AlanG Posted July 31, 2011 Share #21 Posted July 31, 2011 Advertisement (gone after registration) 3) For next time, read some of AlanG's posts which mention the precautions he took when doing hard-to-repeat shoots with film cameras: e.g. use more than one camera and more than one roll of film, don't send all the film to be processed at the same time, and so on. Or switch to digital so you can check and back up the images before the shoot ends (g,d&r). Yes, seeing images immediately and backing them up on-site is important to my peace of mind. I could list a lot of things that went wrong on shoots over the years and how I learned to take various "belt and suspender" precautions... especially with films, cameras, and processing. But many other things too. Despite all of the precautions, things can still go wrong. The really weirdest thing was when a lab used Kodak E6 chemicals but replaced the final step with Fuji's last step. This resulted in the images not being stabilized and about a year's worth of film later turned green. (Around 1,000 rolls I guess.) Fortunately, most of the good images had been scanned but they included about 30 rolls from a personal trip through China and Tibet. I will say that the hassles of dealing with film and the associated precautions, duplication, waste, and uncertainty, made me embrace digital. This eliminated a lot of stress from my work and now I can concentrate on the images and forget about dealing with the materials and process. If you shoot for pleasure, you can accept the very rare occasional problems with film and perhaps take some reasonable extra precautions to cover yourself for important shots. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted July 31, 2011 Posted July 31, 2011 Hi AlanG, Take a look here What would you do?. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
erl Posted July 31, 2011 Share #22 Posted July 31, 2011 Well those times must be closing in rapidly from what I am seeing. In the last 2 years my studio turnover and inquiry rate has nosedived like a Kamikaze. You can attribute that to whatever you like, but the fact is I was making a nice living from my photography.Now with the change in technology, there are new 'professionals' appearing all over the place charging a fraction of what I do. I am actually 2 years into an arts degree. I saw the writing on the wall and thought it might be a good idea to upskill just in case. Glad I made that decision. you are a typical 'victim' of what I said. I am afraid that upskilling yourself professionally will not help. You need to develop marketing strategies that will out manouvre the 'wannabe' professionals. I did it by declaring myself to be a troubleshooter instead of a photographer. My mantra is; "You can't have a solution until you have a problem." And if you have a problem you need me! Specialize in delivering the 'impossible.' That takes skill and nerve. That way you can leave the 'mob' behind. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Studio58 Posted July 31, 2011 Share #23 Posted July 31, 2011 you are a typical 'victim' of what I said. I am afraid that upskilling yourself professionally will not help. You need to develop marketing strategies that will out manouvre the 'wannabe' professionals. . That would depend on the type of upskilling. If you are assuming that I am going down that track in the field of photography you are mistaken. No, I am broadening my skill set and using my years of experience in the photographic industry as a component of a broader package in order to make a sideways move into a career which may have a little more longevity Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xmas Posted July 31, 2011 Share #24 Posted July 31, 2011 Hi I allus used two bodies same focal length for location or wedding shooting, double shooting, formals. The candits, would be on whichever body was to hand, I lose half of those on single failure. Bought several bricks from same batch, tested before hand... Dropped the Kchromes into a Kodak 'Box number' one by one at least a day apart. Went to C41/E6 when local Kchrome site was closed. The only problem I have had is film packages dissappearing in post. Do my own C41 nowdays, local mini labs moving further away. Not that different from monochrome retained silver. Noel Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allen in Montreal Posted August 1, 2011 Share #25 Posted August 1, 2011 ...... they processed it as black and white!......... C-41 is pretty easy to process at home. 1 liter kits are still sold by photoformulary.com, works out to about 2.5 per roll. Photographers' Formulary Inc. Get a kitty litter tub or larger rubber maid container. A small aquarium pump to slowly circulate the water in the tub Add an aquarium heater, or better yet, a submersible DevTec heater if you can find one. Good luck. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
erl Posted August 1, 2011 Share #26 Posted August 1, 2011 Just did a search of Photographers' Formulary. Could not find any C-41 chemistry. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xmas Posted August 1, 2011 Share #27 Posted August 1, 2011 Advertisement (gone after registration) Photographers' Formulary Inc. yes they do Flexicolor and CD4 Noel Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
honcho Posted August 1, 2011 Share #28 Posted August 1, 2011 ..... Upon returning home I dropped hundreds of transparency and Col neg film off at one of Melbourne's then premier labs. They processed it all as C41. ..... Lol!!! And I remember a time in the professional world when 'they' said digital would never catch on! As far as 'upskilling' goes, I agree 100% with the sentiment, although this is may not be the right forum for such a discussion. Constant reassessment to keep ahead of the game is a concept which many of my full time colleagues have been slow to grasp, to their cost. Marketing has always been the key and is more important now than ever. The wannabees have always been there and are not really any more of a threat to most full time professionals than they have ever been. There are simply more of them and new technology has made it easier for them to pretend just as it has worked against lazy and less competent full time pros. Those established pros who are unable to survive are probably culpable for their own demise. Back to the op, I would say if the images were that important you would have done more to protect them and yourself. Tough luck. Such is life. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
earleygallery Posted August 2, 2011 Share #29 Posted August 2, 2011 I recall reading of a photographer (here in the UK) who took legal action against a lab who spoiled his films, I know he was awarded some compensation, certainly a lot more than a few free films! I think you would need to prove your financial loss to justify any compensation, and of course you would have to argue against the labs terms & conditions of service. If you were on holiday, for example, you wouldn't be awarded the cost of another holiday, as the cost of your trip wasn't incurred for the sole reason of taking the images. It's very muddy water and anything could happen, but that's what I would do if it mattered to me enough. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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