A Quick Dynamic Range Followup and Example
Hurricane Florence is coming… Spent all day today starting to get ready. But yesterday I stopped by the causeway bridge to Litchfield beach and shot 1 roll of FP4+ film on my Fuji GA645zi changing between the red R24 and R25 filter. I was looking to the North from the bridge. It is a very beautiful spot and scene.
This is one of my go to spots when I am looking for inspiration and it did not fail to deliver for me. I was heading home but decided to stop at the studio and put the film into the processor, wait the 20 min then hang it in the dryer overnight.
But…
When standing there looking at the clouds I realized that the whites were going to be blown so I subtracted 30 seconds from the development time to compress them down towards Zone 8 so that I could capture the entire dynamic range, then in scanning moved them back up a bit to place them closer to my memory of them and bring the blacks up a bit! I love the effect the deep red filter gives to the blue sky.
How did I do this you ask? I am glad you asked!
With a hand held spot meter I measure the brightest white I desire texture in, then measured the darkest black for texture. Pushed the average button on the meter and got the zone 5 reading along with a chart showing max and min. This tells me that the whites will be blown out on the negative. SO I adjusted my exposure to give texture (Zone 3) in the blacks I wanted and let the whites fall where they will. In the processing knowing how far over exposed the whites are I can now adjust the developing time (-1N in this case) to compress the whites down to zone 8 (-30 seconds). Easy!
In the scanning software (VueScan) you have the opportunity in the extended menus to again shift the black and white points up or down. I simply adjusted both to expand the dynamic range back out to the range of the Gicle’e (RIP) printing system I use in my studio yet keep the whites from being blown out!
- Measure the range of the scene and determine if the film can capture it all
- Expose to move the blacks with texture to zone 3.
- Pick a -N developing time according to where the whites fell in the negative (1 stop for this one)
- Scan to keep the textured blacks at zone 3 and move the compressed whites back up where they belong in VueScan)
The Results:
The Causeway going to Litchfield Beach, SC
It was a pleasant and very satisfying endeavor and made me very happy today when I scanned this image on my way home from preparations.
Data: GW645zi – 55mm – Roll 95 – Fr 8 – Red 25 +3 Filter – f8 – 1_60 – FP4+ – Xtol Stock -30s – Wet Scan – T CI 50 – Litchfield Marsh- 2018-09-09
I know, this was a really short post, but I was really pleased with the image results and the entire process was one of those “By the seat of the pants” type of evolution. I wanted to share again, now simple the process is for adjusting the range on film in development and scanning. There will be yet another one of these in the future but it will be VERY detailed and perhaps even with a video!
Mark Hilliard Atelier's Blog 
Impressive as usual. I admire how you manage to convey a strong sense of dynamic range despite the limitations of printing.
Thanks Mike, I am having a lot of fun with this. I have taught my 9yo grandson film also. He develops his own film under my supervision!
Mark, I continue to enjoy your enthusiasm and love for the many aspects of photography and printing. I know there is a cult of photographers who still gravitate to film and you serve as a great ambassador for that. A well exposed and printed negative is still magical to me. Keep up the great work. I enjoy your blog posts about all your different ventures.
Mark, I continue to enjoy your enthusiasm and love for the many aspects of photography and printing. I know there is a cult of photographers who still gravitate to film and you serve as a great ambassador for that. A well exposed and printed negative is still magical to me. Keep up the great work. I enjoy your blog posts about all your different ventures.
Thanks Frank, I really enjoy the process!
Mark – I’m trying to make contact with you regarding your “hangouts”. I emailed you through Facebook. Would you be so kind as to contact me. I would like to sign up to eithet do some group instruction or one-on-one work with you. Thank you!
Thanks for contacting me. I have been traveling for several months. You can reach me at mark@markhilliardatelier.com and we can talk about this.