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  1. #1
    Viewfinder and Off-Topic Co-Mod walterick's Avatar
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    Has anyone shot people with the new Velvia 100?

    I am an avid fan of Velvia 50, it's in my cameras all the time.

    It's pretty commonly acknowledged that Velvia 50 is terrible on light/white skin. In my attempts at finding the one do-it-all film, has anyone tried shooting people with Velvia 100? Not the 100F mind you, the straight 100. I'd appreciate any feedback, and if you have it, a scan or two.

    Gracias!
    Rick
    Walter Rick Long
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  2. #2
    Viewfinder and Off-Topic Co-Mod walterick's Avatar
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    Re: Has anyone shot people with the new Velvia 100?

    Here's an example of what I mean by "bad." Shadows going to red, skin colors kinda garish, too much contrast. I shot this on Velvia 50 exposed one half-stop over sunny 16, to help the skin tones a bit. It didn't do enough. I tried to match the clolors of the scanned image to the slide. Any help?
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Has anyone shot people with the new Velvia 100?-errin-cell.jpg  
    Walter Rick Long
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  3. #3
    Moderator of Critiques/Hearder of Cats mtbbrian's Avatar
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    Re: Has anyone shot people with the new Velvia 100?

    I see this pic and the one thing I wonder is, why didn't you use any fill flash?
    I am sure it would have helped.
    Just a thought.
    Brian
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  4. #4
    Viewfinder and Off-Topic Co-Mod walterick's Avatar
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    Re: Has anyone shot people with the new Velvia 100?

    Good question Brian!

    My 35mm cameras don't have built-in flashes, and I don't make it a habit of lugging around my external flash in the out-of-doors. Actually, I haven't used my external flash in about 2 years Following the work of Hodgy, Charles Hess and others, I began using natural light exclusively for people - with the exception of my snaps from my digi p&s.

    Thanks for the input!
    Walter Rick Long
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  5. #5
    Princess of the OT adina's Avatar
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    Re: Has anyone shot people with the new Velvia 100?

    I try not to shoot people, it's frowned upon in these parts....

  6. #6
    Moderator of Critiques/Hearder of Cats mtbbrian's Avatar
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    Re: Has anyone shot people with the new Velvia 100?

    Quote Originally Posted by walterick
    Good question Brian!

    My 35mm cameras don't have built-in flashes, and I don't make it a habit of lugging around my external flash in the out-of-doors. Actually, I haven't used my external flash in about 2 years Following the work of Hodgy, Charles Hess and others, I began using natural light exclusively for people - with the exception of my snaps from my digi p&s.

    Thanks for the input!
    I shoot an F100 too Rick!
    So I understand.
    I know the look you are going for, but it seems with this particilar scene some fill flash would have been beneficial. There are a lot of hard shadows there still.
    Brian
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  7. #7
    Viewfinder and Off-Topic Co-Mod walterick's Avatar
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    Re: Has anyone shot people with the new Velvia 100?

    Quote Originally Posted by adina
    I try not to shoot people, it's frowned upon in these parts....
    See, I told you Wisconsin was weird!
    Walter Rick Long
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  8. #8
    Viewfinder and Off-Topic Co-Mod walterick's Avatar
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    Re: Has anyone shot people with the new Velvia 100?

    Actually Brian, you remind me of the question underneath my question: should I start carrying Astia with me for people, or can I get away with carrying Velvia 100? The answer... after this!
    Walter Rick Long
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  9. #9
    drg
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    Re: Has anyone shot people with the new Velvia 100?

    Have you tried Provia as an all round film? I've found none of the Velvia formulations to work very well for skin, simply because it is so saturated. Astia is my favorite film, I can always increase the saturation, and in the "olden" days it worked a lot better with Color Correction Filters to acheive various color balances. The new Astia is really good stuff I feel.

    Provia is a lot of folks favorite, partially because it can also be had in 400 ISO (ain't cheap though).

    Astia has one other feature, it is super fine grain and enlarges unbelievably.

    Let us know what you decide. I'm down to under 100 rolls a film a year now.
    CDPrice 'drg'
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  10. #10
    Senior Member racingpinarello's Avatar
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    Re: Has anyone shot people with the new Velvia 100?

    Hi Rick,

    The number one problem with this situation is the hard, heavy contrast lighting. Also the scanner (Epson right?) will tend to underexpose it a little, which will exagerate the heavy contrast.

    I've photographed people using Velvia 50 but I over exposed by a 1/3 of a stop using an Iso setting of 40. You give up the saturation and some film density, but you will capture decent skin tones.

    To give me more versality I am now shooting more and more Provia than before. Most of my shots from Montana were using Provia which is very similar to Astia but has more saturation punch. It's my best compromise. I ran out during the trip and went with Velvia 100 for the remaining shots. I only shot one roll of Velvia 50, and I didn't miss it because I got the same results that I was looking for in Provia and Velvia 100.

    If you over expose Velvia, try a test roll, by at least 1/3 of a stop you will notice that skin tones become normal. My tango shot, and the attached shot were both shot with Velvia 50 @ 40

    Loren
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Has anyone shot people with the new Velvia 100?-imageloader.jpg  
    Loren Crannell
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  11. #11
    Viewfinder and Off-Topic Co-Mod walterick's Avatar
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    Re: Has anyone shot people with the new Velvia 100?

    Thanks, DRG. I have shot Provia in the past and loved it. I haven't shot it in recent years because I feel I am "missing something" by not shooting landscapes with Velvia. But you're right, Provia is an all-around film. I should definitely give it more thought.

    Do you happen to have any examples of nature or landscape work with Astia you could post?

    Thanks.
    Walter Rick Long
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  12. #12
    Viewfinder and Off-Topic Co-Mod walterick's Avatar
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    Re: Has anyone shot people with the new Velvia 100?

    Actually this has been kinda fun going through old slides looking for portraits on Velvia 50

    #1) Backlit light skin, okay, but still going to red
    #2) Light skin, clearly going to red in the shadows
    #3) Darker skin, seems pretty okay, maybe a little yellow?
    #4) Darker skin still, seems yellow seems complementary to me.

    Us poor white people

    Edit: it's mixing up the picture order on me, but you get the point.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Has anyone shot people with the new Velvia 100?-tractor.jpg   Has anyone shot people with the new Velvia 100?-reb.jpg   Has anyone shot people with the new Velvia 100?-sel.jpg  
    Attached Images Attached Images  
    Walter Rick Long
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  13. #13
    drg
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    Re: Has anyone shot people with the new Velvia 100?

    I'll post some flower and landscaping images later today taken with Astia.
    CDPrice 'drg'
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  14. #14
    drg
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    Re: Has anyone shot people with the new Velvia 100?

    Here are a few Astia Samples.

    The fish pond is more for color than anything else and it has been resized and color balanced for the stones.

    The two flower shots are both at 1200 dpi originally.

    The Orange/red one is a 1:1 crop with no post scanning adjustments other than what came as a result of JPEG compression.

    The three yellow flowers are also originally at 1200 dpi, but this has been resized and processed.
    The fourth picture has been resized and minimal processing.

    This link goes to a photo taken on Astia with a point and shoot, rest of story is pretty much noted in the gallery.

    Soldier Field, Chicago

    I ran out of room here so there's one more in the gallery which is another 1:1 crop of a 1200 dpi original scan and its from the three yellow flowers.

    Astia Film Sample of Yellow Flower

    Does this Help? Plenty more of all kinds of subjects if needed.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Has anyone shot people with the new Velvia 100?-mrkastia-g03.jpg   Has anyone shot people with the new Velvia 100?-mrkastia-g08b.jpg   Has anyone shot people with the new Velvia 100?-astia5-17.jpg  
    Attached Images Attached Images  
    CDPrice 'drg'
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  15. #15
    Viewfinder and Off-Topic Co-Mod walterick's Avatar
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    Re: Has anyone shot people with the new Velvia 100?

    Perfect perfect perfect. Exactly what I needed to see my friend! Thank you for taking the time to post these and provide the links as well.

    Astia looks like nice tight-grained film with colors much more real than Velvia/Provia. I can see why this would be a film of choice for portraiture.

    Again thank you!
    Walter Rick Long
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