Images FOR CRITIQUE

[Larry Kellogg]

The shadows are still buried. Running the eyedropper over the darkest areas, I'm getting a luminance value of 0. Anything in the single digits will show no detail when printed, and there are very large areas in the tree on the right that have luminance values less then 10. Also, you appear to have a cross-cast going on, unless the shadows actually were green.

Maybe I should stick to black and white film! Yes, there is a green cast. I guess I haven't figured out how to scan Portra 400 on my Imacon 343. There were some dark areas on the trees, as shown in this iPhone picture:



Of course, the light may have changed somewhat by the time I took the picture, but not that much, I think. I think I'm going to start over with this shot. Is there a way to avoid getting this green cast in the scanning step?

[Larry Kellogg]

I think your 2nd attempt is a much better rendition, and I disagree about the shadows being blocked. I think you need to have a black in the photo so it doesn't look flat. There are a few absolute black areas in the image, but they are not unnatural looking. The detail there isn't important detail anyway (my opinion).
What color are the flowers? I suspect they are pink, which might "pink up" everything that lies under the canopy. I agree that the colors are off, but not necessarily crossed from bad processing. Do you mind if I post an attempt at fixing the color with a curve adjustment?

Hello Peter,
Sure, feel free to make changes to it. Yes, the flowers are pink, well, pinkish-white.

Thanks!

Larry

[John Rodriguez]

I agree in almost all images you want a pure printed black. I'm merely pointing out that there is a very large percentage of the center of the frame that will print with little/no detail (ie luminance values under 10, 5.2% of the entire image has a luminance value of 10 or lower and 8.8% is 20 or below). Whether or not that is an issue is up to the OP.

[Peter Mounier]

Here's an attempt at cleaning up the colors.

[Larry Kellogg]

Here's an attempt at cleaning up the colors.

Thanks, Peter. Perhaps that is a bit too much pink. I recall the flowers as more white. I should go back and look while they're still there! I see the way to use the color curves to correct things now so I'll work on it.

[John Rodriguez]

Here's one that has most of the cast removed; it's a pretty strong cross cast. Also applied a screen curve to bring up the shadow areas a little bit, and some quick dodging/burning for balance.

[Larry Kellogg]

Here's one that has most of the cast removed; it's a pretty strong cross cast. Also applied a screen curve to bring up the shadow areas a little bit, and some quick dodging/burning for balance.

Thanks, John. So, what causes this cross cast? Is it the processing or the way I scan?

[John Rodriguez]

For some reason some color negative's do this when scanned, I don't know exactly why. I've noticed that it's negatives exposed in cool light that seem to cause the biggest headaches.

[Larry Kellogg]

For some reason some color negative's do this when scanned, I don't know exactly why. I've noticed that it's negatives exposed in cool light that seem to cause the biggest headaches.

Interesting. Well, I went back and looked at the few blossoms that remain on those trees and see that they're white with a reddish center. I'm going to have to try again to realize what I saw, which I think had more white in it. I did shoot a couple of black and white shots. Perhaps those are better, LOL.

[C. D. Keth]

I'm going to dig up this thread because I think it's helpful and I'm going to be shooting and posting again soon. I had to take a bit of a break because of a big move and all that entails. Post and critique away. Keep it helpful and polite and we'll all benefit.