check this exposure please

[CMoore]

I rarely shoot color or E6.
I am embarrassed to say, i cannot tell if these are Over or Under exposed..... especially my wife's pregnant daughter.
Thank You

 

[Chan Tran]

If the slides look like the scans you posted here then they are overexposed.

 

[removedacct1]

Over.

 

[Trail Images]

Highlights are blown out and cannot be recovered in post processing.......overexposure is the issue as already mentioned.

 

[Pentode]

Overexposed for sure.
If you rarely shoot color, know that slide film is much less forgiving than print film where exposure is concerned. It has much less latitude.

 

[mshchem]

Overexposed. You can have the same effect by too warm or too long 1st Developer which increases the film speed. Not sure how you metered this? This is why Hollywood shoots on negative film. If you had done this with color negative film it would be no big deal. Unless you want to project slides, shoot negatives

 

[MattKing]

I love slides. It is worthwhile to persevere.
And by the way, if you learn to expose slide film well, your negatives and your digital exposures will probably be better exposed as well.

 

[trendland]

I rarely shoot color or E6.
I am embarrassed to say, i cannot tell if these are Over or Under exposed..... especially my wife's pregnant daughter.
Thank You

Very special CMore?
Pict. # 1 why not? This shot looks perhaps better from overexposure (think about)
Pict. # 2 I made simular shots (from exposure) mine was around 1 stop overexposed yours is looking like more :

guess your wife is not amused from overexposure - no need to ASK her....hmm? Better NOT!

(2 stops from my point you made wrong - that is allready too much for E6 films)

Pict. # 3 : It is not so very much wrong, perhaps 1/3 stop over (OK it can be more = 2/3 stops)
but if you avoid the highlights from background your dog would be a black dog!
= shadow shot - not your task = inposibble to expose correct from much to high contrast for
each film!
A sun "bouncer" (correct word?) is there the best tool for your dog!

But never mind - your workflow can't come better from avoiding some failures!

With regards

PS : AND ONE SHOULD NOT AVOID - IT IS THE Basis TO LEARN ABOUT!

 

[Chan Tran]

Keep in mind that the evaluation is only valid if the slides look like the pictures posted here. One can scan a correctly exposed slide an make it look like those posted.

 

[CMoore]

Thanks for all the replies.
Judging by the highlights, i was thinking they were Over Exposed. But i am so used to looking at B&W, i was not really sure.
I just got these uploads from The Darkroom Lab, and do not have the actual slides yet......but we can probably assume they are close to the slides themselves.
I TRIED to err on the side of under exposure, but it would appear id did a bad job.

Let me ask this......if it matters, i am using Fuji Provia.......if i were metering a Gray-Card, how much under exposure would i give to get a good slide.?
Thank You

 

[Chan Tran]

Thanks for all the replies.
Judging by the highlights, i was thinking they were Over Exposed. But i am so used to looking at B&W, i was not really sure.
I just got these uploads from The Darkroom Lab, and do not have the actual slides yet......but we can probably assume they are close to the slides themselves.
I TRIED to err on the side of under exposure, but it would appear id did a bad job.

Let me ask this......if it matters, i am using Fuji Provia.......if i were metering a Gray-Card, how much under exposure would i give to get a good slide.?
Thank You

In this case you may have good slides. I found many labs like to print and scan the slides or negative way too light. I feel that they think their customers want bright pictures.

 

[destroya]

over. how are you metering the shots?

 

[MattKing]

Let me ask this......if it matters, i am using Fuji Provia.......if i were metering a Gray-Card, how much under exposure would i give to get a good slide.?
Thank You

None.
Or at most, 1/2 a stop.
And you need to use the grey card correctly - at the proper 20 degree angle from perpendicular.
In most cases, using an in camera meter and following its recommendations will give good results. Just make sure you are pointing your camera at something approximating a mid-tone when you do the metering.
FWIW, all of the examples you have posted present challenges for any film - and particular challenges for slide film.
Any time you have both sun and shade in the same scene, it is tough trying to achieve good rendition everywhere.
I'm going to guess though that the slide with the dogs is going to look better than the scan you posted. That one in particular looks to me .like the scanning software over-corrected for an image that is predominantly in shade.
You really can't tell if the exposure is correct based on third party scans (unless the scans themselves are great!).
This image was exposed on a Fuji slide film, at the exposure recommended by the in camera meter in one of my Olympus bodies - i.e. without any exposure complexities - note how it handles the different light sources:

 

[Sirius Glass]

Over exposed. Take light reading without the sky in view, especially for slides. Have you had your light meter calibrated?

 

[CMoore]

Once Again.......... Thanks for all the replies and examples.
I cannot remember what i metered. I was waiting to shoot more slides (i never did) so this roll sat in my house for three months before i shipped it off.
These frames were probably shot in November of last year, so i simply cannot remember What/How i metered.
I am definitely going to try again.
WHY slides.?
After my wife's daughter had her first kid ... she is pregnant again and do any day, for those keeping score... i thought (being the genius that i am) i would buy a slide projector and screen (i did) and take a bunch of slides of the kids, and then in 5-6 years, have a slide show so we could all see how time and the kids had progressed.
It will be a lousy slide show if i do not start shooting these things better.
To be honest, i am not sure if Fuji are going to continue making Provia..... anybody know.?
Thank You

 

[runswithsizzers]

Thanks for all the replies.
Judging by the highlights, i was thinking they were Over Exposed. But i am so used to looking at B&W, i was not really sure.
I just got these uploads from The Darkroom Lab, and do not have the actual slides yet......but we can probably assume they are close to the slides themselves.
I TRIED to err on the side of under exposure, but it would appear id did a bad job.

Let me ask this......if it matters, i am using Fuji Provia.......if i were metering a Gray-Card, how much under exposure would i give to get a good slide.?
Thank You

To answer your question, to get a good slide, you need the correct exposure, which by definition means no underexposure and no overexposure. If you mean how much less exposure would be necessary to produce the correct exposure - compared to the way your examples were (over)exposed, I would guess about one-half to one stop for the first one, and one stop, or a little more, for the other two. The easiest way to reduce all your exposures by one stop would be to set the ASA/ISO of your meter to double whatever number you used for these examples.

But it's also possible there may be a problem with your meter or your metering technique. Are you using a meter built into your camera or a hand held meter? Does the meter have the correct battery?

I have found metering with a gray card to give significantly variable results, depending how the gray card is angled relative to the light source. Holding the gray card in place but rotating it to various angles can easily change the meter reading by more than one stop. So, which angle gives the correct reading? Kodak says their gray card should be aimed at "a point 1/3rd of the compound angle between the camera and the main light" (Kodal pub R-27). My Delta brand gray card says, for artificial light, "aim halfway between the main light and the camera" but for daylight, "position the card "in front f the subject, pointing at the camera."

By comparing metered results from my Fuji digital camera, my old Gossen Pilot 2 light meter, and a modern Sekonic L-308s light meter, I determined aiming the gray card toward the camera produced better agreement than angling towards the light. By agreement, I mean compared to incident readings from both meters and the digital camera readings, which generally were all three about the same. On the other hand, angling the gray card more towards the light produced lower exposures - which is what you are looking for, so ... ?

Personally, if the light is tricky, I much prefer using a hand held incident meter rather than trying to decide which of the various readings reflected from the gray card I should use. But if you don't have an incident meter, the gray card should work - if you can standardize your technique for consistent results.

 

[CMoore]

I have several 35mm SLR. I think all the meters are good, but am not positive.
I do have a Sekonic 308-S.
I can use that, if practical, when i shoot slides or at least cheek my camera meters against the 308.
Thank You

 

[trendland]

Thanks for all the replies.
Judging by the highlights, i was thinking they were Over Exposed. But i am so used to looking at B&W, i was not really sure.
I just got these uploads from The Darkroom Lab, and do not have the actual slides yet......but we can probably assume they are close to the slides themselves.
I TRIED to err on the side of under exposure, but it would appear id did a bad job.

Let me ask this......if it matters, i am using Fuji Provia.......if i were metering a Gray-Card, how much under exposure would i give to get a good slide.?
Thank You

CMoore I never used a Gray card - others may beat me!
Use your electronic your cameras will serve you from messurement! But learning from this example you should have it in mind!
From more experience one can estimate the failures of messurements!
Not failures done from yourself but failures from light meters (including spot meters)
these electronic bastards are often soo silly!
They just can messure -and that with most precision (in often cases) but it is allways a photographers job to compensate the messure datas because the tools of messurements can't evaluate a complex light situation - and that is also good so!

with regards

PS : A Gray scale for shot #3 would had give you correct values for your dog in the shadow
scene - but highlights from background would had come just 1 stop below - much to little!

 

[trendland]

I have several 35mm SLR. I think all the meters are good, but am not positive.
I do have a Sekonic 308-S.
I can use that, if practical, when i shoot slides or at least cheek my camera meters against the 308.
Thank You

Perhaps your failures had simplest reasons! You shot bw extensive - right?
Did you mention you have been afraid of underexposure?
That may be in your mind from shooting bw (for several years I guess)?
That is most correct - but listen E6 is "positive film" there it is the real opposite:
Overexposure = blanc film/ bw negative : underexposure= blanc film!
Perhaps we have it now : Reason for missinterpretation during exposure = you have highered
exposure a bit from being affraid of underexposure......no problem next shooting it is solved!

with regards

 

[jimjm]

It's a good idea to periodically check the meters on your cameras, especially if you alternate between different bodies. Any meters that are a half-stop off or more, I will adjust them or have them serviced. In the interim, I will make a note to compensate by adjusting the ISO (ASA) setting for correct exposure readings.
Your shots look pretty consistently overexposed, or the lab really screwed-up the scans.
My favorite cameras for shooting slides are the Nikon F3 and F100 bodies. The F3 has a heavily center-weighted 80/20 meter that has always been accurate, and the F100 gets used for a lot of sports/action stuff.
I think Provia is more forgiving than Velvia, and is my favorite slide film. If I have to make a choice, I would underexpose rather than overexpose slide film. Opposite of B/W negs, which I usually overexpose about 1 stop.

Nikon F3, Provia 100

 

[Chan Tran]

I would wait until your slides come back. Somehow I don't trust the lab scans.

 

[trendland]

It's a good idea to periodically check the meters on your cameras, especially if you alternate between different bodies. Any meters that are a half-stop off or more, I will adjust them or have them serviced. In the interim, I will make a note to compensate by adjusting the ISO (ASA) setting for correct exposure readings.
Your shots look pretty consistently overexposed, or the lab really screwed-up the scans.
My favorite cameras for shooting slides are the Nikon F3 and F100 bodies. The F3 has a heavily center-weighted 80/20 meter that has always been accurate, and the F100 gets used for a lot of sports/action stuff.
I think Provia is more forgiving than Velvia, and is my favorite slide film. If I have to make a choice, I would underexpose rather than overexpose slide film. Opposite of B/W negs, which I usually overexpose about 1 stop.

Nikon F3, Provia 100
View attachment 222216

Sikorsky "Seabat" on flight-deck USS Intrepid ?

with regards

 

[jimjm]

Sikorsky "Seabat" on flight-deck USS Intrepid ?

with regards

This was taken on the USS Midway here in San Diego. Don't recall the type of aircraft, though...

 

[trendland]

This was taken on the USS Midway here in San Diego. Don't recall the type of aircraft, though...

Understand - look at the helicopter tail section it is easy to identify :

compare !

with regards

PS : Sorry OP to come away a bit from the basic theme !

(I just wanted to give an example of a correct exposure)

 

[Chan Tran]

This was taken on the USS Midway here in San Diego. Don't recall the type of aircraft, though...

Looks like the H-34.