Photographing (slides) for my photog. entries HELP

[enlarger_lady]

My first post here. I have my work ready to photograph for slides, for entries into Annual NC Photog. Juried Exhibition. In the past, we took our work and it was juried there. Now, they require slides. I am exasperated. The only place open today were drug stores. All I could get was Kodak Elite Chrome Film for slides, which is 200 and 400 (I got both). Dalight. So now what? I've done studio lighting when in school taking photog courses. But here I am at home with my deadline tomorrow! My work is fantastic and I have gotten into the exhibition for the three years that I have entered, surprisingly. These slides are going to ruin me! I didn't take the course involving portfolio photography.

I have an elarger and a copy stand,but with daylight film, I'm not using that. Do I get in a bright north window? It has cheesecloth like white curtains that diffuse light nicely. I know I should turn off all lighting. Meter with my camera up close to the subject, don't have the glass in the frames (black Neilssen gallery frames, matted, B&W photog, many hand-colored and toned). I know to bracket. Use a tripod and cable. Do I use flash? No? Should I rig up a reflector board ? Help. It's all due tomorrow. I can get the slides developed in an hour at a local camera store. I hate that I'm always last minute. But I always have great results. This is over my head (slides, even though I 've worked with them before, it was a different film).

I'm shooting ALL three rolls! do I put each framed photo on an art easel with a plain backdrop (fabric)? What color? Black? Grey? Help. Thanks.

[another view]

Daylight slide film needs to be shot under daylight color to have accurate colors. Under incandescent room lights, everything will look yellow. The flash you have will be daylight color, but don't use it - it can be very difficult for a lot of reasons. Best scenario that you mention would be to shoot it with the north facing window, which will give you a fairly long exposure. Use your tripod and cable release and you'll be OK. You may want to shoot one roll, take it in for processing and see how you did. Then you still have time to re-shoot if needed. I'd bracket a little too like you say - exposure is critical with slide film.

Elite Chrome is pretty good film, and color neutral which is important here. The 200 would be my choice of the two - it's a little grainy but not bad, but the 400 probably is pretty grainy. They also make a 100 but I think that one has more enhanced color to it, might not be a good choice here. Stick with the 200.

As far as how - could you shoot the framed print hanging on a wall? That way it would be easy to get the camera perpendicular to the print (just like you would on a copy stand, imagine the copy stand turned on it's side).

Good luck!

[opus]

make sure you come back and tell us how it turned out! :-)

~Kelly

[enlarger_lady]

I found my old notebooks from the classes and it's all coming back to me now. It's 3:45 AM, and I must now put the work into mats and frames. Then, I need a few hours of sleep so I can get up and shoot the film and hurry off to the film processor. I do all my B&W processing myself in my dk.room, but don't do color chemistry. Hanging the pieces on the wall. What a great idea. I am too tired to think of any great ideas! I spent two hours hand-coloring a photogram that I did (copper toned it too). When I got through I discovered it was the wrong print!! I hand colored the "practice" print!! I'll still photograph it, but color the good one for reframing if it gets accepted. I am way too tired.

Kellybean, what the dickens are you doing here, you spybot you. When I've gotten over this last minute deadline and gotten some rest, I'll get on here and look at your work. I'll talk later! I just can't go anywhere incognito!

[enlarger_lady]

make sure you come back and tell us how it turned out! :-)

~Kelly

Funny meeting you here! I gotta get my work done. Will look forward to talking photo later.

[opus]

It's not so funny since I told you to come! I knew this site would come up on top. :-)

And sure enough, there you appeared.

I haven't posted much here, and certainly not my best work. I'm too scared to post my best yet ... the people here post such good stuff that I'm afraid my best will turn out to be simply average. So I'm hoarding it to myself so that I can continue to hold out hope that it truly is pretty good stuff.

I do need a new lens, though. I'm seeing now that mine just isn't very sharp.

[another view]

Not a lot of people here who do their own darkroom work, always good to hear what other people are doing. I do a little B&W developing myself but no printing - just scanning, but there's nothing like a real B&W print! My excuse is that there is one good lab left in this town that knows how to do it... Someday...

I thought I was so clever with shooting something against a wall when I had to do something like that recently - because I don't have a copy stand. I told another photographer about it and he said he did it all the time ! Oh well, if it works it works.

Feel free to post some work - both of you!