Negative scans from Donington history
Discussion
Oh NO, not another scanning thread ...!
Well, this time from negatives and, to start with at least, I decided to see what the results were like, by the time they reached the web, if I stuck to 24-bit colour and 1200 resolution as a starting point.
The benefits of doing so are, of course, greatly reduced disk capacity requirements and much faster scan times.
The prints from these negatives have become decidedly orange in appearance over the years despite being stored in the dark for the most part. I few months ago I scanned the print of one of these and posted it somewhere on PH. Getting the colour anything like right was a real pain - but there again my older scanner probably did not help.
The negatives look to be in good condition BUT they so look a bit flat - particularly in the reds - and I have not yet a way to pick that up much at all without making other things look totally false. Peculiar and challenging. The trails and tribulations of film photography!
Anyway, thought I would start this one off with something vaguely camera related.
Eddie Arundel - sponsored by Olympus.
[pic]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v663/longq/Old%20Motorsport/eps265_cleann_web750.jpg[/pic]
And whilst we are on single seaters - Russell Spence who was a bit of a star in those days.
[pic]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v663/longq/Old%20Motorsport/eps277_clean_usm.jpg[/pic]
On to the Saloons - the BTCC of its day.
A Mr. Moss, whoever he was ... (this is the shot I posted previously from the print)
[pic]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v663/longq/Old%20Motorsport/eps270_usm_edit_web750.jpg[/pic]
And his team mate - a Mr. Brundle. (Posted twice initially checking the difference between 750 and 800 wide.
[pic]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v663/longq/Old%20Motorsport/eps269_col_adj_usm_web750.jpg[/pic]
[pic]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v663/longq/Old%20Motorsport/eps269_colour_adjusted_usm_.jpg[/pic]
Mr. Brundle got into a bit of a scrap with a Mr. Barrie 'Whizzo' Williams and his mate.
[pic]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v663/longq/Old%20Motorsport/eps272_usm_clean.jpg[/pic]
[pic]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v663/longq/Old%20Motorsport/eps273_clean_crop_web750.jpg[/pic]
... but I can't remember who won.
Well, this time from negatives and, to start with at least, I decided to see what the results were like, by the time they reached the web, if I stuck to 24-bit colour and 1200 resolution as a starting point.
The benefits of doing so are, of course, greatly reduced disk capacity requirements and much faster scan times.
The prints from these negatives have become decidedly orange in appearance over the years despite being stored in the dark for the most part. I few months ago I scanned the print of one of these and posted it somewhere on PH. Getting the colour anything like right was a real pain - but there again my older scanner probably did not help.
The negatives look to be in good condition BUT they so look a bit flat - particularly in the reds - and I have not yet a way to pick that up much at all without making other things look totally false. Peculiar and challenging. The trails and tribulations of film photography!
Anyway, thought I would start this one off with something vaguely camera related.
Eddie Arundel - sponsored by Olympus.
[pic]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v663/longq/Old%20Motorsport/eps265_cleann_web750.jpg[/pic]
And whilst we are on single seaters - Russell Spence who was a bit of a star in those days.
[pic]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v663/longq/Old%20Motorsport/eps277_clean_usm.jpg[/pic]
On to the Saloons - the BTCC of its day.
A Mr. Moss, whoever he was ... (this is the shot I posted previously from the print)
[pic]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v663/longq/Old%20Motorsport/eps270_usm_edit_web750.jpg[/pic]
And his team mate - a Mr. Brundle. (Posted twice initially checking the difference between 750 and 800 wide.
[pic]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v663/longq/Old%20Motorsport/eps269_col_adj_usm_web750.jpg[/pic]
[pic]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v663/longq/Old%20Motorsport/eps269_colour_adjusted_usm_.jpg[/pic]
Mr. Brundle got into a bit of a scrap with a Mr. Barrie 'Whizzo' Williams and his mate.
[pic]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v663/longq/Old%20Motorsport/eps272_usm_clean.jpg[/pic]
[pic]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v663/longq/Old%20Motorsport/eps273_clean_crop_web750.jpg[/pic]
... but I can't remember who won.
The results look good but I'm worried that you say its taking a long time to get the colour right. How are you adjusting the colour ? If you're using Photoshop or Elements programs then it should be fairly easy and quick. From the Levels menu, use the middle (grey) eyedropper tool and click on a few places in the image where you think there is a mid grey tone (e.g. tarmac) and it should be sorted quickly for you. If that doesn't work try the white or black eyedroppers too - might work well on black race numbers and white crash helmets.
If you're using full Photoshop adjusting the reds then using a Selective Colour... adjustment layer is probably your best option.
If you're using full Photoshop adjusting the reds then using a Selective Colour... adjustment layer is probably your best option.
Good suggestions te51cle. I'm using Elements 2 (since it came with the scanner) and I have played with the white and black levels but without much success.
I think the problem is the ancient film and many of the shots appearing to be close to over exposure, though I have examples of sequential shots where the colours on film seem to change quite significantly as well.
The processing at the time may not have helped of course.
The scanner tries to adjust to give the 'best' result which in practice means that it scans the entire frame and averages it out before apply settings which can produce very different results on distinctly similar shots, particularly where a lot of tarmac is involved! In fact if I crop the frame before scanning it often adjusts the settings to accomodate the revised content. So for example, I have 3 consecutive frames on screen, all taken within a minute or so facing the clutter of the pit garages - lots of grass, tramc and grey contrete walls. Two of the frames at full screen of cropped produce a reddish tinged tarmac in the preview prior to further adjustment. Cropping the image produces no dicernable shift in colour.
The third (middle) frame was taken at a slightly different angle and cuts out the brickwork of the hospitality suites above the pit garages. In full frame this presents as a more grey tarmac though with perhaps a slightly cold blue-green shading. However if I crop to the main subject the result is the pink tinted tarmac much the same as the other 2 frames.
Because the negs are looking slightly over exposed I an using a 'darken' setting on some of them to overcome the washed out look and add more detial to the scanned file which I can use in later editing. That seems to work well enough, but I have yet to find a way to make the colours more vibrant without them switching straight to looking false.
Maybe it is too much to expect. I think the film technology at the time (Kodak in this case) was about to be dramatically improved and I may have forgotten how much of a difference the new developments made or, to put it another way, how much the more recent films have added to the colour experience!
Experiments continue!
I think the problem is the ancient film and many of the shots appearing to be close to over exposure, though I have examples of sequential shots where the colours on film seem to change quite significantly as well.
The processing at the time may not have helped of course.
The scanner tries to adjust to give the 'best' result which in practice means that it scans the entire frame and averages it out before apply settings which can produce very different results on distinctly similar shots, particularly where a lot of tarmac is involved! In fact if I crop the frame before scanning it often adjusts the settings to accomodate the revised content. So for example, I have 3 consecutive frames on screen, all taken within a minute or so facing the clutter of the pit garages - lots of grass, tramc and grey contrete walls. Two of the frames at full screen of cropped produce a reddish tinged tarmac in the preview prior to further adjustment. Cropping the image produces no dicernable shift in colour.
The third (middle) frame was taken at a slightly different angle and cuts out the brickwork of the hospitality suites above the pit garages. In full frame this presents as a more grey tarmac though with perhaps a slightly cold blue-green shading. However if I crop to the main subject the result is the pink tinted tarmac much the same as the other 2 frames.
Because the negs are looking slightly over exposed I an using a 'darken' setting on some of them to overcome the washed out look and add more detial to the scanned file which I can use in later editing. That seems to work well enough, but I have yet to find a way to make the colours more vibrant without them switching straight to looking false.
Maybe it is too much to expect. I think the film technology at the time (Kodak in this case) was about to be dramatically improved and I may have forgotten how much of a difference the new developments made or, to put it another way, how much the more recent films have added to the colour experience!
Experiments continue!
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