Gavin Stairs on wed 30 sep 98
Hi All, again,
I have noted the continuing discussion of grey cards and exposure readings,
etc. I thought I'd add a word of two. The other day I was at the photo
finisher, and I overheard a conversation with a woman who happened to be a
crafts person, expressing her disappointment with the color of the pictures
she had just had remade because the first batch were "unacceptable".
Apparently the second batch were even worse, because she eventually went
back to the first set.
It is very difficult for a photo finisher to guess what the correct color
should be in a print of an artwork, especially when taken with artificial
light, or under overcast sky. It used to be common advice to take all such
photographs under open sunlight with daylight balance film. The other
("correct") way is to take a picture of a color patch card along with one
of the pictures of the pots. In fact, stick a grey card in there as well,
and a grey scale. These patches, scales and grey cards can be purchased at
your friendly, neighborhood photo-retailer. In fact, it doesn't hurt to do
this once at the head of a spool and once at the end. If you bracket
exposure, bracket on the cards as well. As someone else said recently,
film is the cheapest part of making pictures.
The finisher can use these patches to balance the print just so. Even if
s/he does this carefully, a discerning eye will note discrepancies in
color. This is inevitable. If the problem is bad, try a different film,
or a different processor, or something! Don't just stand there. And don't
blame it on the finisher. He's just trying to make a living. Professional
photographers do NOT use neighborhood photo retailers for their finishing
needs. They go to specialist professional photo finishers who charge
handsomely for their work, because you get what you pay for. If you want
the best, take your slides/negs to a pro, along with the color patches,
etc., pay the man, ask advise, and follow it. Do not complain if you have
to do it twice the first time. Professional photographers get paid a lot
of money to do this for a living, because it is not as easy as it looks.
If you want the very best pictures, and don't want to learn, get a pro to
do it for you. It is expensive, but not your biggest expense, after all.
If you want to do it yourself, be prepared to go to a bit of trouble.
Lights:
The sun is free, still. You may need some diffusing cloth or sheet, and a
white reflector. You may also need some stands to hold these, or one or
two willing helpers. Play around until something pleases you. You will
get very different effects under full sunshine, overcast, early or late and
midday, etc. Try taking pictures late in the day with the weather turning
bad! Or out in the snow on a really bright day.
If you want to stay dry, an indoor light setup of two to four lights is
about normal. The most useful are electronic flash. You will need one
main light, one fill. These, by the way, are the two that get the
polarizers. Then, you can add a key light, which is a little snoot or spot
to pick out a few careful highlights, sometimes from behind to limn the
edge of the piece; and a background light. It is useful to have some
control over the intensity, which is one advantage of electronic flash over
tungsten lights. Full, half and quarter is enough for most purposes.
Variations are various reflectors and diffusers, and scrims, barn doors,
etc. A common setup uses an umbrella reflector for the main and or the
fill. Also common in product shots are the light stage, which permits
shadow free illumination, and the tent, which provides full diffuse
illumination all around. A ring flash may be useful on occasion.
Incidentally, this setup is almost the same as a standard studio portrait
setup. Only the staging is different, and the use of polarizers in
portraiture is unusual.
Camera:
The one common requirement is slides. For this you need a 35mm camera,
preferably a single lens reflex with interchangeable lenses. The most
useful lens will be a moderate tele or macro lens, same as for portraits.
There are many special lenses and attachments that you may or may not want,
but just this will handle 90% of your task. The camera does not need to be
expensive. In fact, a used Nikkormat or Pentax from a long time ago will
work fine. I use Leicas with a Visoflex II, which is pretty ancient, but
it takes better pictures than I do. You don't need autofocus or any
dodahs. On-camera flash is an abomination.
A tripod is almost essential. Buy a nice, solid, stable one. If you have
to make do with a small portable, hang something heavy on it to hold it down.
For the maximum in quality, you want a large format camera. This is
specialized territory, and I won't get into it here. Be prepared to spend,
spend, spend.
Exposure control is best done with through the lens reading on the camera.
Actually, this is one area in which recent advances are worthwhile. Modern
computer weighted exposure control is wonderful. Use it if you've got it,
and spend the time to understand how to use it best. If not, then a good
integrating meter will handle the job best. This, by the way, is the same
as using an 18% grey card. You will have to do filter compensation
separately, though. If you are using filters, use a spot meter at the
camera, and meter through the filters.
The use of electronic cameras is almost the same as film cameras. They
just use discs instead of film. The cheap ones will be fully automatic,
which you will have to live with. The very expensive ones are just like a
35mm camera, only different.
Action:
Set up in a corner where you can leave everything set up, if possible. If
not, wherever. Make note of what you do. Keep a camera log, just like a
kiln log. You do keep a kiln log, don't you?
Buy film in batches at a pro shop, keep it in the fridge, use lots, try
everything that feels good, ask everyone's advice, try it out. Just like
making pots. You want to get good at it, do it, ask questions, do it some
more. Buy a book and read it.
Gavin
Gavin Stairs
Stairs Small Systems (S3)
921 College St., # 1-A
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M6H 1A1
(416)530-0419 stairs@stairs.on.ca
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