme lighting contrast.
3. Apply special techniques like HDR or extended bit depth capture.

One thought I had was to take two exposures (one metered for the dark areas, the other metered for the highlights) and combine them using HDR option in photoshop. Would that work for film?

HDR can work with film -- you may require more than two exposures.

Joe

 

[erotavlas]

....I find that the shadows and dark areas still very pronounced. I know slide film is contrasty but what I was wondering was if this is a result of me underexposing the image (i.e. exposing for the highlighted areas rather than the shadows) and if so if I meter for the shadows instead would that solve the issue or blow away the highlights?)

You've already blown the highlights in the photo of the house. You need to decrease exposure in that photo which will of course make the dark areas even darker: rock and a hard place.

The car and house photos are both backlit. Backlighting raises the dynamic range well beyond any possible capture capacity in either film or 8 bit digital. The lighting was adverse. With those photos your choices were:

1. Don't take the photo.
2. Use supplemental lighting to moderate the extreme lighting contrast.
3. Apply special techniques like HDR or extended bit depth capture.

One thought I had was to take two exposures (one metered for the dark areas, the other metered for the highlights) and combine them using HDR option in photoshop. Would that work for film?

HDR can work with film -- you may require more than two exposures.

Joe

Thanks very much for the reply. I like your first option best
If I did take multiple exposures to create HDR, with the film how many shots would be optimal? and what exposure difference between shots in f-stops would be best.

 

[gsgary]

When shooting slide you expose for the highlights

 

[Helen B]

Reversal ("slide") film is not ideal if you want to record a wide scene brightness range. Colour neg is far far better, exposed for the shadows. What is your reason for using slide film?

 

[erotavlas]

Reversal ("slide") film is not ideal if you want to record a wide scene brightness range. Colour neg is far far better, exposed for the shadows. What is your reason for using slide film?

I like slide film for some landscape photos, I used negative film before and I found that when I scan it, there is always a slight color cast and the colors aren't as nice as the slides. I find it hard to correct in Photoshop.


I guess I could go either way since I'm scanning them anyway, things like contrast and color can be adjusted later.

 

[Helen B]

How do you scan, and how do you set the colour balance, black and white points for colour neg?

 

[erotavlas]

How do you scan, and how do you set the colour balance, black and white points for colour neg?

I use an Epson 4990 photo scanner, I usually just leave the settings default, I just correct for color in photoshop after scanning.

 

[DiskoJoe]

you should let that film sit around and expire. Then its really a lot of fun.