Film: Water's Edge - Beam Park, Essex '11

[Paul Abbott]

I've gone back to film boys!!

This was taken with a fully serviced and mint Olympus 35 RD Rangefinder, shot on Fuji Neopan 400.
I've always liked Fuji Neopan 'cos of it's good contrast straight out the box, and 'steely' quality. I've tried not to lose that in the subsequent scan of the image.
Also, i've not had to recover any highlights in this image or do much with it. I had to do that most of the time using digital, in hi-contrast scenes...

Because of that I just got fed up with digital and it's look, and now i've found such analog joy, once again!!

Water's Edge - Beam Park, Essex '11 - Paul Abbott​

 

[Mike Shimwell]

Welcome back to non-virtual photography Paul

I might just use a curves layer to pull down the high mid tones.

Mike

 

[Asher Kelman]

I've gone back to film boys!!

This was taken with a fully serviced and mint Olympus 35 RD Rangefinder, shot on Fuji Neopan 400.
I've always liked Fuji Neopan 'cos of it's good contrast straight out the box, and 'steely' quality. I've tried not to lose that in the subsequent scan of the image.
Also, i've not had to recover any highlights in this image or do much with it. I had to do that most of the time using digital, in hi-contrast scenes...

Because of that I just got fed up with digital and it's look, and now i've found such analog joy, once again!!

Water's Edge - Beam Park, Essex '11 - Paul Abbott​

Paul,

I too am impressed with the sharp drawing of the details. did you do any of that in Photoshop? I haven't yet used Fuji Neopan 400. How did you process it?

Asher

 

[Paul Abbott]

Welcome back to non-virtual photography Paul

I might just use a curves layer to pull down the high mid tones.

Mike

Thanks, Mike. Yeah, I take on-board what you've said, I can see the image needing just a subtle touch in that respect. Cheers.

Asher, thanks. I developed the film in 1+50 Rodinal, @ 20C for 20 min, agitating for the first minute, and 5 sec for each minute thereafter. I think Fuji's grain is finer than Ilford's HP5, which was another film I used to use a lot.
On the scan I used some very slight sharpening, an absolute minimal amount, in LR.

 

[fahim mohammed]

Agreed Paul. Nothing like film. It is the process and the results that add up to the joy for me.
Rangefinder ( or an F6 ) and film. The Joy.

To the water's edge. The small jpeg will not do justice to th details captured.

Me too would bring down the hotspot a bit. But I like more contrast.

Must be nice walking along there.

Best.

 

[Cem_Usakligil]

Hi Paul,

I applaud you for taking this brave step, I am sure you will be very succesful. Coincidentally, I have been considering buying a MF film camera myself but I have eventually decided that it was not going to help me move forward. Perhaps in the future.

Re. the picture, I am going to be brutally honest and say that it does not speak to me. It is a melange of foliage in the same tonal range, which makes the composition illegible to my eyes. I fail to identify what actually is going on. Some scenes just do not work in BW and this one of those imo. But please know that I am a great fan of your work and this is not meant with any disrespect.

 

[Asher Kelman]

I've gone back to film boys!!

Water's Edge - Beam Park, Essex '11 - Paul Abbott​

........ It is a melange of foliage in the same tonal range, which makes the composition illegible to my eyes. I fail to identify what actually is going on. Some scenes just do not work in BW and this one of those imo.

Paul,

Let's imagine, just for the sake of discussion and learning, that you had repeated exactly this view on a duplicate camera, so you had a spare roll of film unprocessed. Now having just read Cem's feedback, you think, "Hmmm, he might have something there!" and you wish to proceed to dramatize the picture with his comments in mind. How might you now process the spare film to dramatize the tonal zones? Or else, how would you make a new print with materials or technique that overcomes the objections Cem raised.

Asher

BTW With digital media, of course it's simpler to do this, especially with tools like Nik Silver Efex Pro or other specialized software like George De Wolfe's Percept2 plugin tool he discusses here in his excellent, (but somewhat flamboyant article), in Luminous Landscape.

 

[Ruben Alfu]

I've gone back to film boys!!

Paul, a wise and natural choice for your style of shooting, so glad to hear the good news!

Water's Edge - Beam Park, Essex '11 - Paul Abbott​

The photo is interesting because of the exuberance of textures and wide tonal range. I cannot relate clearly the title with what I see in the photo, I don't see that subject telling the story. The composition actually creates a collage of textures and tonal range, to me that's the main subject.

Looking forward to see more of your new work on film!

Regards,

Ruben

 

[Paul Abbott]

Thanks for all the comments, guys.

From what's been said i'll have a go at improving the tones in the scene. I agree with Mike and Cem in that respect. Time for some 'dodging and burning'...

Ruben, you've picked up on the main point of my photograph in regard to all those textures and details.

 

[StuartRae]

The photo is interesting because of the exuberance of textures and wide tonal range.

Could someone please explain to me what is meant by the above statement?

The image as posted has 256 unique 'colours' (shades of grey). The equivalent colour image would probably have tens of thousands, so why the 'wide tonal range'?

Regards,

Stuart

 

[StuartRae]

I guess it has nothing to do with the number of tones, but the fact that they cover the entire range (however small) available to them. Am I getting close?

Regards,

Stuart

 

[Ruben Alfu]

Could someone please explain to me what is meant by the above statement?

The image as posted has 256 unique 'colours' (shades of grey). The equivalent colour image would probably have tens of thousands, so why the 'wide tonal range'?

Regards,

Stuart

Hello Stuart,

I'm not qualified to enter into a technical discussion of the proper usage of this expression. When referring to tonal range I think wide is a relative adjective, dependent on the maximum range of levels of brightness available, in this case, as you well said, 256.

Edit: I have to admit that the comment was vague anyway, contrast is actually what I was referring to.

Regards,


Ruben

 

[StuartRae]

Hi Ruben,

Thanks for the reply. It clears things up to a certain extent, but as you say the term 'tonal range' is open to interpretation.

By the way, my question was a result of a genuine desire to learn; no offence intended to anyone, especially the OP.

Regards,

Stuart

 

[Paul Abbott]

Stuart, when speaking about tones in B&W, you should look up Ansel Adam's zone system, that's an interesting aspect to creating B&W images with a full complement of tones.