Your film workflow?

[shootinglulu]

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I am interested to know, how do you process film?

Are you using a lab to make your prints, using a home darkroom or digitally scanning home developed negatives?

I like the look of film prints, a lot and i'm interested in the process (perhaps a natural progression of owning a Leica M).

Thankyou for your time.

Lucy

[Riccis]

I am interested to know, how do you process film?

Are you using a lab to make your prints, using a home darkroom or digitally scanning home developed negatives?

I like the look of film prints, a lot and i'm interested in the process (perhaps a natural progression of owning a Leica M).

Thankyou for your time.

Lucy

 

1-Shoot

2-FedEx my film to the best lab in the world (Richard Photo Lab)

3-In 10 days or less, download my scans from their FTP site

4-Wait for my prints to arrive in the post, sort them and send them to my clients

 

I may do some developing at home if my travel schedule allows it but I when I do it's only personal work as all my paid work gets done by the lab. I also do some darkroom printing (usually personal or portfolio work) and the rest is sent to Robert Cavalli (Still Moving Pictures) in L.A.

 

It doesn't get any easier

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[maurometallo]

Typically, this is my routine:

Kodak TRI-X in D76 for 7 min. at EXACTLY 20°C. Invert tank twice every min.

Stop with water at approximately same temperature, washing and pouring out three times.

Fix for 4 minutes ( Kodak general fixer...) at approximately same temperature.

Rinse with running water for 5 minutes, always at approximately 20°C.

Soak in Photo Flow and distilled water for three minutes.

Squeege and hang to dry.

I then scan and BARELY edit with Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.

[anabasis]

I shoot the film (C41 or E6)

The film goes to the lab for processing only (no prints)

film is scanned and PP Slides are scanned and viewed via projector.

Output is rarely more than a screen (computer or slide).

 

If, for some reason, I want a print to frame, I will send the negative to a pro lab for printing. If it's a slide, I will send a digital file for printing.

 

I'm not a pro and therefore don't need tangible output.

 

JCA

[noah_addis]

1. Shoot the film

2. Have it processed at a local pro lab

3. Either edit from negatives or scan my neg pages on an epson flatbed.

4. Make final high-res scans with LS 9000 and Vuescan

5a. FTP to my agency or the client

5b. Print proofs and portfolio prints on my Epson 4880 and large exhibition prints on a 9900 at a local rental lab.

[menos I M6]

- shoot

- write date and push speed on film can

- collect a batch of film can's

- photograph film cans with iPhone for later archive and easier find of photos

- develop, dry, cut, sleeve film either with lab or at home

- press film in sleeves for a few days

- scan all frames in flatbed EPSON @ 8bit 2400dpi 4MB tif

- archive, sort, catalogue scans in Lightroom

- edit frames in Lightroom

- rescan for better dynamic range (multi pass scan), sharper scan, more detail or higher res and exchange with small res file

- process keepers (black point, white point, exposure, contrast, sharpening)

- print out of Lightroom on Canon 9500 Pro with pigment B&W ink on EPSON and RedRiver papers

- air dry prints for a few days

- sleeve prints for sale

- mount prints for personal hanging (I use quick mounts with removable tape, as I change prints in frames rather often - no dry or wet mounting for me)

 

I use my film photos exactly the same, as my digital shots.

The only difference for me is, that i can rescan them for better quality, which is a plus over the digital files (within the limits of the low res, pushed, grainy Tri-X, I use).

I do less and less self developing, as of limited time - the pro lab is more convenient.

They are more consistent also, as the labor, to get all temps and chemicals to consistency in my bathroom is to high for my taste.

[shootinglulu]

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It is wonderful reading these replies. I feel i can actually give it a go, starting simple with a lab and LR and see where it goes..

 

I really enjoy my M9, love LOVE photography and i think using film is going to add some thing even more tangible and gorgeous to the experience:)..So exciting..

Thankyou!

Lucy

[earleygallery]

For colour I shoot either negs or slides, I get negs processed at Snappy Snaps with a CD scan (no prints). I use the CD as a proof, and for posting to the web. I re-scan 'keepers' at home and print digitally or get a print made from commercial lab.

 

For B&W I use silver halide film, process it myself and scan/print or have wet prints made for me. I used to do my own wet printing but no longer have space for a darkroom.

[nhabedi]

I shoot traditional black-and-white film only. I develop them myself in my kitchen. I then scan the film inside the negative preserver with an Epson Perfection V750 Pro to get "contact sheets" which I print and store together with the film. Individual shots that I like I scan with a Nikon Coolscan V ED and print with an Epson R2880 on Hahnemühle paper.

[SteveYork]

I've been shooting a lot of different films lately. And I put together a digital darkroom this summer, although it's not totally up to par (the printer)

 

For Kodachrome, off to Dwaynes and then scanned with a Nikon scanner. I have an Epson printer, but it's printing out too dark. I've been too lazy and too busy to get up off the couch and figure out what is wrong. Something about configuring my Mac to the printer. But mostly the slides just stack up, because I'm way behind in scanning. I've been going through about 15 years of negatives this spring and summer and still have a long way to go.

 

For C41 film, I now take it to Costco to get developed for $1.59 a roll. My local pro labs got too expensive. And then I scan the negatives with the Nikon. I store all the scans on an external hard drive.

 

I have about 40 rolls of traditional B&W in the fridge from Freestyle (Legacy Pro and Arista). I'll shoot it up after Kodachrome processing or my supply of Kodachrome goes bye, bye . I would like to learn to do it myself. Or I'll get a local shop to do it. I wasn't impressed from the one roll I had processed with a Freestyle mailer, but it may have been me.

 

I really have too many scans. I've opened up a Flickr account to help sort and post the best pictures. I have a tendency to scan anything that is good, instead of just the best. You end up with a lot of pictures. I've learned that you need to organize as you scan, because it you wait to the end, it can be overwhelming.

 

So, in a short sentence, I don't have a very good workflow. It's in development.

[erl]

Shoot either B&W or colour negative film.

Process in JOBO drum processor. (Fabulous consistency & control)

Contact proofsheets in darkroom (past tense these days)

Note to self: buy decent flatbed scanner for digital proofsheets - great resource.

Current: edit on light table.

Scan on Nikon ED8000 (MF) or Nikon ED5000 (35mm)

PP in PS as necessary.

Print up to A2 size on Epson 3800.

Larger prints through Pro Lab.

Matt and Frame myself using Pro framers workshop.

 

Repeat all of above in attempt to do better this time.

[Stealth3kpl]

I have an Epson printer, but it's printing out too dark. I've been too lazy and too busy to get up off the couch and figure out what is wrong..

 

This sounds good:

http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/digital-forum/35460-imageprint-7-a.html

Pete

[noah_addis]

...I have an Epson printer, but it's printing out too dark. I've been too lazy and too busy to get up off the couch and figure out what is wrong. Something about configuring my Mac to the printer. ...

 

I would recommend purchasing a system to calibrate your monitor. Failing that, if it's an LCD, at least turn the brightness down, as LCD monitors are often way too bright to use for soft-proofing, especially if they're turned all the way up.

 

I have an expensive I-1 monitor and print profiling system, but it's not really necessary for most work. I've found the epson paper profiles to be very good if used correctly. I made a custom profile for epson premium luster paper, for example, and I found the stock epson profile to be nearly identical.

 

I don't know if you're familiar with soft proofing in photoshop, but it's relatively simple. You can use the "proof setup" option to choose a profile based on your printer, ink and paper. If you turn proofing on, then your monitor will try to emulate that output device.

 

Another key if you're printing from photoshop, in PS's print dialog box be sure to select "let photoshop manage colors" then in the printer driver be sure to turn the color management OFF. Otherwise you'll have two color management systems fighting each other and the result is often a dark print with bad color. This is an extremely common problem and when I was first learning digital printing and color management, it tripped me up for a while.

 

I don't use any fancy software or RIPs and I always get within a few color points of what I want on the first try.

[MPerson]

I have a darkroom but the equipment is currently in storage awaiting our house move.

 

For now I have kept enough kit to allow me to develop B&W in the kitchen. I then scan on a Nikon scanner, or Epson V750 Pro for MF, for posting to the web.

 

I don't do digital prints, I let Ilford Lab do those for me at the moment. I prefer darkroom wet prints and will have a stack of them to do once we are settled!

[Doug A]

Lately it's been:

 

1. Shoot BW400CN with M2.

2. Develop and scan at Walgreen.

3. Re-scan selected images at higher resolution with VueScan on Canon 8800F.

4. Process with Lightroom 3.

5. Print with HP 7660.

 

I am set up to develop B&W film and will probably start doing so again once the weather is cooler. (I love Tri-X.) I will stay with the digital post-procesing and printing, however, because the results are better than I ever obtained in my old darkroom days.

 

--Doug

[DerekF]

I mainly shoot 35mm B&W so the process is quite simple for me:

 

1- Develop the film and let it dry in my bathroom.

2- Scan the entire roll with my Nikon Coolscan 5000 and VueScan.

3- Import everything into Aperture for adjustments, safe-keeping, meta-data tagging, etc.

4- I perform adjustments and rate the keepers, while keeping the rest in my library for the sake of keeping them around.

 

Unlike some (most?), I tend to scan everything because it's easy and I'm generally uncomfortable throwing away scans since I'm not always sure if I'll eventually come back to them later. (The obvious ones are deleted, of course. No need to keep those fuzzy shots of the ground.)

[Xmas]

I shoot 35mm and occasionally 120, conventional silver mono, C41 mono and C41 color:

 

1- Develop the film and let it dry in my bathroom, (E6 is too picky for me, so I don't do E6).

2- Light table and trash most, sleeve when I'm feeling generous

3. Occasionally enlarge to multi grade warm tone bromide paper or plastic. Very rare that I scan.

 

Noel

[digbyhp]

1. C41 - Have developed and scanned at local Fuji lab. B&W - I develop myself, but scanned at local lab.

2. Download scans to PC, Delete outright rubbish.

3. Have local Fuji lab print enlargements of picks (from negs). Print my own B&W enlargements at another lab where I hire time.

[honcho]

Fine art landscapes are shot exclusively on Velvia 50 or 100 asa because it's the best mono film in the universe.

 

When the films are returned from the lab I scan the selected frames on my Imacon and make the black & white conversion in Photoshop. Prints are made either digitally or by photogravure process, depending on the order.

 

The only black and white film I use is BW400CN in a Leica MP, processed locally and scanned on the Imacon....just for the fun of it.

 

I'll stop drinking ale before I ever set foot in a wet darkroom again.

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[AbbeyFoto]

Still learning and developing my work flow. Playing with lots of kit, currently with a focus on medium format. I do not plan on re-establishing wet printing so trying to improve my scanning and digital print work flow. I have a Nikon 35mm scanner and an Epson V700 and learning to exploit Vuescan. My main printer is an Epson R2880 - with a 3880 on my wish list?

 

I plan to rekindle home processing of B&W film (all formats) with a focus on Ilford Delta with Ilford DDX developer, together with Ilford Pan F and Rodinal.

 

As I said it's a learning process rather than a set work flow - I have to say it's lots of fun!

 

Chris