How I Edit My Film Scans
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- Опубликовано: 25 фев 2018
- I get asked quite frequently, how I get my film scans to look the way they do. So in this video, I share my steps to editing my film scans to the tonal range and detail I look for in my work.
I realize that everyone has different editing styles, and preferences. I simply share this video to expound on my process a bit, incase it may be insightful or inspiring to anyone looking to explore analog film photography, and editing film scans in lightroom further.
I would love to hear your process for editing your scans in the comments down below. Do you do things different than I do? Do you prefer to simply print in the darkroom? Share your thoughts below, and lets get a conversation going!
If you liked this video be sure to like and subscribe. ruclips.net/user/NickExpo...
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Nick Mayo
P.O. Box 8066
Kentwood MI 49518
Two Stops Film Apparel :: twostopsapparel.com
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Show Notes::
35mm film logo hat :: bit.ly/2wELmXw
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My name is Nick Mayo, I am a Michigan based film photographer and creative sharing my triumphs and struggles within the world of art and photography. I have a great number of videos lined up for sharing different things I've learned along the way in my creative journey, as well as some interviews with other creatives and influencers about their joys and struggles within the industry.
Outstanding video Nick! I have been using Lightroom for that last year or so but you have made me realize I have just scratched the surface. This will keep me going while I finish building my darkroom.
Hey! Thanks so much for uploading this video. We spoke, I think, about a week ago on Instagram about how you edit your scans. This showed me a lot of really good shortcuts and tricks to get my photos to be such a better quality. I actually edited one of mine while you were explaining what you do. (I learn better by doing) Thanks for being an excellent virtual mentor!!!
Great video, very helpful and cleared up a few things for me (new to Lightroom). I wrote down your quote in my developing/editing log to remind me it is ok to edit within the bounds of darkroom work.
@nickexposed man! I have been looking for this video for so long, thank you much for this man!
Hey buddy! Super happy to share. Thanks for the comment
Thanks for the start in Lightroom. A great video.
You're killing it with these last two vids man! Really appreciate all your work. I'll be honest I never really took the time to learn all the functionality of lightroom or general editing techniques so this was super helpful!
I also use a pakon (non-plus) and would love to see a vid about your scanning workflow i.e. do you prefer TLX Client or PSI, do you use a virtual machine or dedicated laptop, how do you name and save your files, what is your storage and backup system like, etc.?
Great video, Nick! I agree with the "if I can do it in a darkroom, I may do it in Lightroom" mentality. That's how I approach both my film and digital work.
Also, I'd love to see a video of how you scan, especially in setting black, white and mid points. I've seen some people who set the black and white at the very ends of the spectrum, to capture all the detail the film holds, kinda like a very flat film equivalent of a RAW file. I've seen others who try to scan as close to what they want the final image to be. I'd love to hear your take.
It's nice to see your editing work on scans. I like your adjustments. Like you, I feel that if it can be done in a darkroom, it can be done in Lightroom. I'll clone out dust spots, but nothing more. I use a Nikon CoolScan V for my 35mm scans and an Epson V900 for medium and large format as well as Polaroids. I'm anxious to try re-editing some of my images now that I've seen your process. Great video!
Nice overview! Thank you for sharing your film editing process within Lightroom! Keep up the great work!
John Kraemer thanks buddy! I appreciate the support
Great video Nick you some good shortcuts and tricks. I find sometimes I like look I get more on my phone using Snapseed it is simple and quick and a lot of useful tools.
Good starting point for editing film in LR. When I first started shooting film I felt bad even for adjusting the WB on images and even worst adjusting my tone curves. But now, I'll edit them to my liken, but i wouldn't remove objects from images, similar to your style. Love the contrast you add to your images by the way.
Nice info and share Nick. I have a similar workflow, but one thing to consider doing on the Pakon side instead of LR is when the scanned frame is off center or frame edges in the photo is to use the Pakon software to move the frame(s). In the Pakon software there is a menu option to adjust the scanned frame. You can do this for one or several (selected) photos at a time. Doing it this way allows you to get the whole film frame on the scanned image and help eliminate the likelihood of needing to use LR to "crop" fix the photo frame.
I have an old video on this next part but one other step I do before import to LR is to use a software tool called Exif Editor (macOS). It allows you to add the camera, lens info and even film stock to the photo EXIF. I find this info handy for use in LR or when using other apps/websites (i.e. Flickr) that shows EXIF info. Hope this helps. Peace brother!
A very useful video, Nick. Inspiring too. Thanks, man.
Hey thanks so much Sergio! I really appreciate that, and am glad to hear you found it helpful :)
"If I can do it in the darkroom, I may do it in Lightroom" Thats the best opinion I have heard regarding this topic! Thanks a lot for the video! btw: if you ever do the same video for color negatives, then please include the methode of going into the RGB curve and for each color you "cut" away the area where it isnt used. Thats how you get those tints away, for example my scanner puts a blueish tint on every scan and with this methode i can get the original colors back 👍 and: when i used to edit on my phone i only used "PicsArt", its truely the best app that you can get for android phones, specially because it gives you almost all features that you have in Ps or Lr, so you dont feel "restriced" because its an app
John Kawmı hey John! Thanks for the kind words. I’ll be honest with ya, I probably won’t be doing any videos on editing color anytime soon. I let the lab do all my color work. I just hate color management 😅 It sounds like you’re knowledgeable in the area however. I would love to see your process on it. Have you ever considered making a video?
And I’ve heard about the app, but have never used it. Sounds like it does the job well.
Nick Exposed thats an option too 😂 thanks a lot, i try to learn as much as i somehow can. actually thought of doing videos but im more of the type of people who stand behind the camera and not infront of it haha whenever i have ideas or methods i either send it to you or kingjvpes, since you have already a huge community and you know how to teach things in a very nice way! You can actually see the difference between the pictures i made with that methode and the ones i ddnt, on my IG (@_joka). i just recently started posting my analog pictures tho, everything before the last weeks is made digital
Amazing as usual. ... thanks
Thank you so much :) I really appreciate the support!
Im getting back into film work and I really enjoyed your video. Thanks for sharing and keep up the great work. Just found you on You Tube and I subscribed after seeing this video. One more thing, What do you use for a scanner? Thanks again.
Yeah, my flatbed definitely scans rather flat, but that all depends on my settings. I do flat scans on purpose because I want the scan to retain as much information as possible and have fine control over the contrast in post. I do end up making a much more drastic S-curve in the Tone Curve even if I'm going for a softer edit but then again I don't touch the Contrast slider. I do all my contrast adjustments in the Tone Curve tab. I used to use the sliders a lot for digital photos but now that I'm scanning my own film, I've gotten quite comfortable with using the Tone Curve. If I want a brighter edit, I shift the curve to the left, and if I want the mid tones to be darker, I shift the curve to the right. If I want to crush my highlights without blowing out the whites, I add a point on the high end. It does everything you can do with the sliders, it just takes some practice to get proficient at doing it that way. I still resort to the sliders from time to time, but the better I get with curves, the less I fall back on the sliders.
In regards to Film Editing, I now use Affinity Photo as my preferred editing tool. It has all the things Lightroom has, but it gives a more natural looking repairs or sharpening.
Thanks for the tutorial and tips on Lightroom shortcuts. Have you ever tried editing your scanned negatives using Silver Effects Pro 2? How many MB's does your scanner produce? Is it sufficient to produce good quality A3 or A2 sized prints? Lastly, do you finally scan the darkroom prints? Ohhhh,... and one more, how do the darkroom and Lightroom generated prints compare in general when printed? Sorry for all the inquiries.
Hey Nick, just caught up with your vid, great as ever. Your philosophy is spot on, I think we sometimes forget just how much manipulation you can do when you wet print. One issue I have when scanning 35mm is that grain tends to get exaggerated when scanning so I end up having to use the noise slider in LR to manage this. Is this something you have a view on or is it not a problem with the Pakon scanner?
You raised an excellent point. My recent monochrome scans looked a bit brownish to my eyes and I suspect it's because it was affected by heat before I got around to sending it off to be processed. But would traditional darkroom prints from the film look brownish? I think not... so I too should have hit the black and white option in Lightroom.
It probably isn’t from heat. It’s just because the black and white film stocks still have a color cast to the base of the film. So when most labs scan the scanner still picks up the hue of the cellophane and when it’s inverted it gives a bit of a hue to the images. Hitting the bnw feature fixes the issue for sure.
Hi Nick, if you're peaking your whites, will your printer be able to print those areas? I was always under the impression that if your highlights were blown out, they won't print. Apologies, I'm referring to inkjet printing not darkroom printing. Would like to hear your thoughts/perspective. Keep up this great channel; just discovered it over the weekend and have been doing some binge watching!
Hi Nick. What about using clarity to increase contrast? Great job and thank you for sharing!
Daniel B. Hey Daniel! I’ll be honest with you, I avoid the clarity slider like the plague. 😅 not sure what the equivalent in the darkroom would be on that one either. Nothing wrong with using it, it’s just not a part of my workflow.
It's been a while since I've been in a darkroom, and I never did much work in there, but for what it's worth, the Clarity slider is basically mid-term contrast.
*mid-tone contrast
I’m a Nikon shooter so I shoot with a FM2 and what I did when I got my D850 was buy a
Nikon PB-5 Bellows and a Nikon PS-4 Slide copier adapt to use with my 55mm macro lens.
The D850 has a setting that will let you shoot B&W negatives or color.
I can shoot the entire roll of film in no time and I get 45MP raw files as well.
Do you see and benefit in shooting that high of a MP or having raw files to play with if
it’s just a copy of a film? Is it over kill?
If I could do it with my horse and buggy, I know I can do it with my pick-up truck.
Haha yes, that’s definitely one way of saying it. Thanks, Eric!
My god man...you talk to much! Get to the point faster!