Phoenix II pictures

koraks said:

OK, I see. I'm still wondering what explains the contaminated reds on PII that we didn't appear to have (or at least not so much) on PI.

Click to expand...

In Phoenix Mk I, one possible answer is M+Y layers inhibiting C + high contrast from a lack of masking = saturated reds.

In Phoenix Mk II, there seems to be better control of contrast and saturation via the magenta component of the masking, which reduces contrast in blue & green, but without the yellow component that should sort out hue shift in magentas and reds & help with saturation of yellows. There's also the high likelihood that interimage effects for more favourable saturation & colour characteristics relative to contrast could be brought to bear.


As for 'improving' Phoenix II's red handling as it stands, I think you'd probably be looking at needing to make separations & manipulate those via masking or retouching etc.

@Lachlan Young thanks; I'd have to think about how that works for a bit. I should sit down with some spectral charts and do some overlays to get a feeling for it.

As to improving Phoenix II...frankly, I'd not bother trying in analog print given what I've seen so far, and just scan & adjust digitally. My comment about using a blank piece of C41 film won't fix the reds; it'll just bring the average color balance closer to where a normal C41 sits, but the idiosyncrasies will still be very much there. Like Phoenix I, there is probably artistic potential in it, anyway.