Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/05/18
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Oliver, I noticed that you were shooting under a white sail cloth for most of your images but it still seemed that the contrast should have been higher. The light fog and Optima seems to be the answer. Our location is 27.4deg S and very little pollution, so we have a quite contrasty light. I think I'll try some Optima or Vista if I can find a supplier. I have long felt that most film is made for low contrast situations such as Europe with its basically white skies and we who live in areas such as Queensland have to put up with high contrast results from these films. I shoot portraits and high contrast is not really desirable in most cases. Would you suggest that Vista is the way to go to minimise contrast in portraits? How is the skin tone? Excuse all these seemingly dumb questions, but it is some time since I evaluated film (and settled on Fuji NPH) and now with the dominance of digital I find that I should have done this years ago. Rob Oliver Bryk wrote: > Rob" > Thank you very much for your kind comments, Rob. I'll respond to your > questions as best as I can. Healdsburg (the location of the farmers' market) > lies at approximately 38 deg 45 min latitude north. At this time of year > there is usually still a touch of fog in the air when the market opens at 9 > a.m. Pacific Daylight Time; by noon the light has become very contrasty. I > usually pay attention to the open shadow areas when I meter. > I have used Agfa Optima and later Vista (but not the "Ultra")films for a > long time because they have a nice long scale and color fidelity without > excessive contrast and saturation. Many modern consumer films are designed > for contrast and saturation levels that I find unnatural. > I scan the negatives in a Nikon LS-4000 with VueScan software (which I > prefer to NikonScan). Although VueScan has a film setting for Agfa Optima, > the resulting TIFF images have a slightly pinkish cast which I correct with > PhotoShop's AutoColor feature. With rare exceptions I do not manipulate the > images' color or contrast any further. From this stage in the work flow I > can print, format a 640x480 JPEG copy for the Internet or archive the image. > IMO perceived sharpness, contrast and saturation of small images posted on > the Internet are affected by a lot of intervening variables, including the > viewer's display screen and driver. > Oliver Bryk > > -- > To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html - -- __________________________________ Rob Heyman Photography 32 Binyara Street CHAPEL HILL Qld 4069 Ph 07 3878 3884 fax 07 3378 6639 __________________________________ - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html