Two boring images to follow a technical discussion

[StS]

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I warned you in the title

I had to select this image - most images on this roll show people, who don't like their photo in the internet.

 

BW400 pushed to 3200 ISO

Orange-yellow filter (I call it the light-eater )

The second image, to show the shadow details.

 

Stefan

[ndjambrose]

Hey Stefan - thanks for posting these. It's a nice way to continue a discussion without derailing someone else's thread.

 

I'll tell you what I see - you can tell me what you see.

 

I notice the push has worked in so far as there is a usable image to view. But the tonal curve is top heavy. The clouds have lots of detail but the bright areas are close to blowing out. Not blown, but the curve is definitely at the top. The shadows are deep charcoal verging on dense black. They contain little or no detail, just the vaguest suggestion of texture in the tree branches. As a whole the image works but it's because the image is 80% mid-tone or brighter, hence the shadows don't detract.

 

When I need to push film its usually because I'm in very low light conditions - like inside a dark room. In that sort of situation the image tends to be 80% shadow - hence the test for pushing film is much tougher. I find that C41 film cannot be pushed in those conditions, at least not beyond normal range for underexposure which is around 1.5 stops. The result of a 3 stop push would be dense shadows without detail, meaning an image that's probably not usable.

 

The only push process I've found that delivers excellent results is traditional b+w processed in a metol two bath process. (I prefer Tri-X in Diafine, which has a moderately flat tonal curve with detail at both ends).

[StS]

Thank you for your insights, I learned a lot from your response.

 

Being disappointed by the results I got with Tmax3200, I followed an advice to push Tmax400 rather. Please find another example attached, where Tmax400 was pushed to 1600 ISO.

 

Stefan