streaks on color prints, what might have caused it?

EstherC

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Hi everyone,

A local lab did the developing and scanning and printing for the following photo. The picture was taken on a very foggy morning. I was doing the bracketing just to make sure I got the proper exposure. I believe this picture was taken 2 stops over the exposure metered by the camera. In other words, this shot was taken over-exposed.

I noticed the two vertical faint streaks on the sky, one left of the lighthouse and one on the right. They are on the scanned image as well as print. I took the negative to the lab and the tech worked there said the spots are on the negative. One person there claimed it could have been due to the defected film. The other person said it is my camera. "something happened in your camera, dust got on the film in your camera somehow," she said. They don't look like dust to me at all though.... I don't find either answer satisfied me.

What do you folks think? I did notice the similar kind of streaks over the sky area of a couple other pictures but not as obvoius. However, only the over exposed ones have them. I don't see them on any photo taken according to the camera's metering.

I know there might not be an absolute answer but I'm hoping to rule out it's something wrong with my camera or lens..... Thank you in advance! btw the film is kodak portra 160.

9327455905_67d72bf016_b.jpg
 
Here is another picture from the same series of picture with weird "discoloring" spots all over...what happened?

9330524884_a507dcfed3_b.jpg
 
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I don't think I've had anything like this happen, but I can't think of much I ever shot in fog like this. I suppose it's possible the film could be dragging some bit of dust along the pressure plate or something (although I'm trying to picture it, I'd think the lines/marks would be horizontal more than vertical).

Or it could be from something during development I suppose that only shows up on photos like this that are whitish and misty-looking (sort of like when you get a dust spot on a sensor and it just shows up in shots of the sky etc.) I'm wondering how thin the negative got from the exposure/bracketing, although I'm not sure how that would cause this effect.

I can't remember what camera you have but I suppose I'd dust the inside of the camera and the lens well before I put the next roll of film in and see if this happens again.
 
The only spots I see are on my monitor! They look more like streaks to me... makes me think it might be something with the way the film advanced or something that happened in the film processing but I don't know what - as I said I've never had anything like this happen.

You seem to have had a couple of fluky things happen right off the bat haven't you? Guess that's the way things go sometimes, not sure what else to suggest.
 
I don't think I've had anything like this happen, but I can't think of much I ever shot in fog like this. I suppose it's possible the film could be dragging some bit of dust along the pressure plate or something (although I'm trying to picture it, I'd think the lines/marks would be horizontal more than vertical).

Or it could be from something during development I suppose that only shows up on photos like this that are whitish and misty-looking (sort of like when you get a dust spot on a sensor and it just shows up in shots of the sky etc.) I'm wondering how thin the negative got from the exposure/bracketing, although I'm not sure how that would cause this effect.

I can't remember what camera you have but I suppose I'd dust the inside of the camera and the lens well before I put the next roll of film in and see if this happens again.

The picture was shot on a Leica M6 with 50 summicron. I shot a bunch of rolls of same color film on the trip. There was another roll shot on a foggy day like this and the prints from that roll are totally clean. The only difference between these two roll is, though both shot on a foggy day, on the other roll there were always something in the shot that's well lit and not "behind" the fog.

Is it possible it's so foggy that the film pick up some "variation" in the fog?? Just guessing....
 
I got an M3 not long ago. I was thinking you were using an SLR but either way if it was just that roll maybe you're right, that it was something caused or at least that showed up because of the fog where the subject is more obscured.
 
I got an M3 not long ago. I was thinking you were using an SLR but either way if it was just that roll maybe you're right, that it was something caused or at least that showed up because of the fog where the subject is more obscured.

One guy at the lab claimed my camera may have uneven shutter (uneven exposure) that caused the problem in 2nd image. He was specifically talking about the darker area on left and right side of the photo. Though they seem to have relatively straight vertical edges, they don't look like uneven exposure to me. What do you think? Don't see how an uneven exposure could have caused the spots on other area of the film and they all have similar color tint.
 
That sure looks to me like a develop problem. Are the negatives clean? Any chemical residue left on negs or is the marks "in" the film. Maybe IF the negative is very overexposed have I seen similar marks like in the first photo, but that second photo sure looks like a develop problem.
Is it through the entire roll or just at the beginning or the end of the roll? How old was the film?

I've processed 1000's of rolls in C-41 at my job in mini-labs and I can tell you for sure it's not the camera or the lens.
 
Filthy processing machinery and dirty, residue-laden developing chemicals. The lab is slovenly. The shot in post #2 is disgraceful. This has NOTHING to do with your film, nor your camera. A new lab is definitely called for. The guy claiming that shot #2 is caused by an "uneven shutter" is full of it, with a sh, in front of it. He's clearly making excuses for his lab's filthy chemicals and lackadaisical procedures.
 
^^^ I agree.

The lab is cutting to many corners, or they don't actually know what they are doing.
 
That sure looks to me like a develop problem. Are the negatives clean? Any chemical residue left on negs or is the marks "in" the film. Maybe IF the negative is very overexposed have I seen similar marks like in the first photo, but that second photo sure looks like a develop problem.
Is it through the entire roll or just at the beginning or the end of the roll? How old was the film?

I've processed 1000's of rolls in C-41 at my job in mini-labs and I can tell you for sure it's not the camera or the lens.

Thank you very much for your opinions on this. Those marks are on the negatives. I took the negatives to Walgreens and all the prints have the same discoloration and spots. The spots shown on the first picture are seen on several other pictures but not as obvious. The second photo is #6 in the roll and no other picture has the same discoloration.
 

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