How to get good colour from film?

wblynch said:

If you're using Photoshop try out the Photo Filters. You might simply apply a little yellow or warming filter to get what you want.

For your camera, I think a physical filter on the lens would do the same thing.

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Although it is such a minor adjustment with levels, or printing (in the dark room).

You probably want an 81C or 85C filter, I cant remember. Though its likely the lab scan would come back the same anyway.


edit: 85C, although it does say 81 series for shade.

If you really want to commit to that workflow, it's worthwhile to do your own C41 developing and scanning. I've a lot of articles on my 'blog describing my way around the shallow shoals and pitfalls that lurk there.

When you said blue, I thought you meant BLUE, as in underwater blue, which happens sometimes with crappy labs and crappy scans. What you have is totally normal. There is a color cast on the subject because none of the light that is illuminating her is white light, or even close to it. The day looks a bit overcast, which changes the color of light significantly (as does simply being in the shade). Additionally, most of the light that is lighting her is reflected off of things that are not neutral grey, white, or black, which colors the light even more. I'd suggest picking up a basic color photography textbook, such as the Henry Horenstein one. They are cheap, and are highly recommended place to begin your learning of color photography, unless you want to piece together your knowledge bit by bit over a long period of time, with many disappointing results and much wasted time spent filtering through the shortcuts, rules of thumb, and other pieces of crap information that are given to you over the years.

For what it's worth, here in the UK I've increasingly gone back to Boots for C-41 processing and proof-prints/scans.

I've found that my local Boots produce excellent clean negatives -- very little dust, no drying marks, very flat -- and that the prints are perfectly acceptable as proof prints, although they err a little on the side of slightly warmer, more saturated images than I'd produce myself. When I factor in postage, if I'm only doing single rolls I don't get much benefit from sending them away to 'pro' labs, and I've found some pro labs to be a bit hit and miss. The last time I sent a couple of C-41 films away for 'pro' prints that I intended to give to a friend -- 9x6s/8x10s -- I found the resultant prints poorer than those I usually get from Boots as 'proof' prints.

If I have lots of film to get done, then I still use postal services with pro/quasi-pro labs.