Velvia - 1st roll

[brmill26]

This is the second roll of film shot through the Ricohflex TLR. It's my first roll of Velvia - I'm hooked! The color of these shots is amazing. Walmart developed for $4.88! Apparently they cannot scan, so what I did was put the slides on top of my laptop (while displaying a white screen) to form a makeshift lightbox. The only problem is, the DSLR/50mm actually resolves the individual pixels of the laptop screen, so you see a grid pattern on the slides. Certainly not a perfect method, but it's alright. The main problem is that it destroys the fine detail. I'll get prints next time and scan from those.

Along a Fall trail.


This is one of my favorites. The actual slide isn't this dark and has a little less contrast. It's incredible.


This isn't bad, but the lens parallax threw me off - no floor on the bridge


Not sure about this one. It looks pretty bad here; the slide is ok, but I'm not sure.


Old camera + timer + cold weather = stuck shutter. Overblown sky, but I actually like the trees and the somewhat ghostly look of the building.


Ah, that's much better. The shutter actually stuck again, but I was expecting it and knocked it closed. I think that may have introduced a little camera shake though. Anyway, the colors in this are fantastic. This is Velvia!


Another great one - reflection on Patton Creek. Again, the Velvia is magic here.


River of Leaves. There's really no justice for this one on here. The slide looks awesome.

[danic]

The slides look good Brad. Good improvisation with the lightbox/laptop.

Can't wait to see them scanned.

[Xia_Ke]

Looks like you are settling right in with that Ricohflex Now you just need to get yourself a scanner ;)

[brmill26]

Thanks guys. I've got a standard glass top scanner/copier as part of my HP All-in-one printer, but the scans looked much, much worse. It'll do 48bit 1200dpi, so resolution isn't a problem, but they were so dark you couldn't see hardly anything. I know slides need the light coming through them rather than being reflected off them, but I have no idea how to do that with a regular scanner. Any ideas? I couldn't figure it out - as bad as the method used above is, it was way better than any of the scans, if that gives you an idea.

[Xia_Ke]

Some scanners have an option for software added backlight. It might help but, still won't be great IME. A scanner that is meant to work with film will have a light source in the lid which is need for scanning an film, negative or positive. New ones that are MF compatible can be had for around $100 - $150. You might be able to score a used one on Ebay, Craigslist, etc for cheap.

[brmill26]

Thanks for the info Aaron.

[cameron665]

Looks good Brad. Velvia is one of my favourites. Here is my first scan of one of my Velvia shots. Excuse the dust spots, I was in a rush to try it out for the first time.

[brmill26]

Aye, nice shot Cameron. Love the Velvia colors. At first I was wondering why the flag was the wrong color. After a quick bit of research (ie, google), I discovered the red-bodied flag is for Australian merchant ships. Interesting. http://flagspot.net/flags/au.html

[cameron665]

Thanks for the flag link Brad. Quite interesting.

[Jimmy B]

Brad you are enjoying yourself way too much with the film and old camera!
good looking shots.
Jimmy B

[brmill26]

Hahaha, what can I say... thanks Jimmy. I just finished my finals yesterday, so now I've got time to actually go shoot some stuff! It's been killing me, everything just sitting on the table staring at me while I studied! My gear has been lonely for 3 weeks but I'm going to try to make up for it over the break. First task, clean the back of the lens on the Zeiss and load up my roll of HP-5 and see how she does. Hopefully there won't be any more cleaning required, but I'm thinking seeing the negatives is the only way I'll really know. And I've got a half shot roll of Velvia in the TLR, so I'll try to use that up as well. I can't wait! Now if it would just quit raining...

[schrackman]

I've got a roll of Velvia 50 in my Canonet GIII QL17 right now. Only have about 6 more exposures to go before the roll is fininshed. Can't wait to see how they turned out.

Brad, I think your last shot is outstanding!

Ray

[Xia_Ke]

Bout time you broke that thing out again Ray I'll be looking forward to the shots. You've had some great stuff in the past with the ol' Canonet.

[brmill26]

Thanks Ray! The Velvia really does a beautiful job; I think you'll be happy with it.

[schrackman]

Bout time you broke that thing out again Ray I'll be looking forward to the shots. You've had some great stuff in the past with the ol' Canonet.

Thanks Aaron. When it comes to my Canonet (and buying film or slide) I'm really a sucker for a proper subject and composition. That's why it takes me so long to finish a single roll, especially if it has 36 exposures. I've still got 6 exposures left to shoot. I moved up here to Washington mid roll so I kinda forgot what I shot in CA. It'll be a nice surprise once I get the roll back.

Ray