[itshimitis]

Itshimitis, I really like your compositions, but the images are all very dark and dull. Like if they were underexposed at least two stops! How about cranking things up a bit? I think they would look very, very much better with proper post processing and higher exposure.

Edit: I can show you if you don't know how to do it. Just shout in that case.

Thanks Makten. I did tone them down a bit to accentuate the atmosphere of the rainy day for the last two images. The Fish and chip van looks a bit washed out if I punch the exposure up by much. Have increased the exposure back to original and tweaked the fill light on both of the shots in LR3.

Attached Images

   

[tuco]

Thanks Makten. I did tone them down a bit to accentuate the atmosphere of the rainy day for the last two images. The Fish and chip van looks a bit washed out if I punch the exposure up by much. Have increased the exposure back to original and tweaked the fill light on both of the shots in LR3.

It has been raining where I live to no end too. And you'd think I'd at least give it a go under those conditions. But I don't seem to ever get around to it. These shots are inspiration to try it.

[itshimitis]

It has been raining where I live to no end too. And you'd think I'd at least give it a go under those conditions. But I don't seem to ever get around to it. These shots are inspiration to try it.

Thanbks Tuco, great to hear that from someone with your skills! I came down the Thames with a view to photographing the Millenium bridge (below) stopped for lunch at one of the riverside restaurants, and then the temperature dropped telling me the clouds I'd seen over Westminster were going to amount to something. Sat underneath a huge patio umbrella I was safe from the rain (just) and as it got heavier I swapped from the 33-55 to the 80 - 160 and just decided to see how it would go. No tripod with me so knew that I would have to use higher ISO and a wider aperture which would leave my novice manual focusing under a challenge (only just starting using manual focus full time on certain lenses). This led to a compromise on shutter speeds in relation to the focal length. In conditions like this I always shoot in full manual as the metering can be tricky. I really just tried to grab the opportunity I found myself in. I'm pretty happy with the results and like both versions of those two shots, although I think I went a little too far with moodiness of the shot of the lady first time round.

(this shot: ISO 640, FA33 - 55 @ 55 and f/13 1/160

[Dougg]

Monitor calibration may be a factor too... I see the above Millenium Bridge shot as overly dark. I'd bring up the lower mid-tones but still leave that moodiness. I like the new/old and the interesting geometry here.

And FWIW in the b&w conversions (Fish & Chips and the previous one anyway) I see a slight magenta cast overall...

[itshimitis]

Monitor calibration may be a factor too... I see the above Millenium Bridge shot as overly dark. I'd bring up the lower mid-tones but still leave that moodiness. I like the new/old and the interesting geometry here.

And FWIW in the b&w conversions (Fish & Chips and the previous one anyway) I see a slight magenta cast overall...

Thanks for the comments here are my amendments (I did put a light split tone into the B&W to warm them up a bit, but have toned this right down)

[Makten]

Thanks Makten. I did tone them down a bit to accentuate the atmosphere of the rainy day for the last two images. The Fish and chip van looks a bit washed out if I punch the exposure up by much. Have increased the exposure back to original and tweaked the fill light on both of the shots in LR3.

That looks a whole lot better to me! If you want the "mood" to still be dark, I'd suggest that you apply a curve that lowers the midtones, without lowering the highlights. If you check the histogram of your original pictures, the highlights barely reaches the middle of the span from black to white!

Regarding the fish and ship van, I think you'll have to ignore the top right part, because it must be blown out if the rest should look good. I hope you don't mind me trying to show what I mean. I'll take the image down at once if you don't, but here's what I would have done:



Edit: I'm going to bed now, but I'll take the image down tomorrow as soon as I know you've seen it.

[lbenac]

That looks a whole lot better to me! If you want the "mood" to still be dark, I'd suggest that you apply a curve that lowers the midtones, without lowering the highlights. If you check the histogram of your original pictures, the highlights barely reaches the middle of the span from black to white!

Regarding the fish and ship van, I think you'll have to ignore the top right part, because it must be blown out if the rest should look good. I hope you don't mind me trying to show what I mean. I'll take the image down at once if you don't, but here's what I would have done:



Edit: I'm going to bed now, but I'll take the image down tomorrow as soon as I know you've seen it.

Could you get something in between without blowing the highlights by ? :
1) apply the curve with a mask leving the background out
2) apply local contract only (to make the van and subjects stand-out a little bit more

Cheers,

Luc

[Makten]

Could you get something in between without blowing the highlights by ? :
1) apply the curve with a mask leving the background out
2) apply local contract only (to make the van and subjects stand-out a little bit more

Yes, of course! This was a "global" processing and I just didn't care for the sky since it doesn't (in my opinion) contribute to the scene. It would also have resembled a normal exposure if the sky wasn't present.

I hate to do this without knowing if itshimitis is alright with me altering his image.

[Dougg]

I too would edit the Fish & Chips van as Makten did. There are times when you just have to let out-of-control highlights blow out. I figure it's a balance, and the main interest areas of the shot take priority. If there were something interesting in those highlights, then some recovery work could be justified...

[tuco]

Actually, you can keep your sky and brighten the other whites in your scene too. You'll need to do a bit more selective tone adjustment is all.

[lbenac]

One thing I noticed is that the 645N as a two lens kit is heavier and not a lot more compact than my Chamonix with two lenses and a 120 roll film holder. If you are shooting 4x5 with two Grafmatics, the weight would be about the same, but oh, the difference in quality

Well I took a balance out and checked weight before my trip to the Rockies and I have attached the different weights of my systems in a PDF.
I was hiking 2-3 hours with the Chamonix but might have to reconsider for longer hikes...

Cheers,

Luc

[stevebrot]

Well I took a balance out and checked weight before my trip to the Rockies and I have attached the different weights of my systems in a PDF.
I was hiking 2-3 hours with the Chamonix but might have to reconsider for longer hikes...

Cheers,

Luc

Interesting. 2kg for the Chamonix? I thought the nominal weight was closer to 1.4 kg. I don't own a scale, but now you have me thinking I should put my kit on the postal scale at work. As a two lens kit, I shoot with the Caltar 90/6.8 and Caltar 150/5.6. The 90mm is a big hunk of glass (460g), but the 150mm is comparable to a Super-Tak 55/1.8 in both size and mass (~250g). With lensboards, the camera/lens kit should be about 2.3 Kg. Throw in 6 film holders (12 exposures) and it starts adding up. I use the same tripod for MF as with the Chamonix, but with a heavier head.

Now if I were shooting 120 MF, I would have to substitute something like a Grandagon N 55/5.6 for the 150mm at 330g, but the single roll-film holder would cut off quite a bit of bulk and weight.


Steve

[stevebrot]

From the latest test roll with the borrowed 645N. The last two were hand-held at 1/60s and 1/125s respectively. I am really impressed with how easy it is to hand-hold this camera.

Water To Rock


Pentax 645N, Pentax-A 645 75/2.8


Fremont Bridge And Sky, v1


Pentax 645N, Pentax-FA 645 45/2.8, Wratten #25A (red)


Fremont Bridge And Sky, v2


Pentax 645N, Pentax-FA 645 45/2.8, Wratten #25A (red)


All using Fuji Neopan Acros 100 processed in Edwal FG-7 (1+15), 10' @ 21C with gentile agitation (30s initial, 3 inversions every 30s thereafter). Scanned on the Epson V700 at 1200 dpi and minimal PP.


Steve

[itshimitis]

That looks a whole lot better to me! If you want the "mood" to still be dark, I'd suggest that you apply a curve that lowers the midtones, without lowering the highlights. If you check the histogram of your original pictures, the highlights barely reaches the middle of the span from black to white!

Regarding the fish and ship van, I think you'll have to ignore the top right part, because it must be blown out if the rest should look good. I hope you don't mind me trying to show what I mean. I'll take the image down at once if you don't, but here's what I would have done:



Edit: I'm going to bed now, but I'll take the image down tomorrow as soon as I know you've seen it.

Thanks for this, I've tried to bump up the levels in curves a bit more but want to keep a little detail in Big Ben as this adds context to the shot for me, so mine is now close to yours, but still retaining a little detail in Big Ben. Also in the original shot, the van isn't white, it's cream and blue which might have complicated the B&W conversion a little. I'm still pretty new to the post processing side of things although I've always enjoyed taking photos...

[itshimitis]

I was in Korea in May, and the coast of the beautiful island of Jeju was heavily covered in sea mist so decided on a shot of a market stall. My big camera was obviously noticed by the stall holder! FA35 f/11 @ 1/125