Hi all, comments/ criticism appreciated. I apologize for the scanning, it was quite a rushed job at Meyer Library. These were all taken last week, and it was my first time experimenting with slide film. Camera used: M6 with 50mm summilux.

thanks, Ken

http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=156234

-- Ken Kwok (kkwok@gostanford.com), October 17, 2001

Answers

Ken, Most of the pictures are too dark on my screen. It is not clear what the protest rally is about. Maybe one of the picture should have tried to convey their message. With your 50mm, you had to be quite close to the people, something I do not dare to do yet ... I am too shy to take pictures of people as you did and as most street photographers do. But here in Washington I have spotted very nice place and people to fix on films ... one day I will make that jump!

-- Angelique (abischop@earthlink.net), October 17, 2001.

Ken:

The photos are too dark! You need to play around with Brightness/Contrast in Photoshop. And perhaps also use the Unsharp Mask filter. Some commentary on the event portrayed would also help. It is not clear from the pictures what is going on or what we are supposed to be looking at. Most of the photographs do not have a center of attention. A tighter composition would be recommended for most of the photos in your folder.......

-- Muhammad Chishty (applemac97@aol.com), October 17, 2001.

I don't do digital manipulation, I shoot only film with no intent of displaying them on a computer, so I don't know what corrections are possible... but from a shooting point of view, you have several shots in this series with impossibly broad contrast ranges. Film can't hold detail in bright sun and deep shadows at the same time... one part has to be chosen over the other depending on the subject. With slide film, there is not burning or dodging... it is right or it is wrong, so choosing a contrast range that can be captured by this film is important.

If you are just using the camera's meter to balance the two triangles, without regards to the actual f-stop / shutterspeed combination, then while the in-camera display may in fact be giving you a "correct" exposure reading, it may not be correct for the intended effect. Learn to look at the light, and know the characteristics of you film's contrast range. There are situations that you just have to know won't produce great pictures, (it is frustrating!), but knowing when NOT to shoot is important too.

When you can produce great slides consistently, then you can feel good about your exposure technique. Many times print film shooters will have an inflated sense of their skill, but with a 5 stop exposure latitude, they might not be as good as they think. Don't give up, because this can only make you better.

-- Al Smith (smith58@msn.com), October 17, 2001.

Actually, I know that there is definitely a strong sense of randomness in the folder. I just wanted to see people's reactions to the pictures. I have to show something in class in a week, and these are the ones that I liked. It's interesting also to note that all of you were bothered by the darkness/contrast range of the shot, which suggests to me that the content of the pictures weren't good enough. So thank you very much for your comments. I'll keep them in mind.

Al, great advice. Thank you.

Ken

-- Ken Kwok (kkwok@gostanford.com), October 17, 2001.