Push and Pull

[rdenney]

Okay, guys, play nice…

Rick “back to actual content, please” Denney

[Michael R]

I sure hope we can get to 15 pages on this topic

I know we can do it. Go team.

[djdister]

Back to our original programming...

There is nothing inherently bad or wrong about push processing, which may be required due to intentional or inadvertent underexposure. Kodak describes it simply on one of their datasheets:

Push processing allows you to expose the film at higher
film-speed numbers for conditions such as low-level light,
stop action, or existing light. However, there will be a loss
of shadow detail and an increase in graininess.
Because of these films’ exposure latitude, you can
underexpose by one stop and use normal processing
times. Prints will show a slight loss in shadow detail.
You can underexpose by two stops if you increase
development time by push processing. Prints will show an
increase in contrast and graininess with further loss of
shadow detail. However, results should be acceptable for
many applications. Expose a test roll to determine the film
speed that gives the best results for your application.
You can underexpose TRI-X 400 Film / 400TX by three
stops if you increase development time by push
processing. Prints will show an increase in contrast and
graininess, and an additional loss of shadow detail.
However, results should be acceptable for some
applications. Expose some test rolls to determine the film
speed that gives the best results for your application.

[Drew Wiley]

"results should be acceptable for some applications" - Well, I can attest to that ridiculously over-optimistic statement. I was the first person to a nighttime car wreck and happened to have a 35mm camera with me. But a Sheriff's Deputy soon arrived too. I took a handheld 4 sec exposure via auto headlights which did need "pushing" three stops. It was wretchedly blurred and there was almost no shadow gradation. But that made no difference published in a rural newspaper where all the pictures were miserable. It was enough to show the face of the drunk driver sitting in the ditch with his jeep upside down nearby, cussing at the Deputy for telling him he was going to jail after he got out of the hospital, still too drunk to realize he had broken a couple of legs. It takes a long time for an ambulance to arrive at the place like that, and once his head started clearing up, he was beginning to moan enough.

[jnantz]

The trouble with mules is that they can be smarter than people; and the saying, "stubborn as mule" didn't come out of nowhere. They also know how to lay down in the middle of creeks to cool off, along with the gear atop them. AA stopped backpacking when he was just 32 and resorted to mules. Many of his high country pictures were taken on brief breaks when leading huge mule and horse train convoys of Sierra Clubbers along the trails. More often these days, llamas are preferred instead by photographers; but they get spooked more easily. I still prefer my own two feet.

drew

I know you are familiar with hill country and rural areas where you grew up, and have spent your life exploring and enjoying. have you ever thought of creating something that folks might consider a monograph of these areas. as someone who is a historic preservation professional interested not as much preserving the landscape ( it's alive and will change due to forces beyond mere mortals power ) but mainly through photography. travel photography / preservation photography began as soon as photography was invented. I don't just mean pristine images of the landscape, but even a view of someplace and like the white stylus on a 3A postcard camera allowed a description maybe in 1 sentence of what used to be there. I live in RI and one hilarious way RI-people give directions is stating where something used to be .. for example " you go down and pass the light and where the "so and so" used to be you take a left ..." I have 40 years of these types of images and will eventually make a guidebook ...I am sure llamas or by foot you must have images made in all formats ... and no pushing or pulling development will be involved

[jnantz]

"results should be acceptable for some applications" - Well, I can attest to that ridiculously over-optimistic statement. I was the first person to a nighttime car wreck and happened to have a 35mm camera with me. But a Sheriff's Deputy soon arrived too. I took a handheld 4 sec exposure via auto headlights which did need "pushing" three stops. It was wretchedly blurred and there was almost no shadow gradation. But that made no difference published in a rural newspaper where all the pictures were miserable. It was enough to show the face of the drunk driver sitting in the ditch with his jeep upside down nearby, cussing at the Deputy for telling him he was going to jail after he got out of the hospital, still too drunk to realize he had broken a couple of legs. It takes a long time for an ambulance to arrive at the place like that, and once his head started clearing up, he was beginning to moan enough.

hi drew, sorry for the double-shot .. but except for artists and people who have a higher level of sophistication when it comes to photography, wasn't your photograph a success? most people don't really care about highlight detail of chiaroscuro and it's only purpose is to give an inkling of what was there. It's funny, I spoke with a friend of the family who was a realtor ... It went like this

Me: Mrs. M. have you ever noticed how terrible the photographs are for RE Listings, it's hard to believe those people are paid the photography is so bad ..
Mrs. M.: The photographs don't matter, they are there to just spark an interest.

Similar to a friend whose wife was a realtor...

EB: My wife has gotten really good at real estate photography
Me: Sounds great ...
EB: She carries a fake branch that has leaves with her so people feel more at home.
.. Isn't that similar to what your location-job was about ( you know .. being "good enough" ) ...

[Drew Wiley]

I have done running projects of specific hill country regions, especially the California gold country. I doubt I'll live long enough to publish the pictures, but might find time to put full portfolios of them up for sale. Only representative images have actually been publicly displayed. But this week I was looking through the homemade albums of a young girl with a box camera, who took some remarkable contemporaneous pictures of silver rush towns on the opposite side of the range. I've actually met her - when I was a child and she was in her 90's.

Otherwise, this is the time of year snow is forecast clear over here on our coastal hills. And that's when the real estate photographers go out and take pictures of wretched inland subdivisions as hot and smoggy as hell most of the year. But the brochure will show one of the handful of days when the sky is deep blue with a snowcapped peak in the background, and a verdant green meadow with wildflowers in the foreground (due to be bulldozed the next day).