The art of scanning part two

Kjarahz · Dec 27, 2013

Well, I posted on APUG about this to find out I was in the wrong place!

I'm shooting Fuji Pro 400H and I expose for the shadows and I'm trying to
get nice blown out sections with creamy pastel colors etc. I just don't think
I'm very successful yet. I don't seem to get what I've received from some labs.

Now I am developing my own film, but I'm not getting any nasty out of the ordinary
color casts. Just a bit of magenta usually. Correcting it out is a bit of a pain and I don't
know why my scans don't come out blown out and pastel looking. They usually
just look flat.

I'm using an Epson V600 with nothing else currently.

What can I do to get this look and have better results scanning, I've tried the SilverFast software
but I didn't notice a huge difference. Using their profiles for 400H it seemed to be worse and very
blue.

Ideas? Suggestions?

Going out tomorrow to shoot with my new Contax 645, retired the Hasselblad 501C and made an
upgrade for my style of shooting finally.

Please advise, will post results Saturday/Sunday.

Hatchetman · Dec 27, 2013

Digital post-processing is quite an art and there is a lot of skill involved. The scan is just usually just the beginning. Post an image so we can see what you are talking about.

Kjarahz · Dec 27, 2013

Here is an example of what I just developed:

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And a couple processed and scanned at a lab:

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The ones developed and scanned at a lab have the small hint of cyan/blue in the shadows, they
as odd as it might sound feel more like film. The one I happen to develop and scan feels almost
to medical in terms of how not like film it is. It feels so clean that it feels like digital.

Any recommendations? Not to sound like a style copy cat, but I am currently trying to emulate
Jose Villa and the like. Currently having a rough time though matching that sort of look, I feel
like I should get proficient before making my own 'style' and I just don't feel there yet. At least
in terms of scanning...

Hatchetman · Dec 27, 2013

I don't know. Your scan looks better to me. It looks pretty great actually. The lab scans need further processing in my opinion.

Kjarahz · Dec 27, 2013

I know I wasn't happy with a lot of their work but I figured the minor colorings were stylistic. I had tons of issues with improper scanning in terms of scan lines etc.

Looking at my photo on my iPhone it looks drastically desaturated not so on my computer though. I hope it's not that terrible looking, the other shots seemed to hold up color wise mine didn't though. Think it was exported in Adobe rgb if that matters, mine that is.

Any ideas for calibrating a monitor with successful results via print and web for clients? Had a spyder elite a long while back but shadows just looked blue for some reason.

Kjarahz · Dec 28, 2013

Well I fixed my photo, just wasn't a great color space for all devices.

I suppose more research is necessary for color calibration, but you say my scanning is on point and good to go?

Alan Klein · Dec 28, 2013

Looks fine to me. The flesh tones look good.

Hatchetman · Dec 28, 2013

It looks good to me, but I'm not a professional photographer. If the customers are happy.....

artobest · Dec 29, 2013

Hate to tell you this, but your scan is pretty damn nice as it is! Looks very filmic to me.

Kjarahz · Dec 29, 2013

I suppose it's a good scan and the clients happy, but here is a picture from yesterdays shot and it's more of what
I was aiming for. Granted, new camera but same film and concept.

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Still looking for the magical combination for the scanner to make this, although I think it
could do with perhaps my shots to begin with. Not all shots are over exposed enough to make
this possible perhaps, again the scanning is never consistent though. I wish it was more
cut and dry, SilverFast generally does random things and isn't the same each scan....

While the clients are happy with the previous I'm happy with this new one. I want to replicate this
one for all my shots, I love the over exposed cyan cast. It will be a more pleasing scene when
I get more earth tones in for a bride with the cyan cast. Should be very flattering for skin etc.

Wish I had a reason why they didn't all scan 'correctly'.

artobest · Dec 31, 2013

That shot ain't overexposed. What you are looking for is a post-processing recipe. Your scans are fine.

Kjarahz · Dec 31, 2013

artobest said:
What you are looking for is a post-processing recipe. Your scans are fine.

Unfortunately you are correct, it's kind of like a magician telling you how it's done.

I was hoping to achieve such results without tampering with the image, oh well. Off to make a workflow
that is easily replicable to pull of the photos that I want.

Seems like a long process to just end up running it through a filter...

Kjarahz · Jan 1, 2014

Straight from a Frontier, no corrections added at all.

Article : Twin Lens Life ~ Fine Art Film Photography ~ Los Angeles Southern California ~ Bwright Photography: It's Our Favorite Time of Light - New Kodak Portra400 vs Fuji Pro400H

I believe it's the scanner. My film looks like digital when done, I get no aesthetics of film
scanning like shown.

Anyone out there have a chance to weigh in? Doing a lot of work for a digital look :\

kintatsu · Jan 2, 2014

Try an 81 series filter to warm up the blue tint to the shadows. Blue-ish shadows are OFTEN caused by light reflected from the sky. I found the 81A seemed to do quite nicely in removing the blue-ish.

As for the rest, I'm not sure how to go about it, as I'm working on getting things more sautrated and a better balance. I'm trying not to blow out highlights.

kartikail · May 26, 2015

Those are lovely scans, a density check is all that was required. Did you try the Kirk Mastin Method on those scans?

The art of scanning part two

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