4x5 joys of handheld metering ...

[manjo]

I was in Acadia NP over the long weekend, I took my toyo out on the field and on small hikes in the park. I shot a bunch of polariod and fuji velvia 100F. BUT!!!!!! I set my hand held light meter at ISO800, fired a shot of polariod, happy with the results I loaded a quickload of fuji velvia 100F and fired the shot with the same settings.... OOOPS! which means I was underexposing my shots by a GOOD amount!... I shot approx 6 slides out there, and made the same mistake six times... Expensive lesson this one.

Should I even bother developing these slides ? Can I tell the lab what I did and can they push/pull process and salvage my shots ? Any suggestions welcome.

 

[Ray Heath]

ok manjo, expensive? how much a shot?

you've under exposed by 3 stops, kinda like the difference between correct and really bright

have them pushed processed and you may get something interesting, high contrast, weird colours

better than nothing, and ya neva know

 

[George Papantoniou]

Have them processed in pushed C-41, or develop them in D-76 for 10 minutes, wash and then put them through a C-41 machine (in order for the colour couplers to be activated). You'll get really interesting negs.

 

[reellis67]

You could always have them do a single sheet and then you can judge whether it would be worth it or not to do the rest.

- Randy

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

I'd have it pushed 3 stops, and it's not a bad idea to run a test sheet first. The contrast will be high, but it's the closest you'll get to a "normal" result.

 

[Bill Hahn]

Ah, the old "had the meter on the wrong ISO setting" mistake....

The best mistakes in LF are the ones you only realize after a day's shooting, with your equipment already packed. Am I the only one who has suddenly gone pale, blurted an expletive, ripped open the camera bag and let loose with a wail of anguish at the wrong ISO setting on the meter?

(George P. Shiras in his book "Hunting Wildlife With Flashlight and Camera", relates how he ruined two pictures by pulling the wrong darkslide. He had a Native American guide with him who was surprised to see his anguish. Shiras explained his problem, and the guide refused to believe that "one mistake could ruin two pictures". When reading this, I thought: "one mistake can ruin an arbitrary number of pictures" - namely, wrong setting on the meter.)

 

[jovo]

I once exposed an entire roll of Velvia thinking the meter was reading 1/4 and then 1/2 second when, in fact, it was reading 4 and 2 seconds. Doh!! i never bothered to have the film processed.

 

[Drew B.]

I once exposed an entire roll of Velvia thinking the meter was reading 1/4 and then 1/2 second when, in fact, it was reading 4 and 2 seconds. Doh!! i never bothered to have the film processed.

I'd still develop the film...who knows, you might have screwed up someplace else, ie. aperture... and in your favor! Who knows?

 

[SuzanneR]

Manjo... you just HAVE to go back to Acadia NP!! That's my advice!!

 

[papagene]

Last year when Whitey, Dan Lin (dlin), Steve B and I were photogy'ing up at Bear's Den in New Salem I had forgotten to reset my meter and overexposed all my shots by three stops!!
Oh and of courrse I had left my cable release at home... along with my mind!

gene

 

[manjo]

yeah I like the idea of pushing one sheet and check to see if I like the result. I shot 6 sheets before I realized my mistake. Like Bill said, I was talking to a friend at the bar abt common mistakes with LF, and that is when it struck me! After I shot the polariod ... I did not change the ISO setting on the meter!!!! DOH!!! It is like a $25 mistake but I have a bunch of MF shots to back up my LF shots... so I think I am ok there... I was a little dissapointed with acadia subject wise, I think I got spoiled by the NPs out west.

But I drove through the East MA coast/cape Main, NH and VT and west MA in 3 days and shooting 6 hours a day. Some of my best shots so far are on polariod 53.

 

[Troy]

Having grown up and lived in Maine all my life I'm familiar with Acadia. I'm sure it doesn't stack up to the parks out west for sheer knee-buckling awe. But you have to remember it was designed and created during the Gilded Age by the Rockefellers and their ilk. It's a "gentlemen's" National Park, easily accessible and genteel.

 

[Bill Hahn]

It's probably cold comfort at this point, but if anyone still has my handout from the March workshop at the VPC, please refer to item number 6, which warns about this mistake. (In all capital letters, I might add.)

There's a wonderful video about Rondal Partridge, Imogen Cunningham's son and assistent to both Ansel Adams and Dorothea Lange before he was 20. In it he says (I'm quoting from memory) "You learn in photography by making mistakes. When you make the mistake the second time, you know you're learning. And when you make it the third time....(starts laughing)."

 

[JustK]

Manjo... you just HAVE to go back to Acadia NP!! That's my advice!!

NEAPUG field trip!!! Manjo needs our support!!!

 

[manjo]

I should say thanks you to jamesg/billh who introduced me to polariod 53 film. Most of my best shots from acadia were polariods. I showed them to a friend of mine and he bought 10 of my photos from me. He offered me $10 a piece, I would have given it to him anyways, but 100 bucks went a long way to cover for the 100F lost due to my mistakes.

I gave 2 of my underexposed shots to newtonville camera store for processing, and told them its a 100F exposed at 800. I will know on wed how they turn out.