I found this lovely little plant thriving among the stones on the shore of the Merced River in Yosemite during our trip there in early November.
This shot was an experiment, of sorts, to see how well the 4x5 Kodak Portra color negative film worked at long exposure times. This was exposed for 30 seconds at f-32, scanned in VueScan and processed in Photo Shop. I think it worked out pretty well.
Working with color negative material after many years of working with transparency films has been an interesting experience. It required a paradigm shift (and a learning curve) in terms of exposure and post processing.
Chamonix 4x5
Schneider Symmar-S, 210mm
Portra 160
Cropped
November 2012
Your thoughts are always appreciated.
--P
Posted by Lon Overacker on November 25, 2012 at 1:45 PM
Hey Preston, this came out great! What a lovely, intimate scene - and a great story. The story being that these stones have spent eons under the water of the flowing Merced and only revealed during a time when the river gets so very low - and not this low every year either. Then a seed is deposit and begins to grow. Only to be covered up and washed away during the next spring run off.
Good job with this one Preston. I even notice the little dew drops on the leaves. This should print nicely.
Lon
Posted by Harley Goldman on November 26, 2012 at 4:21 PM
Sweet little scene, Mr. Birdwell! Very well done.
And good job with the processing. The color from the negative film looks real good. Having used it lately myself, it ain't easy to get it right.
Posted by Sandy Steinman on November 27, 2012 at 5:59 PM
Well seen and composed. Color looks good to me.
Posted by Rudy Ruberti on November 28, 2012 at 11:27 PM
I'm not at all familiar with the process but I really like the result. Nice image Preston.
Preston this came out very well. I liked the dew drops when you showed it to me in the field and I like them here even more. It adds depth to the amount of water in the area. Even though the stones look dry, they were very wet and slippery.
Posted by Bill Chambers on December 19, 2012 at 9:52 AM
Gorgeous Preston. Hope you don't mind me butting in on the CA Forum, but this was linked in Lon's Landscape image. I love your composition and the subtle coloration of the rocks. This would make a beautiful large print!
Discussion
7 repliesThis shot was an experiment, of sorts, to see how well the 4x5 Kodak Portra color negative film worked at long exposure times. This was exposed for 30 seconds at f-32, scanned in VueScan and processed in Photo Shop. I think it worked out pretty well.
Working with color negative material after many years of working with transparency films has been an interesting experience. It required a paradigm shift (and a learning curve) in terms of exposure and post processing.
Chamonix 4x5
Schneider Symmar-S, 210mm
Portra 160
Cropped
November 2012
Your thoughts are always appreciated.
--P
Good job with this one Preston. I even notice the little dew drops on the leaves. This should print nicely.
Lon
And good job with the processing. The color from the negative film looks real good. Having used it lately myself, it ain't easy to get it right.
--P