Negative damage??

[lkenney]

I went to Nepal 3 years ago and took a lot of photos. Thinking to

save the film from additional radiation (2 weeks at 11,000 feet or

higher plus several airport x-ray exposures I had them processed in

Katmandu. Now three years later, when I pulled a couple of the

negatives and scanned them I noticed that they all have

these "white" defects. Does anyone know why? Was it poor

processing? Lack of hardener in the processing? I have stored them

in Archival negative sleeves. They do seem to scratch easily. I'm

afraid that this will continue to worsen and I have begun scanning

them all to clean them in PS. If there is a method by which I can

halt this from advancing I'd like to give it a try. Thanks for the

help.

 

Leo<div></div>

[lkenney]

Here's a smaller file size.

 

Leo<div></div>

[lkenney]

Here is a cropped area of the sky.<div></div>

[alexis_neel]

looks like spots...dust on the film. You can easily rewash them and see if it comes off. You might need to gently rub the film with your wet fingertips on both sides to dislodge the dust.

 

HTH

[j_smith6]

You just have to wash them.

[jtk]

The lines are either dust or, at the edges, shadows of fibers protruding into the image area from your camera's light trap (can be seen with the mirror locked up and the shutter opened, back open).

 

The blob shapes may dirty chemistry. If you have lots of negatives you might want to soak a test neg for a minute in warm water with photoflo, then use your moist fingers (no calouses!) to squeegee. See if that damages the test film before you go further. But you might be smarter to do your scans first. Download Polaroid's free dust-and-scratch software, try that.

 

PS technique is going to be a burden, Polaroid may be better...

 

You ought to consider the SCANS archival, not the negatives. Minilab processing is commonly not done using full/proper chemistry or adequate wash in the US and Europe...usually junk processing...maybe worse in Nepal. It's surely got a shorter lifespan than it would have, processed ten years ago.

 

I'd assume they're doomed in the short run so I'd edit and scan, considering the scan the archival storage.

 

To edit I might first scan everything quickly at low resolution (maybe 720ppi) using my Epson flatbed (12 frames at a time), printing all to 4X6 as proofs using Qimage (good for high production of small prints, cheap). After editing I'd scan the select images with my Nikon V film scanner @ 4000ppi, anticipating printing that bunch at 11" length (my standard).

[jtk]

...by the way, that's a wonderful image. If they're all like that I can appreciate your distress.

 

I think you've over-sharpened...don't sharpen and don't let your scanner default to "sharpen," until you've fixed the spots. Sharpening should come last.