denny_rane

Raise your hand if…

You have ever won a prestigious photography award (or any for that matter).

You have been honored to be asked and are deemed qualified to judge high level photography.

In the photographic world you are held in high esteem and your name appears in publications featuring such artists.

 

I flunk out on all accounts. You?

So then, if you are not a Successful or "Nominated".....

Musician

Painter

Car Designer

Clothing Designer

Actor

Soldier

You cannot have 100% valid opinions on

Music

Painting

Cars

Clothing

Movies

The Military

A big advantage if you don't do your own processing, is the

availability of C-41 labs. Many labs that will do black and white film

now charge more than C-41, and you never really know how they do it.

(Which developer? What timing?)

 

Many of the smaller minilabs that used to be around are now closed,

but there are still enough of them around.

 

As noted above, dye clouds sometimes look nice than grain, especially for scanning.

 

It has the lower contrast (gamma) usual for C-41 films. That allows for more exposure

latitude, which can be convenient. It also makes printing harder, as you have to be

more accurate with exposure on printing. Scanners are designed for this.

I See

Thank You

I have never shot XP.

I have seen a few Negs and a few prints made.

They looked quite nice, but so does FP4.

What is the advantage to using XP.?

Thank You

It was professional, though this was early in my career.

 

It used to be called "mitigation of adverse impact" too

Did you guys find rather interesting "Stuff" at times.?

It sound like a pretty fascinating profession, compared to the typical work a lot of guys do.

It has been, for me, a rare frame that was "ruined" by using either type.

Seems like the late 70s or early 80s it was "Cool" to file the opening and be able to print sprocket holes.

That fad seemed to come and go in a hurry.

No doubt there are some who still find it desirable at times. :-)

One size doesn't fit all. A decent magazine for its time I subscribed to and a web site of note are different. We can only do what we can - Winston Churchill comes to mind - "Never, never, never surrender". I may be a never or two short on the quote. You pays your penny and takes your chance.

Pardon my ignorance, or if i am misunderstanding this completely, but....................... you said in Post #1 "There has been no viable route to communicate with the site owners."

You continue to Administer or Moderate a Forum for owners that ignore you.?

Here is my picture of the area where the Oroville Dam and spillway were built. We were doing archaeological salvage in what ws to be the spillway area.

Feather River rapids

[ATTACH=full]1406381[/ATTACH]

Do we have to talk about water.?

If so..............why did THIS 62 year old have to clear out the storm drain, at 10PM last night, while the 4 or 5 30 year olds, that live Right On THAT Corner, just stood there, smoking a J and marveling at the flooding.? :-)

In their defense, they DID come to my aid when i tripped on a crack in the sidewalk, and fell down..........

Anyway.............. "archaeological salvage".......is that something you do professionally, or is it a hobby.?

I shoot mostly 35mm B&W............HP5 and FP4. I buy several rolls of each and just buy more when i run out.

For color negs it has been Color Plus-200. I usually bought that 15 rolls at a time. I have 5 left.

I was Shocked at the price of that "Budget" color film when i looked last night.

It is +/- 2x the price i paid about 2 years ago

I do shoot Provia 100. But just to document the Grand kids growing up. So maybe 2-3-4 rolls (at the most) a year of that.

I do not even pay attention to the cost of buying it or developing it. I don't want to know :-)

I have never frozen my film.

I double bag it with a few Silica Packs and keep it in the refrigerator. My Color Plus-200 is probably 3 years old when i shoot the last of it. Never had a problem.

Perhaps Guys/Gals that keep it longer need to freeze.?

Sunny 16 only works in the Tropics - i.e. within +/- 24 degrees latitude of the equator, where seasonal variations of sun altitude don't vary by much. Outside of that it's pot luck. At 52 degrees North, sunlight intensity at noon varies by over a stop (between >120KLux to 60KLux) during the year, even on a totally clear day and with no air pollution. I know, because I kept a 'sun diary' for over a year.

 

So up here on the globe, it's more like Sunny 11 or even Sunny 8 for a good part of the year. But if you tell that to people living in sunnier climes they just don't believe you. Because if some daft paper guide issued by Kodak says 'Sunny 16', then of course that's the word of God, and not to be disputed!

 

There's a good reason why camera TTL metering caught on.

I have mentioned that, several times, in the comments section of Youtube videos.

Videos where a photographer is trying to be helpful and giving Sunny-16 as a tool for His-Her viewers to use.

When i mention that the originator of S-16 based it on a very specific location on the planet and at rather specific times...................Jesus, the back-lash.

You would think i had said the world was flat or something. :)

People do not want to hear it for some reason.

Not saying S-16 is Bogus-Fake-Stupid...................simply saying..... depending on your locale, time of day, and WHAT you are shooting; that S-16 MIGHT let you down.

Not to labour the point... But.

There aren't many real life objects that even get close to being true black - i. e. having zero or very little Reflectance.

 

Closest you're likely to get 'out in the wild' is probably something like 2% reflectance (maybe an animal with black fur or someone's black woollen coat). Which is just under Zone 2, taking 18% Reflectance as Zone 5. So Zone 4 makes it "Darkgraytop", rather than Blacktop.:cool:

 

However, a rainy day will soon change all that, and reflections from a wet and shiny surface can have almost any possible Zone value.

 

Just stick to TTL or incident metering. Even Saint Ansel couldn't get his Zone number sums to add up straight!

I am pretty much a "Street Photographer".

And yeah, i use the camera meter 99% of the time.

Generally speaking, i am either in some type of sun or some type of shade. I meter both and usually do not take another reading unless the light changes pretty drastically.

The "Blacktop" question was merely academic. It is so ubiquitous, i was surprised i had never metered it before.

I carry an incident meter, but i rarely use it.

In the right situation though, i am glad to have it.

Wow.!

You guys have some REALLY F'd Up blacktop where you live.

We have 100s of miles of highway, county road and strip-mall pavement that is 97% the same color.

Took several readings yesterday.................it all hits about Zone-4.

Well, now i know. :-)

I shot Plus-X for many years.

When it stopped being available i had no problem transitioning to FP4

For that matter, most of the papers i dealt with are no longer available.

They play differently, but i am also happy with the MG Fiber Paper that is still being produced.

Don't like him. The big cheese curator John Szarkowski made him. Most of his stuff is boring crap. But you know the saying...opinions are like assholes...everyone's got one!

I like his tricycle photo

I was just, simply, curious.

I shoot 35mm film but that is meaningless.

Blacktop top "during the day" compared to a gray card.

For some reason i have never done it.

I have metered cement, my hand, a few different pairs of shorts that are virtual gray-cars, but never blacktop.

For "Typical" blacktop that is a few years old, like in a parking lot, what Zone does it seem to fall in, 3...4...5.?

Thank You

I think 12% is small enough, in most situation, to meter something.

You just have to be aware you are taking a very specific reading. It is up to YOU to decide what it will be.

If you meter a shirt, you need to decide where the shirt falls compared to Zone-5

If you meter the "Important Shadows" in a scene, you need to close down 2 stops.

The typical center weighted 60/40 might be easier for most people doing street photography.

Just wow.

 

Interview: Over 30,000 Secret Photos by “Russian Vivian Maier” Are Discovered in Attic

Obviously a fascinating story, The photos take life and have more meaning as you read through the article.

It is a wonderful find IMHO.

I've learned that immigration agents at Ellis Island, especially, changed persons' names often for no other reason than not being able to understand/pronounce them.

This made me laugh. That is a HUGE REASON.

Imagine you are that agent, and you have to Write Down And Record the names of these immigrants.

Can you understand how difficult it would be.?

Somebody tells you their name is..................Stanlikoskfk Jarslwekesskei..

They just became Stan Jarsky

Welcome to America Mr Jarsky :-)

Like [uSER=10934754]@Tony Parsons[/uSER], I saw the hyphen too,

 

The correct link is Photos from families ripped apart by the Holocaust

Wow.!

The stories that go with the photos are gut-wrenching and tear-jerking.

Poland and many places in Eastern Europe were very Progressive/Forward.

The prewar work that the Pols did on Enigma is staggering, still to this day.

I'd like to hear from anyone who uses/used Richard Photo Lab for B&W film processing. Are they good? great? so-so?

 

I currently use Dwayne's Photo Lab, but I asked them which film developer they use, and they said they use a Fuji developer very similar to Kodak’s Duraflo RT developer. Is Duraflo RT good for T-Max film?

 

Thanks for any help!

Sorry, i have never used them, but i have heard their name for many years.

Ask Dwaynes your question, they will be happy to give you an opinion.

If you think you want a specific developer for that film. you should consider developing it yourself.

It really is not very difficult.

I use The Darkroom for slides and sometimes color.

Professional Film Developing & Scans by Mail - Only $12

However, the easiest way I always used to open the aperture was to insert the rear cap, as if you are going to put it on, but rotate only about 1mm. This pushes all the release pins, so while holding the mount in its slightly rotated position gently slide the cap back out of the groove without rotating the mount back. It is tricky, but once you get the hang of it, it will work everytime.

I will give that a shot as well.....never heard that before......Thanks

I was in a camera shop a few years back and looked at a 400mm BL lens. The clerk was surprised when I showed her this "trick".

I bought one of these about 5 years ago. Wow..... they have gotten "expensive" but they ARE worth it.

I am pretty much just a street photographer, so i walk quite a ways and need to carry water, car keys, wallet, film and a few lens, etc etc.

My bag is still in great shape for how much use it gets, in and out of cars buses, all over the ground, benches, used as a head rest, etc etc.

The zippers still work like new. :-)

https://www.amazon.com/Case-Logic-SLRC-206-15-4-Inch-Backpack/dp/B002DW99H8?ref_=ast_sto_dp

I find it odd that people discuss the "Quality" of the "Out Of Focus" portion of a photo that has a shallow depth of field.

We choose certain apertures for a reason, that is true, but i cannot remember , in 1978, anybody being concerned with "Bokeh".

It was there for a reason, no further discussion needed,

The other side of the coin is also nauseating......... "Tack Sharp" is even more over-used than Bokeh.

I have never been concerned with either.

Not sure i ever owned a lens, made by Canon, Nikon, Minolta or Olympus that was not 100% acceptable in the real world. :)

It is not EXACTLY the same thing, but......digital files are a bit like a negative.

If you do not PRINT them, they will not likely catch the eye of any casual viewer in 100 years.

I would argue that negatives will be more "Valuable" in 100 years, but that is not the point.......Make Prints.!

People look at prints.....not negatives and not digital files. :)