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Thread: Do you save all negatives?

  1. #1

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    Do you save all negatives?

    Do you save all your negatives or do you dump the dogs and maybe the maybes?

  2. #2

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    I turn the duds into supports for carbon tissue. I have no shortage of duds unfortunately.
    Eeik

  3. #3

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    Re: Do you save all negatives?

    All that are not clearly flawed or test negatives. The data about the shot goes on a paper envelope, and the negative goes in a Mylar sleve (three sides open) and into the envelope.

  4. #4
    Daniel Stone's Avatar
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    Re: Do you save all negatives?

    I keep all negatives/chrome for 1 year, unless they're clearly blown out or technically beyond "fixing". I then go through my film from the past 4-5 years 1x/year, and toss out the ones that are now coming up on 2yrs old(or older).

    Has worked well for me thus far.

    -Dan

  5. #5
    Vaughn's Avatar
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    Re: Do you save all negatives?

    I am now tossing out the obviously flawed negs (out of focus, severely damaged) as I develop them, but I still have many older flawed negs. it is tough for me to toss any! LOL!

    Vaughn

  6. #6
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    Re: Do you save all negatives?

    Yes, I save all my negatives. (But FWIW, I don't save all my digital captures.)

  7. #7
    photobymike's Avatar
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    Re: Do you save all negatives?

    Some of the negatives i was going to throw away years ago have became some of my most cherished possessions. Negatives have lasted longer than any scanned pictures. Pictures of my children seemed like extra baggage at the time but i kept them and wow do they bring back memories. I have pictures of 2 ex wives that seemed like they were just taking up space im notebooks. Even thru history pictures that were just snapshots are now really cherished and valuable. It really is about the memories... i know a photographer in clearwater in, he is in his 90s. He had a thriving portrait and wedding business. Most of his pictures are 4x5 negatives from the 40s and 50s weddings portraits and the history of his life. What a treasure it would be to print those pictures.... i sure would like a set of my parents wedding pictures 1944.... This photographer was in WWII as a photographer ..think of the history he saw thru his 4x5 graphic.... He has all the negatives lovingly filed away neatly that his studio ever did.... he says he had his wife of many years to thank for that. You should see the 2 rooms filled with the negs from long ago ... wow something to behold.... he does not understand the history of life that he has in those carefully filed away envelopes all dated and sequential from day one .... thousands and thousands of people from birth till death..... no no the older a negative gets the more valuable it is to somebody

  8. #8

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    Re: Do you save all negatives?

    Do you save all your negatives or do you dump the dogs and maybe the maybes?
    Good question. And, I know you have posted this question, here, in the LFPF Forums,
    but let me share a digital vs film capture story. The story is truly about 'archiving images.'

    Remember the Pres. Bill Clinton - Monica Lewinsky scandal?
    Read the attached story from Dirck Halstead, a Photojournalist for Time Magazine.

    At a time when most photographers had already swapped to shooting digital,
    Mr. Halstead was still shooting mostly film, and saving his negatives/slides.
    The story takes us back to the mid 90's.

    Excerpts (2) from Dirck Halstead's editorial:
    ....I KNEW I had seen that face with the President. I had no idea when, or where....
    ....If the photographers to the left and right of me on that stage, that night, were shooting digital, they probably erased the files ( Monica, who ?)
    The full editorial By Dirck Halstead:
    http://digitaljournalist.org/issue9807/editorial.htm

  9. #9

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    Re: Do you save all negatives?

    I still have negatives (and even some prints) I made as a kid at summer camp in the early 70s, so I tend to keep stuff. But I will toss things that are completely without salvation. Though with roll film, a bad negative can make a convenient handle to a strip.

  10. #10

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    Sep 2003
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    New Berlin, Wi
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    Re: Do you save all negatives?

    I keep all negs and all my prints. I have space for them and it's amazing hiw having junk comes in handy...

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