Which Velvia for slot canyons in UT in Oct?

[Eric Leppanen]

I've shot Antelope Canyon with Provia; it is not quite as punchy as the Velvias but has slightly better exposure latitude. I would avoid Velvia 50 for slot canyons due to its relatively poor reciprocity characteristics (any of the newer films such as Provia, Velvia 100 or Velvia 100F would be much better in this regard). Actually Kodak E100VS is one of my favorite red rock country films, as it does a fine job in recording the nuances of reds and oranges found in the area, but I don't use it for slot canyons since its reciprocity characteristics aren't as good as the films mentioned above.

Frankly, when I shoot Antelope again I'll be taking along some color neg film (Pro 160S or Portra 160VC), since scene contrast is so high it's often difficult or impossible to hold highlights while retaining shadow detail.

For shooting cottonwoods during fall colors, I would suggest either E100VS or Velvia 100, as both do an excellent job of recording vivid yellows. I would probably favor Velvia 100 due to its superior ability to push (to freeze wind motion among the cottonwood leaves).

[Don Boyd]

I use Velvia 50 in the slot canyons all the time. It is important to not have any part of the canyon direct lit by the sun as the exposure range will be too wide. Here is one of Peek-a-Boo off of the Hole-in-the-rock road outside of Escalante: http://donboyd.com/gallery02/image07.htm

There are at least 3 canyons off of this road: Peek-a-boo, Spooky and Zebra.

By the way, $100 is too much to pay. B&H Photo sells Velvia 50 for $75:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...arch&Q=*&bhs=t

You will love the canyons.

[Harley Goldman]

I shot Velvia 100 in Utah. It was my experience that when I had red rock with warm light, the reds went off the charts. I hated the results. I plan on taking 50 and some Astia when I really need more latitude for my next Utah trip. I no longer use 100. I was very happy to see 50 come back.

[Walter Calahan]

Ok, so in six weeks you can test all the film mentioned above, and start to learn whether you like their characteristics. Once tested, go with you gut with what you like. Sorry for the miss read of your thread.

Me, I'm more familiar with Velvia 100F then 50, and love 100F. When push came shove when I did my Washington DC Pinhole work (mostly 8x10 sheet film) with very long exposures, I ended up using Provia F.

Here's the gallery of how Provia F worked for me (of course you're looking at very dumbed down versions of the original chromes on my web site): http://www.walterpcalahan.com/Cheers...ington_DC.html

[Adam Kavalunas]

Pretty much all of my shooting has been in the many canyons of Utah and Arizona. Over the years, I've shot Velvia 50, 100, 100F, and Astia 100F. Of these, I think I prefer the Astia. I love the saturation of Velvia 50, but the added lattitude of Astia as well as the less pronounced reciprocity failure and ability to push/pull, not to mention the extra stop of speed for blowing foliage all combine to make it a better choice for me. The Velvia's are certainly more impressive on the light box, but mind you, I edit all my images in PS, so I can easily bring in the saturation that Velvia 50 would provide.

Adam Kavalunas
www.plateauvisions.com

[RPNugent]

When I shot the slots I used Ektachrome 64T tungsten film corrected with an 85B filter. Gives absolutely gorgeous realistic colors and has almost no reciprocity issues to work with. I wouldn't use Velvia there at all due to reciprocity and color shifting, but some people like the look that gives, up to you.

[Jeffrey Sipress]

An important consideration not yet mentioned is, are you going to scan the films? IF so, then why struggle with the short range, high contrast, strong colors and reciprocity of Velvia? Any film can be made to look like Velvia in post processing. Astia is my choice. Scans better, easier to work with.

[Harley Goldman]

Jeffrey,

I find Astia often gives me a strange yellowish cast to blue skies and it is difficult for me to easily correct it. A friend of mine will not use Astia at all, he calls them piss yellow skies. I like Astia for scenes without a blue sky, but I am not a fan of it for scenes with it.

[Bryan Lemasters]

My vote would probably be for Provia 100 - neutral colors and good reciprocity characteristics.

I also had another thought that came to mind that might be used to get a better grip on contrast: Pre-flashing the film. Decided it would be better to post it in its own thread:http://www.largeformatphotography.in...t=pre-exposure

[Andrew Eschbacher]

The last time I was in Lower Antelope Canyon I shot Provia 100, Velvia 50 and E100VS. I liked the reds in E100VS the best but for overall latitude and contrast Provia 100 was by far the best of the bunch. Save the Velvia 50 for scenes with less contrast.