I have recently starting off shooting 4x5 with Provia 100f & i have been exceptionally happy with my exposures & the system i am using to determine correct exposures. Recently i got some Velvia 50 & took some shots with it (some of the shots i had to go on a 5 hour hike through the jungle, Lol). I just got the film back from the lab & every single sheet is completely under exposed to the extent of almost being completely black, I don't understand what i have done wrong. Is there anything i should know about shooting Velvia 50 ???
Well, for one it is ISO 50, with a tendency to be slower. The more so on low key subjects with lots of browns and blacks (like a forest or jungle) where the high colour contrast turns into a general high contrast - there, I'd spotmeter and make sure that the shadows are at no more than 2.5-3 EV under. But be aware that you'll have to wrestle with lots of colour casts that way.
If you like that postcard look, it is a good film for wide open landscapes with lots of blue sky, or for colourful subjects, but for subjects with more subtle colour, like grey skies, soil, skin or wood, I'd go with Provia or even Astia.
Photographing in a jungle is not easy for exposure measuring. It demands some experience. Velvia 50 is probably the least convenient film for the jungle. There is too much contrast between the light and shadows in a jungle, often to the point of making the picture impossible for the given chrome latitude. Over exposure is a way to avoid the black holes but this compromise is not always possible. You probably missed something on your exposure measuring technique.
Like the others, I find Velvia a difficult film when the contrast is even slightly high, though I suspect there was a metering error in this case if the sheets were black. Provia and E100G are easier and both produce nice greens appropriate to a jungle scene. The other option is to shoot color negative films, though there are not as many places to develop C-41 process in a dip and dunk system for large format and scanning color negative takes some practice.
Rupal,
Just my 2 cents here. When ever you shoot something that you consider to be of importance. shoot a couple of extra sheets that you consider to be the nailed 0 exposure. Put them in a seperate box and hold on to them until you get your film
back from the lab. This has saved my ass on so many occasions, I cant tell you!
I know this is after the fact, but thought this could help for future shoots.
JN
you might have kept your meter on iso 100 which is what you said you had been shooting with the Provia... That only accounts for one stop under but with a film like velvia 50,,,
sorry Rupal I liked your TV show
PS... why not just shoot black and white? It's a jungle out there
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