Disappointment with Safari Pics

[Brenton C]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Greetings to all. I'd very much appreciate any input into what might have gone wrong. Attached is a picture that was typical of the many (majority) of pictures taken last summer on a safari trip at Ngorongoro park in Tanzania.  I didn't keep track of whether I took this with my M3 or R4. Both cameras were equipped with a Summicron 50 f.2 lens. Film was (sorry again) either Portra 400 or Fuji Pro 400 (both films exposed at 200 asa).

To me the faulty pictures look under exposed, overly grainy, with poor colour saturation and a lot of haze in the distance. I used a Sekonic light meter to take incident readings (in the same light as the subjects) -- until Africa, this had proved to reduce the number of wrongly exposed duds when, in the past, relying on the in-camera reflected light readings of my old Canon AE-1 (a camera "so easy, anyone can . . . " HATE IT!)

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

[Brenton C]

I'd like to do this sort of trip, again, but with the right films, a decent telephoto, tripod, and maybe the right filters. 

I wonder if a skylight or uv filter might have reduced the haze and brought out some colour in the sky and crater walls in the back ground. Are there other filters that are commonly used in situations like this? I have no experience with filters in colour work, except for a skylight and a ND filter. 

I had a roll of Cinestill 50 in my bag back at the hotel -- never having used Cinestill, I was reluctant to experiment on this day, but now I'm kinda wishing I'd gone with the any slower film at all. 

I'm eager to receive all thoughts and recommendations. 

Thanks guys and gals, 

Brenton

[Advertisement]

The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[zeitz]

I wouldn't give up on these negatives.  Have them scanned and post-process in Lightroom/Adobe Camera Raw/Photoshop or another software application.  With crop, haze reduction, saturation, sharping, and the shadows, black, exposure, whites and highlights sliders, a lot can be done with this image.  Grain can also be modified.

[105012]

Assuming no issues with development, how were these scanned? Scanning can make a huge difference.

Also if you have access to someone experienced with colour negative film, they could look at the negatives to assess by eye or densitometer whether the issue lies with the negative (i.e. the storage of the film, the photography or the development). It is vital to keep film cool or at least develop it quickly if it experiences significant heat.

Edited February 17, 2020 by 105012

[jaapv]

2 hours ago, Brenton C said:

I'd like to do this sort of trip, again, but with the right films, a decent telephoto, tripod, and maybe the right filters. 

I wonder if a skylight or uv filter might have reduced the haze and brought out some colour in the sky and crater walls in the back ground. Are there other filters that are commonly used in situations like this? I have no experience with filters in colour work, except for a skylight and a ND filter. 

I had a roll of Cinestill 50 in my bag back at the hotel -- never having used Cinestill, I was reluctant to experiment on this day, but now I'm kinda wishing I'd gone with the any slower film at all. 

I'm eager to receive all thoughts and recommendations. 

Thanks guys and gals, 

Brenton

I would like to see a chemical contact sheet to be able to judge what happened. It looks unsharp as well, and the sky is uniformly milky, despite the shadows on the buffalo being quite blocked. And taking just two 50 mm lenses on safari is unconventional, to put it mildly. Get a 250 or 350 Telyt for your R4.
Also, the light is bright and harsh in the tropics. 400 film is really not very suitable for daylight photography - you run out of dynamic range. Next time, use slower film, 100 is plenty fast, and use the spot metering in your R4, the contrast is brutal. The shot you show: if you had used a long lens to get rid of the brightly lit surroundings, measured off the dark skin of the buffaloes and closed down 1-1 1/2 stop to get it properly dark, it would have looked quite different.

And another thing: The Ngorogoro crater floor is 1800 m over sea level, there is virtually no pollution and the sun comes in vertically. This means that a good UV or 1A skylight filter is mandatory. Rule of the thumb - if you need sunscreen factor 20 or more, you camera needs an UV filter. 

[Brenton C]

Thanks for your thoughts, Jaap. Quite right about lenses. I was included in the trip at the last minute, and no time to acquire more suitable lenses. It's really better to plan these trips a bit better, but that wasn't an option here. 

[Jeff S]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Jaap would know, but it seems to me that a UV/haze filter would also be helpful in this light.

Jeff

Edited February 17, 2020 by Jeff S

[Brenton C]

28 minutes ago, 105012 said:

Assuming no issues with development, how were these scanned? Scanning can make a huge difference.

Also if you have access to someone experienced with colour negative film, they could look at the negatives to assess by eye or densitometer whether the issue lies with the negative (i.e. the storage of the film, the photography or the development). It is vital to keep film cool or at least develop it quickly if it experiences significant heat.

Thanks 105',

Development was at the local drug store that has a lab on site. They did "high quality" scans for me there.

[jaapv]

16 minutes ago, Jeff S said:

Jaap would know, but it seems to me that a UV/haze filter would also be helpful in this light.

Jeff

Yes, I added an edit to that effect. Mandatory. No in-lens UV protection is sufficient here.

[Brenton C]

7 minutes ago, jaapv said:

Yes, I added an edit to that effect. Mandatory. No in-lens UV protection is sufficient here.

Jaapv, thanks for that rule of thumb! That's a keeper!

[adan]

The "materials" and "gear" questions having been handled, I'll move on to creative things.

First - there is actually the core of a decent picture here. The main problem with the basic scan above is that it tries to capture everything, and ends up capturing nothing very successfully.

It has harsh, high backlighting, about the worst to use or deal with (but more on that later). But the way to deal with that is to make a command-creative decision - "What can be done with this light - and what is most important about this scene?" And one choice would be to go for a dramatic silhouette, and another would be to go for the opposite - a high-key "Lawrence of Arabia" exposure that captures the heat and desolation, while opening up the black buffalos. Have a creative point of view and vision - because the camera is just a dumb box that cannot do that for you.

Ideally that is done on the spot, with camera exposure (but also working with the scanner/darkroom tech afterwards). But even with basic Photoshop controls, I can "roughly approximate" what could be done with the camera itself.

Pick the one you like, or try something else.

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

As to lighting, sometimes you may be stuck with what you get. I get that there are likely limits on how much one can jump out of the safari buggy and cavort amidst the wildlife seeking the "best" light.

But I'd recommend looking at great wildlife pictures and study how the photographers choose light, and then make it work.

https://www.google.com/search?q=wildlife+photos&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwiT4JX09dfnAhVPEc0KHZnBCKcQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=wildlife+photos&gs_l=img.3..0i67j0j0i67j0l7.1064367.1064367..1065257...0.0..0.59.59.1......0....1..gws-wiz-img.Umlikd2qx7k&ei=nS1KXtOdEs-itAaZg6O4Cg&bih=1251&biw=1795&client=firefox-b-1

For the most part, hard, high backlighting is the least-used light for good wildlife pictures. Many are under soft overcast, and those in direct sun are front-lit or side-lit - usually working in the "golden hours:" the two hours after sunrise, or the two hours before sunset. But any time that is NOT close to midday is better than midday - take a lunch break from shooting when the sun is overhead.

There's nothing wrong with backlighting in many cases, but it's often best in those golden hours when the sun is low. And again, make the command decision to expose for a silhouette, or let the highlights blow to white in order to capture the shaded areas. Don't be indecisive.

(All of the above "rules" are, of course, made to be broken -  if you know why you want to break them! )

Mule Deer, Canon 5Dmk2, Leitz 400mm Telyt-R f/6.8, 9:23 am on a January morning.

Edited February 17, 2020 by adan

[Brenton C]

Adan, 

Thank you so much for dropping in and giving me, essentially, a personal tutorial organized around the problems of this shot. This is most helpful, and much appreciated. 

You're right about limitations here -- we weren't allowed out of the safari vehicle, and the drivers were constrained to stay on the well worn trails, so there was no getting around to better lighting. In future, though, I might practice with some less threatening local wildlife where I do have those freedoms. 

[jaapv]

Not being able to get out and approach the (usually dangerous and/or skittish) game is really normal situation, as the guide likes to return with the same number of guests that he set out with and driving off road is not allowed in most national parks to preserve the environment despite heavy tourist pressure. If you have a good guide he will position the vehicle optimally for photography. Many are avid photographers themselves..
This is a good reason to prefer zoom lenses over fixed focal lengths or to take a number of long lenses. As to hard  light,  the harsh midday light is the most difficult of all, animals will be in the deep shade and the surroundings in bright sunlight. The reason that I recommend spot metering. This is negative film: expose for the shadows!

Fortunately most game drives are early in the morning and late in the afternooon; This helps, especially with backlit shots'

 

 

 

 

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

[jaapv]

But if you are shooting with the sun more overhead, make sure that your subject is lighted similar to the background, get rid of that contrast as much as possible. Keep the sky out of your frame. And process for warm colours.

Be prepared that you may have few keepers. Exposure bracket. I normally used about 50 films on a safari, and took 100.
Then I would have contact sheets and pick one or two shots per film to print or have printed. I did prefer slide film  later though, and printed Cibachrome. though. Different exposure technique! I would never use incident light metering for wildlife.
Developing film that had been through the African heat for a few weeks never presented any problems. But I did keep it out of the direct sun.

 

 

 

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

[jaapv]

Come to think of it, the best thing to do when caught unprepared for a safari, would be to grab a long-lensed bridge camera in the airport tax-free shop or use an iPhone11Pro or similar to record the memories and forget about serious photography.

[philipus]

Out of curiosity Jaap, which film did you use for the above shots?

 

6 hours ago, jaapv said:

But if you are shooting with the sun more overhead, make sure that your subject is lighted similar to the background, get rid of that contrast as much as possible. Keep the sky out of your frame. And process for warm colours.

Be prepared that you may have few keepers. Exposure bracket. I normally used about 50 films on a safari, and took 100.
Then I would have contact sheets and pick one or two shots per film to print or have printed. I did prefer slide film  later though, and printed Cibachrome. though. Different exposure technique! I would never use incident light metering for wildlife.
Developing film that had been through the African heat for a few weeks never presented any problems. But I did keep it out of the direct sun.

 

 

 

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

[jaapv]

None* - I hate scanning  ( I have thousands of slides and albums full of this stuff) and found digital far preferable to film for my style of traveling ever since 2000, eliminating film pilfering, obsolete X-ray scanners, large lead bags full of film, to mention just a few things.

For exposure and light handling it does not make one whit of difference, though. The recording medium does not determine the craft.
Digital should be handled like slide film as exposure goes, and offers the dynamic range of negative film. That is all one must remember.

 

*I know this is a film thread, but I am demonstrating a technical point, not esthetics or even "art".

[tommonego@gmail.com]

The one safari I did, many years ago, I went with a Nikkormat FS, 50 and 135mm lens and a hand held meter, 'cause that is what I had. I was there to work just outside of Dar Es Salaam. The group we were with took us out to Northern Tanzania, for a week or so. This was in Ngorongoro, we had slept in tents (on the ground) on the edge of the crater, the one cold night I had there. This was out of the Land Rover, sliding windows only top was shut. Kodachrome 64, which has lasted, also bought Agfa 100 while I was there they have mostly faded. This was done with the 135, but would have been OK with the 50.

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

[jaapv]

But you excluded the sky and kept the tonal values in the same range, which made for a well-exposed shot

[Advertisement]

Hallo,

Look here: Interesting Leica gear

[tommonego@gmail.com]

Learning how to use a hand held meter greatly helped when I switched to Leica a couple of years later.