I often have to shoot at mid day - no choice. The contrast problem is what originally drove me to digital (i.e., scanning negatives and transparencies), where I could reduce the contrast and produce my own prints. Usually I go to this trouble only for the best shots, about one to six per roll.
On a trip to sunny, contrasty Mali in January I asked on rec.photo.film+labs for recommendations for low contrast ISO 400 C-41 films. The recommendation for lowest contrast was Agfa Optima II 400. I tried it and was very pleased. You can also look for a lab that may have lower-contrast portrait paper. It is available on rolls for minilabs, but locally none of the labs bothers with it unless you are somewhere with a lot of serious photographers. Joe - 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 .
