Skin Tones

[elias_roustom]

<p>Printing Color after a couple of years of only b&w. I'm struck by how simple it is technically, but now I'm struck by how tricky it is to get the right color cast. I know I'll get better at it with practice, but I hope someone has a suggestion for my next attempt - I'm trying to correct some caucasian skin which is showing a little yellow in the highlights. More yellow and less magenta filtration? What will this do to blues in the image? And two other questions: On the 0-130 scale, how big a shift is each increment? Does a roll of film get its color cast overall, in the development, or is each frame in need of its own color correction depending on the scene's lighting?<br>

Thanks.</p>

[stwrtertbsratbs5]

<p>Color neg film, I assume? Are you scanning and printing digitally, or are you printing in a color darkroom?</p>

[jonathan_dalton]

<p>Just scan it and digital print - it's easier! (Someone had to say it - might as well be me)<br>

Ok with that out of the way, I've been using a colour calculator which is basically a 4x5 sheet with 127 different filters, one of which will give you a grey square. You line up the grey square with a scale that gives you the filtration values to add. It has another scale which gives you the exposure correction based on the shade of that grey square, already taking into account the effect your new filters will have on exposure.<br>

As long as your test print is in the right ballpark, i.e. not way off, and the negative has a fairly equal proportion of each colour, it will work. I'm getting neutral prints on the first shot using this method. I found this at a local shop for $10, you can probably get one on ebay for cheap.<br>

Every different film stock will require its own filtration but from one frame to the next on the same roll should be consistent. <br>

A change of 5 filtration is barely noticeable, 10 is a slight shift, 20 is significant.</p>

 

[elias_roustom]

<p>Oh I know I can scan it and print. I bet it would cost me more and take longer... the right monitor and the right printer, and the right scanner, and the right calibration, and blah blah blah. For all the wonders of the digital work flow, it's not as easy or cheap as what it's been replacing. I've added color to my darkroom (including paper and chemicals that will last me 6 mos. if not longer) for less than I would spend on a low end ink jet. No scanning time, no post processing, and no work station that looks like I'm still at the office... Just me, my old negative, in my old enlarger on a 36 cent sheet of paper is so much simpler. Only at the moment it requires skills and instincts I don't yet have, and those are a whole lot cheaper, and far more rewarding to gain than all the new stuff I'd need to buy (and then buy again in less than 4 years) to make color ink jet prints of similar quality.<br>

With that out of the way, your experienced answer will help me, and I'm grateful.</p>

[stwrtertbsratbs5]

<p>Some folks don't understand that traditional color prints can be absolutely stunning. And, yes, it is difficult, at first, to get neutral prints. But it does get easier with practice.</p>

<p>Set up a nice area with proper lighting (daylight balanced) and always compare your current prin to the prior print. Adn use color print viewing filters to figure out your next adjustment. It takes a lot of practice. And take notes - write the filter pack on the back of each print so you can see if you're trending in the right direction.</p>

[maris_rusis]

<p>It is difficult to get a very specific colour balance but it is not always necessary. Particularly with portraits, if the error is in the slightly "warm" direction very few viewers seem to notice or care.<br>

My impression is that colour awareness is not a high priority for casual looking. How many times have you gone to someone's house and noticed that their television is badly calibrated. The skies are purple, the grass is fluoro-pop green, the peoples faces are a bright orange carrot colour and no one has changed the settings for years!</p>

[greg_nixon2]

<p>Elias,<br>

The only darkroom printing that I did was colour. It can be tedious to get the colour balance just right.<br>

Johnathon has outlined the method that I used as well. Google for Unicolor and Duocube. The test negative that you use should be an outside shot taken at about mid-day. You setup to print the frame, but put a diffuser under the lens, and print through a mask with the coloured squares placed over the paper.<br>

When you have that frame right all the other frames in that roll should be correctly balanced. If you have bought a brick of film all from the same emulsion batch, then the settings will be the same for all of the brick. The guy that I purchased the darkroom stuff from was a wedding photog. He used VPSIII on both 35mm and 120, but made sure that the emulsion batches were the same.<br>

Good luck with your printing<br>

Cheers</p>