So… FilmLab. Honestly, it’s still early days for me with this software. Already, I’ve gone from “this is world-changing!” to “eh… I like my old process better” to… well, I don’t really know. FilmLab (version 2.0.1, anyway) is good for many things and not so good at some other things.
What do I mean? Well, let’s throw some random images at it and see how it fares.
Continue reading “FilmLab, part 4: random”In my first experiences with FilmLab for MacOS, I noted that it tends to absolutely crush shadow areas in some situations. It also likes to blow out highlights, but with much less regularity than it crushes the shadows.
I assumed this was due to my raw exposures and/or the negatives themselves. My historical set up has returned best results at about 1-2 stops overexposed, which compensates somewhat for overexposure (dark negatives) and helps overcome some base fog, without making things hard on my conversion process. I figured these two stops were causing the issue, and that FilmLab was just giving back what I gave it.
Continue reading “FilmLab, part 3: exposure, shmexposure”A month or so ago, my dad reached out to sell me some cameras: an Olympus Infinity 210, a plastic-fantastic panoramic-crop thing, a Minolta Freedom Vista panoramic-crop camera, and a Wardflex twin lens camera.
I didn’t need any more cameras, but at the same time, I can’t resist a decent deal on some cameras I haven’t shot before, so…
Read moreI last messed around with FilmLab back in 2017 when it was in beta and only on iPhones (and maybe Android, though I seem to recall there were problems with getting it ported to Android). I wasn’t particularly impressed, but I also wasn’t really doing it right and wasn’t convinced that a lowly phone could beat the D7000-based Scan-O-Matic X.
But eventually—I’m not quite sure when—FilmLab came to MacOS and Windows. I initially balked, as it was only available by subscription and I’m not a fan of renting anything smaller than an apartment, especially something completely intangible like software. But Abe Fettig, the developer, listened to complaints, and in August (2020), a single “lifetime purchase” option came available alongside FilmLab 2.0. As one of the kickstarterers of the original iPhone software, I had a discount code, so I bought it with plans to integrate it into the long-delayed update to my scanning rig…
Well… the scanning rig update was a failure (for now), but FilmLab has some possibilities.
Continue reading “FilmLab, part 1: an hour at Beaver Lake”Von is Ellen von Unwerth’s personal fashion “zine,” part Cosmopolitan, without all the ads and self-help stuff, part Egoïst, without, again, the writing or the editor or the other photographers, and it’s all von Unwerth.
Continue reading “Ellen von Unwerth’s ‘Von’ No. 2: the Cinema Issue”If you’re unaware of Andrew Molitor or his excellent Photothunk blog, do yourself a favor and go there now (or, slightly preferably, after reading this brief review). Molitor thinks and writes about photography in a sort of refreshing way that reminds me some of A.D. Coleman. And with Sonata No. I “Clematis” he turns that thinking into something in the world.
Continue reading “Andrew Molitor – ‘Sonata No. I “Clematis”‘”The 2020 edition of Holga Week took place October 1-7. I shot two rolls during the week in my Holga 120N: some expired (and I believe water damaged) Portra 400VC, and a some Ilford FP4+. These are my picks from the 24 frames.
Continue reading “Holga Week! (2020 Edition)”
