Help: Shooting Logs

[jetcode]

I now I saw one online somewhere, a log for entering information on sheet film. Anyone remember where that might be?

[Pat Kearns]

There used to be a little Zone VI notebook for exposure notes if that is what you are thinking. Calumet use to sell them but don't know if they still do. I recall seeing one on ebay recently. Do a search on Zone VI in the cameras category of ebay.

[Sanjay Sen]

I use pages in a format that I made myself - fully customized! :)

Jason Brunner sells one here (http://www.lulu.com/content/2045656).

[jetcode]

most excellent

[Kirk Keyes]

I really like Jason's idea of printing your own book to carry around. I'm working on putting together one for myself.

Also, I think Ansel Adam's "The Negative" has an example. As well as Ansel's "Exposure Record".

[Mark Woods]

Here's a template I use printed on 4x6 cards. The field notes stay in a folder with my negs and print history all in one spot on one card. It's created on Excel.

[Mark Woods]

Oops, sent before I finished. I have a small 4x6 clipboard that goes from field to darkroom with a pencil held under the clip holding the card.

[Ed Richards]

One benefit I found in recording info for each shot is that it reduced my dumb mistake rate. Writing down that you are using a 25R filter with +3 increase in exposure helps you remember to actually set the different exposure. Since I sometimes forget to flip the darkslide it is also useful to know what sheets have been shot. You do need to number your holders, and if you want to match the sheets later you need to notch the film gate with a binary code to mark the sheets. (Or use those cute holders that number sheets.)

I used 4x6 cards with a printed guide for info, but now find that just writing the info on a pocket notebook works as well. I then pull out the pages and keep them with the film to be processed.

[Leonard Evens]

I also just use a notebook recording the information I need, which is some part of

Date of loading film holders and type of film
Date and time of photograph
Exposure number (I use Riteway holders which leave an identifying number of the film edge for color and I can usually recover it from the negative for b/w using Fideity holders by the other information)
Location/subject
Aperture and time
Filters if any and the exposure compensation
Exposure compensation for close-ups
Focus shift between near point and far point
Rise, fall, and/or shift
Tilt swing information including high/low (or right left for swing) focus shift
Exposure values at various parts of the scene and which element of the scene was set at a desired zone (usually a shadow at Zone III)
Any other special circumstances

I load a group of holders and start a page with the date and film information at the top. For each exposure I put the other information as appropriate. This could be as little as the aperture and speed and a couple of spot readings or occasionally a much longer list. Using abbreviations, I can usually fit it all in a minmal amount of space. the only problem is that I sometimes find it hard to read my writing when I scrawl it in a hurry.

[rippo]

i just remember all the data, so i don't have to carry it.

but then i forget when i get home.

at least i've got post-its on the holders to tell me what film is inside. :) that whole N+/- stuff is usually lost on me anyway. modern film, variable contrast paper, scanners...it doesn't have to be exact. but sometimes i do wish i'd made more notes. usually it's more important that i get the shot before the sun comes up though.

[Ed Richards]

One fast and dirty way is to carry a tiny digital recorder and dictate the notes.

[rippo]

good point. and many cell phones will record audio data in the same way. i didn't think mine did...but i looked a little further after seeing your post, and it turns out it does. so now i have no excuse except the usual one (laziness).

[Ron McElroy]

I use pages that I created myself, print a 4up master on a laser printed and the copy machine print those sheets. All holders are numbered and stored in ziplock bags. I record the film type on a negative record sheet and place it inside each ziplock. I always carry extras as well. After processing each negative is numbed and that number recorded on the sheet as well. I plan to enter all that information into a database one of these years.

[Hollis]

Since we are talking shooting info, does anyone record Lat./Long. coordinates while out in the field? I do, when I can and I don't really know why. Wondering if Im the only fool around.

[Martin K]

With digital you can save a GPS track and then append the data based on the time line to all files.

This weekend past I went out with a view camera (Cambo Ultima 23) for the first time. Had a real flat moment when I looked for the exposure data on the files. I was shooting to a Leaf back. Of course the data was not there. Then I remembered the notebook I carried about with my Linhof. Seems like a full circle.

I like the idea of recording to a phone. At the moment I am all thumbs with sliding backs, lightmeters and forgetting to close down lenses and all.

[timparkin]

I use my own custom exposure log (http://blog.timparkin.co.uk/2008/02/exposure-checklist.html) which I've made to be the same size as a quickload and which I keep alongside my quickloads in a gnass case (http://blog.timparkin.co.uk/2007/10/gnass-quickload-holder.html).

This is probably way more anal than most people need but I find it useful when analysing pictures after the fact.

Tim

[Hollis]

Wow, that is one exhaustive shooting log. Makes me fell haphazard at best. I couldn't tell you the last time I actually looked at how many deg. I was moving my standards.
Very well done though.

[rippo]

it occurs to me that having a shooting log might also eliminate or reduce some of the more common misfires. if you integrate your logging with your camera set up ("shutter speed - check, aperture - check" etc), you're less likely to take so many shots at f/5.6 when you meant f/45.

or so i can dream. i'll still forget to pull the darkslide out on occasion though.

which reminds me of a tip...going to post it in a different place.

[timparkin]

Wow, that is one exhaustive shooting log. Makes me fell haphazard at best. I couldn't tell you the last time I actually looked at how many deg. I was moving my standards.
Very well done though.

Very often I won't have time to do all of these at exposure time but I try to at least glance at the setting to fill in afterward. It's paid off once so far in discovering the amount of shift a certain lens can handle (I was able to duplicate the settings later and confirm that the vignetting was caused by the shift).

At this point in my learning curve (I've only had the camera for 5 months) it takes a while to setup and take a picture anyway so the act of recording the information doesn't add too much. Possibly when I get faster, I might want to optimise this (use a voice recorder possibly?).

Recording a quick sketch with EV readings has been useful too where I haven't been 100% that I've got the 'appropriate' exposure and I can recalculate in the comfort of my armchair and work out if I need an adjustment.

Ticking boxes on the sheet rather than trying to write everything down explicitly made a big difference to me.. I just need to get better at sketching now :-)

Tim

[David A. Goldfarb]

3.5 x 5.5 inch blank Moleskine notebooks work for me.

[jetcode]

One benefit I found in recording info for each shot is that it reduced my dumb mistake rate. Writing down that you are using a 25R filter with +3 increase in exposure helps you remember to actually set the different exposure. Since I sometimes forget to flip the darkslide it is also useful to know what sheets have been shot. You do need to number your holders, and if you want to match the sheets later you need to notch the film gate with a binary code to mark the sheets. (Or use those cute holders that number sheets.)

I used 4x6 cards with a printed guide for info, but now find that just writing the info on a pocket notebook works as well. I then pull out the pages and keep them with the film to be processed.

Yesterday in my hurry to capture the moving sunlight (partially obscured by clouds) I removed both dark slides simulatenously ruining the film on the far side, ouch!

I need the record to keep my holders straight, development straight, etc, etc, etc. I could start by recording what film gets loaded into a holder, exposure, development.

A log book will most likely be the easiest thing to use however print makes for a lot less writing.

[jetcode]

good point. and many cell phones will record audio data in the same way. i didn't think mine did...but i looked a little further after seeing your post, and it turns out it does. so now i have no excuse except the usual one (laziness).

Honey what's for dinner?, great, remind me I need +2 development on #12

Lot's of great ideas and solutions here. Thanks for making that happen. As it stands when I arrive at a scene, like yesterday, I literally roll up in my Westfalia, jump out, setup the ready to go tripod, attach camera with lens already attached and open for viewing. I can be setup in 5 minutes or less. This is ideal when the light is moving and time is a ticking. Speaking of timing yesterday was a great example of waiting for the light. As luck would have it I walked away with some great photographs in less than an hour. No logs however. I still need to put that together and now it looks like I can't miss.

[Laszlo]

I use a Palm Pilot software I wrote, which:

1. calculates all the compensations needed for filters, bellows and reciprocity and then

2. stores film, EI, EV, lens, filter, apert/shutter, corrections and potentially, a note about location or other comments, with a date/time stamp.

It is freeware (donation - ware, to be precise) and you can see screen shots here (http://www.vassar.info/LF/)

[rippo]

since my wife has promised me her palm in the next week or so, this looks interesting. i will give a try! and perhaps miss fewer shots...

[Jim Fitzgerald]

I put the appropriate piece of masking tape on each holder and mark them with all of my info. After I develop the film the negs go in their holders and I mark the info on them with a sharpie. I have an index page for each days shots and this is where I tape my notes from the field. Large holders I can write big and for the 4x5"s I have to write smaller. Very easy to do.

Jim