the aproach to shooting color Slides vs color neg

[Soeren]

Hi all
Had a(nother) bad experience with a referee in my photo club last night.
It made me think and that lead to this.
I feel color slides is way different from color negs, not to mention b&w in subjects, the way I shoot them and what works. In other word its a different leaque for me, a different media. I really like the
"get it right in the shot or loose it" aproach when shooting slides
How do you guys/gals look at it ?
Do you choose slides for projektion for some subjects and color neg for others ? The question may not be precise so you are welcome to let your thoughts wander.
Kind regards
Søren

 

[Mick Fagan]

I work on the basis of what do you wish for the final product?

If you wish for a projected image, then obviously a slide film.

If you wish for a print then either colour or B&W. B&W basically is negative so it's used for prints, but you of course can do wonderful slides with B&W as well.

With colour you need to work out in advance what you wish to print.

Is the picture going to be a reasonably faithful rendition of the scene, with colour fidelity retained. If this is the case, then I would tend to use colour negative.

If you wish for a show stopper regarding zap and high contrast, then slide film printed onto reversal paper usually does the effect the best.

That said, I have over the years surprised myself with the colour saturation and snappiness of some colour prints done with colour neg.

One of the best ways to make people look twice, is to print colour negatives onto plastic based, instead of paper based material. The quality is mind blowing and the look is classic Cibachrome. I'm not sure if it is still around as I haven't used it for about 10 years, but that did add zap to all of my colour begatives. Perhaps someone will know what it is. I seem to remember it could have been an Ilford product?????

I think you are now starting to question your technique, as well as your ability to place the image on paper that you saw through the viewfinder.

Studying pictures that you have made in the past that are what you are looking for, should give you a greater understanding of just what works with your equipment and why!

Just a few quickly plucked thoughts before I retire for the evening.

Mick.

 

[Soeren]

Oh forgot.
I shoot slides for projektion only. Tried to have scans made from some of the best once but they didn't work in print. I won't say I question my technique: I think I'm one hell of a photographer when it comes to slides........ well at least here at home.... and in the club The incident withe the referee was a more generel bashing of slides as means of presenting images or media....or just slides in generel. So I'm wondering if you approach you photography and subjesects in a different way when shooting slides.
Regards
Søren

 

[benjiboy]

I shoot both, I consider colour transparency film that is correctly exposed, and viewed by projection to be a much more beautiful, and expressive medium capable of greater Finesse of tone than than the negative positive process. I think that shooting slides is very good discapline for shooting anything because there is no margin for error, the shot has to be right first time, in framing and exposure. I do sometimes get Ilfochrome prints off my slides but not often.
I try to shoot only things I know I want prints from on nag film, because I think I get better prints that way, certainly my local prolab produces better results that way.

 

[rbarker]

Ah, the old referree problem. A breed that all too often feel their set of "rules" is the only set that matters.

Yes, I, too, view slides as a "different media" than color or B&W negatives, notwithstanding the obvious parallels and overlaps. Slides, as you say, Søren, is a "nail it, or bail it" sort of media, requiring a tighter set of disciplines. There is no "I can compensate for that in printing" option.

But, one can also approach negative materials with the same level of discipline. In fact, I often express the opinion (or, rant, depending on one's perspective) that negative materials have no "latitude" - there is only one proper exposure (and pre-planned development) to nail the shot. Anything else, exposure-wise, is a compromise that makes the final image less than it could have been, just as with a slide.

The whole issue, I think, is to consider the requirements of the intended presentation method - how the film is going to be used. Understanding those requirements will enable one to adjust shooting techniques appropriate to that presentation method. If intended for projection only, for example, one can take full advantage of the dynamic range of the slide film. In contrast, if the slide is to be scanned and printed in a magazine, you need to style the image and adjust the lighting ratios such that it will print well - typically keeping the lighting ratio to about 4 stops.

 

[roteague]

Søren, I only shoot slides, and I don't shoot them for projection - I shoot them for printing. I haven't shot color negative film in many years.

It takes a lot more discipline to shoot slides than to shoot color negatives, but leads to, IMO, much better results, for the landscape/nature photographer. You a lot less latitude to have to work around. When shooting I will most often take a meter reading from what I want my low value to be, and a reading from the highlights. If the reading is more than 1 or 1 1/2 stops difference, I'll often use a split neutral density filter to compensate. Of course, there are times when I don't want compensation.

One of the reasons I don't care for photo clubs; too many of these self styled "experts" who think their way is the only way.

 

[Soeren]

So far we agree on the dicipline needed in framing the subject and the exposure, the "Nail it or bail it" as Ralph says.
Ralph we also agree on slides being kind of a different media so do you, or any one else, see subjects lend themselves to being projected on a big screen instead of being printed on paper.

On the subject referree and photoclubs I thought about it all day and I just called the chairman and told him I'm leaving. Kind of a releaf not to have to answer to anyone or defend your pics or choice of developer.

I find that color slides and B&W are the two poles in analog photography, kind of demanding "completely" different skills that combined make .......... well, the photographer. Doing colorslides I learned the dicipline of exposure and composition,
and the little B&W I did get the time to do tought me alot of the craftmanship in printing and postexposure creativity. I certainly hope to get a permanent dakroom so I can explore more B&W and now I'm not locked in 35mm slides for the club I'm gonna do some 6X7 just for the fun of it
Cheers Søren