Putzing around a bit, I decided to take an image I had developed a week or so ago and take it somewhere. No idea about the camera, but it is Fujicolor film. I desaturated it and then pushed it to extremes in black and white – I like to do this when considering a subject for value studies, whether I painted it already, or plan to paint it. Below is the color version.
Just as an aside, this is my favorite tree in the neighborhood. In the fall all the leaves are scattered around, bright yellow. In the spring, they come back slowly, little bright bits of green and then a full canopy. The shape is very symmetrical at the height of summer.
The above was a series of five or six pictures fused together into a panorama. The original pano was not as detailed – the image was a bit soft – but I wanted the texture of the trunk to show clearly.
35mm Fujicolor 100 film, scanned with a Pakon 135, and again with a PrimeFilm XA Super using Silverfast 8e.
I haven’t done any film photography for about 2 years, but I finally took a roll of FujiColor 100 I had finished awhile ago in to the lab to be processed. No idea what camera I used. I asked for only processing, no scans or prints.
Once home, I ran the film through both my Pakon 135 scanner and then my PrimeFilm XA Super Edition scanner using SilverFast 8e (free version for this scanner). I ran it as negatives but used the infrared clean up on all of my images. Once all processed, I merged the 5 images which make up this one without doing any clean up post Negative Lab conversion. This image is the one I used with SilverFast, and I am pretty pleased with the end results. I didn’t do any color shifts or anything in post, just used my standard frame and trimmed the raw edges down a bit.
I really like my Pakon scanner – I got it in the days of yore when cheap – and have a dedicated XP laptop for use with it. However, when I went looking for a scanner which was not consigned to the world of XP only, I came across the Prime Film on recommendation by a video on YouTube by “Shoot with Coops”. I have scanned negatives with VueScan, but there is not clean up. This roll of film was horribly scratched and really would have not been worth any time in removing the dots and scratches by hand. SilverFast works really beautifully, I think, and even though I had to putz around to get things working, straight out of scan and Neg Lab, I like the results.
I plan to get out and do more film photography as summer progresses. Film just has an extra something which digital lacks. I like scanning my own film – it saves a lot of money for one thing – but there are a lot of frustrations which go along with it. Dirt, scratches, and software. Yes, film can be scanned, but the quality of the scanner and the software can make or break it for you. Silverfast is often offered as a free scanning software. What I like about it is that each scanner has its own specific version, and the free one is really, really good. I use the Epson V600 for 120 film, and that works well enough with the native software, but not for 35mm.
So . . . no drawing today, but a foray into another picture making process.
Another picture from the hike last year in Hill Canyon. It was a bright, hot day, but pleasant nonetheless.
So many people talk about post processing with digital – and film – images. Some say no, don’t do it; others don’t care; others think AI is going to ruin it all. I have to admit that I like pushing photos to make them more interesting or to create a mood, and even the use of AI is fine – but, using AI should be acknowledged.
Pushed here, but no AI, but I did use generative fill in PS to fill in some gaps. This was a panorama of about 10 images I pasted together. Maybe generative fill is AI, so I might be guilty here . . .
Things have been scattered here – but looking through old photos is always fun. This is a picture I took on a hike with a friend last August – a wild morning glory alongside a local creek. This year the wildflowers are even more amazing than last year’s because of all the rain. I hope to see more!
The coastal fog rolls in, sometimes doing nothing but bringing cold and damp and chill to summer. Other times of the year, in fall and winter and into spring, the coastal fog is not fog at all, but lowering clouds. Sometimes you just don’t know.
Ink, Yarn & Beer 