Things NOT to do...

[Toffle]

Things NOT to do on your first large format colour shoot on a freezing winter night with a new light meter...

DON'T.

Don't do your first large format colour shoot on a freezing winter night with a new light meter.

One hour, two locations, two exposure errors, both caused by hurrying in the cold, in the bad lighting... and neither error discovered until I packed up and was ready to move on. (and too cold to set everything up again to reshoot)

I'm chalking it up to a learning experience. I know what I did wrong. I should be able to avoind these mistakes in the future. I just had higher hopes for tonight's shoot and I am not all that anxious to repeat the errors.

Cheers,

 

[johnnywalker]

I decided it was too miserable to shoot outside so decided to play with my new RB67 on some still lifes in the warmth and comfort of my office. After the first roll I realized I'd forgotten to compensate for the bellows extension. Oh poop and son of a gun I said.

 

[John Koehrer]

It's a learning experience. Look at the bright side, That's something you will be very aware of in the future.

 

[DanielStone]

I decided it was too miserable to shoot outside so decided to play with my new RB67 on some still lifes in the warmth and comfort of my office. After the first roll I realized I'd forgotten to compensate for the bellows extension. Oh poop and son of a gun I said.

done that one before . happily though, I overexposed a stop, so I just pushed the film 1 1/2 stops and the negs came out ok. Not good as I hoped, but ok.

good luck with the RB! great cameras!

-Dan

 

[Toffle]

It's a learning experience. Look at the bright side, That's something you will be very aware of in the future.

Agreed...

Apary from my mistakes in exposing the scenes, my main error was to pack everything up immediately after making my exposures. With LF, I generally have a very systematic procedure, which, with the dark and the cold became a little more laboured. Anxious to feel my fingers again, I threw everything in the back of the car and cranked up the heat while I finished my notes... Which, of course, is when I noticed my mistakes.

That being said, I am hoping for a "happy accident". Both shots I took were over exposed, one by nearly two stops, the other, worse. But this is night photography, and I have made worse mistakes with smaller formats. :rolleyes: The final prints might still be salvageable. I'll be in Chicago next week and will drop my negs off at Phoenix. They promise next-day proofs. I'll let you know, (if you're interested) how badly everything turns out.

Cheers,

 

[Sirius Glass]

Toffle,

If I remember correctly a few years ago you took a tumble in the snow with your TLR, a Rollei? I told you that it would work out. You have habit of snatching victory from the grasp of defeat. Good luck, it will probably work out.

Steve

 

[Toffle]

Toffle,

If I remember correctly a few years ago you took a tumble in the snow with your TLR, a Rollei? I told you that it would work out. You have habit of snatching victory from the grasp of defeat. Good luck, it will probably work out.

Steve

Steve, you remember well. My Rollie is in fine form, and consistently produces better negatives than my own skills can take credit for.

I am always an optimist... I might get some useable prints out of this. At the very least, as John K says, it has been a valuable learning experience. As in most cases, it is more profitalbe to risk a bad shot or two than to leave your camera sitting in its case.

Merry Christmas to you, Steve.

Cheers,

 

[Dave_ON]

Gee Tom, I didn't see you out there. I would have brought you a hot chocolate.

Dave

 

[tim elder]

Color negative? If so, not a problem. I've seen some great prints made from overexposed color negative sheet film.

-Tim

 

[Roger Thoms]

Hey, You went out photographing, and that's far better than staying home and not photographing. As far as your mistakes, I'm perfectly capable of making those mistakes in warm, calm weather during the day. I was out Christmas afternoon and evening with a new Speed Graphic, had all kinds of fun, no major mistakes that I know of, but I know more after I process the film this afternoon.

Good luck with your color negs, maybe the lab can pull process to compensate for the over exposure. Don't know as I shoot mainly B&W. I would certainly let them know that the negs. are over exposed. My other thought is that depending on the reciprocity failure of your film and the length of the exposure maybe the negatives aren't as over exposed as you think.

Roger

 

[Toffle]

Gee Tom, I didn't see you out there. I would have brought you a hot chocolate.

Dave

If only I'd known...

I was out at the same locations last night with my Nikon and some Ektar 100. Much more pleasant weather... wishing I'd brought my LF gear out again.

I'm not bemoaning my fate at all. I think it was a wonderful learning experience. I count all these as good lessons.

Off to Chicago tomorrow by train. I wish my LF gear was just a little more portable. (Maybe I should save that lesson for another day. )

Cheers,