img356editfinal
Omberg
Parking
s37-35mm-nikonfe-018
img356editfinal
Oven's Mouth Preserve
Ferns and Lilies
Vita #2
Dwayne Martin

img356editfinal

I'm placing this image in the critique gallery hoping that someone might be able to explain why the uppermost portion of the model is completely blown out? I have had this issue many times before in low light conditions. The photo was under exposed from the start because I shoot a speed graphic with a minimum shutter speed of 1/30th sec and the sun was going down fast.Nothing in the meter reading would have indicated that a part of the scene was off the charts? Very frustrating problem, any help would be greatly appreciated. For the record I used normal development time so over development does not explain this problem.....
Click to expand...
Location
Sarasota
Equipment Used
speed Graphic Aero Ektar combo
Exposure
1/30th
Film & Developer
ilford FP4 D76 1:1
Paper & Developer
Scan
Lens Filter
None
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Dwayne Martin
Is this print for sale?
  1. Yes
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Reactions: Reinhold
Hello, I like the image as is. Is this a print or a negative scan? That might help pin down the problem.
 
michael9793
Are you using a spot meter and measuring the highlights on the model and placing them in the right zone. The Zone range seems large. It looks as much as Zone 9 to zone 0 or 1. I would try some shots starting with over exposure and underdevelopment to under exposure and over development. Skin tones are hard to predict because it will reflects light more than you think. You don't need a nude to test this. face and legs are a good start and you can shoot in the same spot as this giving you a harsh light to dark background. Also if you are shooting sheet film this is very easy to do when developing. if you are using a roll back on the camera. then shoot like I said and mark the rolls for the different exposure and development. Which means lots of film rolls but once you figure it out. the control is there for any situation. I love the shot though. good job!
 
Dwayne Martin
michael9793 said:
Are you using a spot meter and measuring the highlights on the model and placing them in the right zone. The Zone range seems large. It looks as much as Zone 9 to zone 0 or 1. I would try some shots starting with over exposure and underdevelopment to under exposure and over development. Skin tones are hard to predict because it will reflects light more than you think. You don't need a nude to test this. face and legs are a good start and you can shoot in the same spot as this giving you a harsh light to dark background. Also if you are shooting sheet film this is very easy to do when developing. if you are using a roll back on the camera. then shoot like I said and mark the rolls for the different exposure and development. Which means lots of film rolls but once you figure it out. the control is there for any situation. I love the shot though. good job!
Click to expand...
Yes I'm using a Pentax spot with a zone dial. The scene had a very small range of brightness, as it was dusk. The skin tones were places on zone 5. I couldn't find more than 2/3 of a zone difference in skin tones (in the brighter areas)and I've already done extensive testing for my normal development time. This is why this problem makes no sense to me. It has happened many times in low light situations and it all but ruins the negative because there is no detail in the blow out areas.Thanks for the interest.
 
I'm not a LF photographer so I can't help much, but I do know that negative scans often fail to bring out the full range an image has.But let me know if you'd be willing to sell a print of this. I find it excellent.
 
What does the negative look like? Is it truly that dense in the highlight area? If you hold the negative between your eye and a newspaper under normal room light, can you still see type through the dense areas of the neg?If it is really dense, the shutter could be hanging up and giving an exposure much longer than 1/30.If the negative is normal, and not too dense, then most likely it is a scanner setting.
 
Dwayne Martin
Larry H-L said:
What does the negative look like? Is it truly that dense in the highlight area? If you hold the negative between your eye and a newspaper under normal room light, can you still see type through the dense areas of the neg?If it is really dense, the shutter could be hanging up and giving an exposure much longer than 1/30.If the negative is normal, and not too dense, then most likely it is a scanner setting.
Click to expand...
Thanks, I will give that a try....
 
Dwayne Martin
Larry H-L said:
What does the negative look like? Is it truly that dense in the highlight area? If you hold the negative between your eye and a newspaper under normal room light, can you still see type through the dense areas of the neg?If it is really dense, the shutter could be hanging up and giving an exposure much longer than 1/30.If the negative is normal, and not too dense, then most likely it is a scanner setting.
Click to expand...
I think you guys are right it must be the scan. I can indeed read news paper type thru the dense areas. I guess I was thrown by the fact that the scans usually turn out so well. I only seem to have this problem with negatives that are mostly thin with small dense areas like this shot so maybe the scanner is making some adjustment according to the overall average density of the negative (Im just guessing)It's an epson v700. One day I hope to have a darkroom
 
michael9793
Then I'm sure the negative is fine. Too bad you could not make a contact print using Azo I bet it would be a outstanding print. Even Platinum would probably give you shadow and highlight detail you didn't even know you had. That has happened to me , for some reason unless you scan it very flat they just loose detail in scanning. even with my Nikon scanner I could never get it to where I could just wet printing the negative.
 

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