Tri-color filters over the camera lens so I can shoot black and white separations. O.K. for stuff that doesn't move. Scan and align the layers in Photoshop to get a color image.
Tri-color filters over the camera lens so I can shoot black and white separations. O.K. for stuff that doesn't move. Scan and align the layers in Photoshop to get a color image.
Oh, now I understand. Yeah, I ran careful tests with a specific tricolor filter set, along with densitometer plots, the whole nine yards, plus specific exposure notes on the dedicated 8x10 holders, and then there they sat loaded with TMax in a special transport box for about two years. I never did spot an appropriate shot where everything would hold still long enough. I even have pin registered precision negative carriers. Oh well, maybe someday. Back to color film and basic colorhead use. I have made tricolor separations from chrome film.
Did some of a small waterfall in a trout spring with a Rollei 3003. Kind of a neat effect with all of the different colors produced as the water fell and rushed over some small rocks in the spring.Originally Posted by Drew Wiley
https://darkside.photography/tricolour/
Bernice
This previous LFF discussion applies here.
https://www.largeformatphotography.i...r-here-and-now
Bernice
It would be interesting to know how much b&w sheet film is sold compared to color sheet film. Maybe someone from a larger retailer that sells both could give us some perspective. I'm guessing that b&w sheet film sales far surpass color sheet film sales these days, but i really have no idea on the real situation.
That is no doubt correct. The lion's share of color photography has defected to one form or another of digital capture. On the other hand, people still seem to think of black and white as more the rightful domain of dedicated darkroom workers, and digital black and white as the odd man out. That's certainly the case in this area. Most of the printing from color film is being done by specialty labs via scanning anyway; and cost-wise it becomes awfully tempting to simply cross over to original digital capture and inkjet print it yourself, that is, for those who even want prints. Someone like me who prefers a totally optically workflow might not necessarily buy large quantities of sheet film. My manta is, If it ain't worthy of printing, don't trip the shutter to begin with. I'd make a poor stock photographer.
My own interest now is in a hybrid workflow for color. I'd like to use film for original capture in large and medium format. After that it would be scanned for further Photoshop manipulation and digital printing. The actual digital printing would be sourced to a commercial printer with the equipment and expertise.
To me, developing color film, either neg or pos, doesn't have to be any more difficult than developing b&w film. It's just developing, so there's only time, temperature, and agitation to manage. On the other hand, analogue color printing is a whole other ballgame, and I wouldn't wish that on anyone, now or then
I think people have been scared off of color film, since color printing was always very difficult via the analogue chemical route. It was even worse to get prints from color transparencies since the contrast had to be managed through difficult and expensive techniques that are well beyond the capabilities of the average home user.
With a hybrid workflow all the stuff that was difficult before is now very easy from the digital side. The analogue capture with film can be very easy too if there's a tweak to make the processing more compatible with general users. I'd bet a lot more people who are happily doing b&w work at home today would have no difficulty at all developing color film with that kind of tweak. Everyone who posts pictures here is already using a hybrid workflow to digitize their images, so they already have everything they need to do color too.
Well, I don't bother to develop my own color film because that kind of development is standardized, and something a lab machine can do well. I'd rather be doing other things with my darkroom time. And that includes a lot of pre-color-printing work like generating masks etc., sometimes color separations. But I for one do not yet post pictures here. I haven't touched my scanner in over twenty years; and back then, it was only for web applications. I have set up a deluxe digital copy-stand station for sake of cataloging my print collection, but don't plan to use it for awhile, and certainly not for any kind of printmaking application per se. But this is a sort of new Golden Age in terms of all the workflow possibilities overlapping one another, with seeming endless hybrid options and opportunities. Something for everyone. I prefer the more tactile approach of pure optical darkroom workflow.
If sales of color sheet film are now less than b&w sheet film then I don't think that color film is sustainable in the marketplace. Fuji now doesn't make any b&w film themselves anymore, so I can't believe they're going to keep supporting color sheet film with an even smaller market.
I fear that the days of color film in medium and large format are surely numbered if they can't even sell at b&w volumes. At that point it won't matter what way you're using film, since it just won't be available.
In my mind the only hope of keeping color film alive is to get the user base up to at least the level of b&w users. The only way I can see that happening is for color film to cater to the DIY crowd of artists and hobbyists, just like b&w. A hybrid workflow can help to bring younger people to film, since all the hard stuff is taken care of digitally, and they're already familiar with it. Even an old geezer like me can see the attraction.
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