I second this: shoot slides! Minilab prints make a very poor guide for improvement any of these aspects. If you must shoot negatives -- scan them with a slide scanner. Otherwise do slides. They 1. give you very precise feedback about whether you meter correctly or not. the same goes for accurate colors. 2. you won't depend on lab's personell skills. 3. have MUCH better contrast and color brilliance than prints. on more one occasion i had the same sunset shot on slide and print film, and the difference was HUGE 4. slides are cheaper to process. where i live, a roll of slides, mounted, in an 1hr lab is $6, in the same lab the prints go for $10 or something like this. so you can shoot more. 5. when slides turn out well, they turn out amazingly great! you will feel really really good about yourself -- and this kind of positive reinforcement is important. for me anyway. and finally, the shots that you really like you can still print from slides.
> > 1. Not all my pics come out well exposed. Some come out very well > > but a few are either over or under-exposed. When is the camera > > more likely to get fooled by the lighting conditions? My > > reading suggested areas where there is too much light (snow?) > > or too little. I tend to take most pictures on touristy trips > > of nature, architecture etc. and usually include my family > > in quite a few. > > > > The sky tends to get washed out almost always. I guess, I need a > > polarizer for that, right? But even otherwise, pictures of > > beautiful skies, sunsets come out very dull, drab without any > > colors whatsoever :-( I once under-exposed and the effect was > > much better. But another time, it wasn't. > > > > How do you guys figure out whether the camera is correct or that > > you need to over/under-expose? > > If the prints you got was poor, it might be the lab that did a poor job. You > would be surprised to know that most labs on earth are poor. You might try > some slides when practising your skill. Fuji Sensia 100 is a good starting > point. But mind you that prints from slides are expensive. > > > 2. How do I improve my "framing" capabilities. I end up taking quite > > ordinary and boring pictures even though at the time of clicking, > > the whole scene is much more romantic and beautiful than the final > > result. Does this come with experience, is more of a talent than > > skill?? > > Unfortunately, I have the same problem too. ^^ I'd say it's something that > you can learn, instead of based on talent alone. > > > 3. I haven't managed to locate any print film other than consumer ones > > from Kodak/Fuji/Konica here in Bangalore, India. I usually use > > Kodak Gold 100/200 and get the regular 4x6" size prints made. Should > > I consider importing Supra or Fujipress or would the difference in > > such small prints be mostly imperceptible? > > These consumer films are quite good. I'd say you might keep using them until > you have gained enough experience on exposure. > > > 4. How do I figure out whether my negatives are well-exposed? I look > > at them and they do seem well exposed but the picture doesn't look > > as bright and contrasty. Obviously I am missing something here. > > If you can live without prints, shoot slides. - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
