Flipping the movie – Color negative inversion process video

Old hat, you might say. Almost exactly a year ago, I published a blog about how I scan and color balance color negative film. I now follow up on this with a video that demonstrates my approach. I start by inverting a couple of color negatives of my own (coincidentally shot on Kodak Vision3 250D ECN2 film). I then move on to some color negative scans YouTuber Analogue Andy provided me with. It’s a wordy kind of video, but for those who prefer to watch instead of (or in addition to) read, it may be useful. Enjoy!

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Wavy gravy – UV wavelengths for carbon DAS revisited

About this whole highlight business with DAS carbon transfer – it just never ends, does it? The last installment on this story had a loose end that I need to stitch up here. It’s about the nature of the light. Let’s have a look at how UV wavelength affects the curve, and highlight performance in particular.

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Carbonized – Notes on carbon transfer highlights and tissue thickness

The fickle issue of highlights in carbon transfer…what Calvin Grier calls the ‘tonal threshold’. The tendency of very thin layers of gelatin not surviving the transfer process, creating a jagged transition from visible tone to paper white. I’ve spent quite some time optimizing it, and now revisit the topic with two factors worth looking into: the wavelength of the UV light used for the exposure and the thickness of the tissue.

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Seeing the woods for the trees – some medium format shots

I love being in the woods. But for the live of me, most of the time I can’t shoot anything worth a damn in there. Too chaotic, I suppose. And medium format is something I also don’t do much of. So yesterday, I decided to combine both and shoot some Portra 160 in my Bronica SQAi in the woods.

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Scales – Walkabout with Minolta

A few years ago, a friend gifted me a Minolta XG-M. He didn’t do much with 35mm and when he does, he’s a Nikon guy, so this little camera was sitting idle. I used it once or twice back then, fixed a problem it had (I forgot what it was, really) and then it went back into storage. Until I brushed off the dust a few weeks ago and gave it another spin. What a nice little camera!

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Intermission – What’s up doc?

Hey, long time no speak! It’s been a while since I last posted something here – but it’s not an ‘out of sight, out of mind’ situation. Not by a long shot. Stuff has been brewing and I should really write some of that up. Here’s what I’ve been playing with and what I’d like to update on in the next few….well I dunno; when I get round to it, hopefully soon!

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Natural Intelligence – Why AI will save the artists who fear it the most

Made you look, didn’t I? Seriously though, I think it will. Yes, that’s right: I believe artificial intelligence will save artists, because it (AI) will help us realize what art is about. And that will reconnect us with something we may have lost touch with for some time.

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Whither hybridia – The challenge of digital output for alternative printing

I’ve never made a secret of my frustration with digital negatives. Yet, they also appeal to me, for the obvious reasons of consistency and as a crucial means to marry digital imagery with analog/alternative printmaking. For something like color carbon, I consider digital negatives the only feasible way to go – but man, are they fickle. In this blog, I’m going to try and list the options, although frankly, I have no solution yet that I feel comfortable with. Maybe getting it off my chest and structuring the whole thing will help some.

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Unpaper – Rutty photos will not be printed

I haven’t photographed much lately. Occupied with other things (electronics, software, housekeeping, private stuff) too much. The only thing that helps is some subtle force. Walk around with a camera, snap the mundane stuff I come across. It’s unlikely I’ll print any of these images; quick & dirty scans are probably as far as they’ll ever get. That’s OK – there’s always more rocks than nuggets!

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All over the place – The problem with color negative film scans

Scanning color negative film is something that often throws people for a loop when it comes to getting “good” colors. I can relate – I still find it a frustrating endeavor sometimes. And it isn’t helped by the algorithms in scanners and scanning software that are intended to make this process easier. The actual result is that these automatic color adjustments make life pretty frustratingly difficult if you’re after consistency! Here’s an illustration (and a solution, but I already discussed that earlier).

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