Topic: First Film Shoot!

[Steven.]

so for the 1st time ever.. I did a whole shoot with film. I was pretty nervous since I only had 3 rolls (2 ultramax 400 and 1 tri-x 400) and I kept worrying that the film wouldn't take up properly, but overall i think it was nice.

this brings me to a question.. do you think it's okay to edit film in photoshop? how much different is it than editing in traditional darkroom (i mean mentally, not physically)? i do it to a certain extent, but i would like to hear other's opinions as well.









more can be found on my blog:

http://steveniphoto.wordpress.com/

i just wanted to thank everyone here who makes this site interesting as well since i wouldn't have gotten into film photography as much if i didn't find this site.

[seekingfocus]

Beautiful color work- Number 3 is a definite keeper.

These will definitely stand out from their digital peers (assuming overall image quality remains high) if you are looking for clients.

Nice work.

-Jason

[Sandeha Lynch]

You have to edit in Photoshop, to some extent.  Otherwise you will be trusting your scanner beyond its capabilities.  Basic cleaning and sharpening are the obvious ones, and using Curves is little different from selecting a paper or filter contrast.

If you take a look at Angus McBean's work, he merged negatives in such clever ways that it must have taken him years to perfect his darkroom techniques - stuff you could now do in two and a half minutes in PS.  He was perhaps the ultimate in traditional darkroom photo-manipulation ... but I hate most of his work.

Keep it simple, I'd say, but keep to what you envisaged.

[LT]

do you think it's okay to edit film in photoshop? how much different is it than editing in traditional darkroom (i mean mentally, not physically)? i do it to a certain extent, but i would like to hear other's opinions as well.

It is absolutely fine, and is no different, philosophically than working magic in the darkroom. It's no better, or worse, just a different way of achieving similar ends (although 'real' prints are better, end of story )

Nice work! Very nice pictures.

[Francois]

Personally, I have nothing against Photoshop. It is still the best tool for adjusting curves and levels, something that is mandatory to get good results.

I also don't mind removing telephone poles and junk with the healing tool.

Where I draw the line is for more extreme modifications. Like there's a couple of very famous commercial photographers in the region (Leda & St-Pierre) who are known to actually use the liquify tool to alter their portraits! It makes great images but when you compare to the real person, there usually isn't much of a resemblance left... I usually find this a bit too much.

[Flippy]

What lens were you using for these?  The way it renders is interesting.  Glad you had fun, keep going, film is is great!

And by all means use photoshop.  Even if you make a wet print, you'll have to do some tinkering if you scan it for display on a computer.  No evil in that.

[Terry]

For me, the second shot is the best--the way her face is lit is very flattering and the shallow depth of field really makes her stand out against the foliage.  Nice stuff-keep shooting!

[moominsean]

as long as you aren't filtering the hell out of your shots and adding hdr effects, editing is part of the "digital process" of film scanning. i usually just clean of the dust and make some minor color/contrast adjustments, unless it's something that needs some obvious manipulation like a 667 goop scan.

[Dave Dunne]

If you don't process your images after you scan them, then that assumes that the software engineer who programmed the code for your scanner has the same vision you have.

That's probably the wrong assumption to make.

I haven't seen the scanner equivalent of corn flakes boxes and coat hangers (aka dodge and burn tools) so I use Lightroom when the need arises.

[vicky slater]

they're lovely.

and i nearly always use basic ps..curves, colour balance etc.
there are no rules and if there were they'd be worth breaking.

[original_ann]

I find it to be imperative to 'dot out' the dust.  Great shots!!

[Steven.]

thanks for the responses guys! yeah all i did was play with the curves, exposure, color correction, etc just simple stuff. i tend to see a lot of so called "purists" who claim that editing of any kind is "evil" (i guess they forgot that some of the greats edited in darkroom eh)?

and flippy i used te 50 1.4 non ai.