Rangefinder Magazine
Departments

Problems and Solutions

Please accompany your questions with a self-addressed stamped envelope if you wish an immediate reply. Alternatively, you can e-mail me at: bhurter@rfpublishing.com.

From: Dennis Jones
dljo@altavista.com
In both December, 2000 and February, 2001 I contacted you (Problems & Solutions) regarding a very old roll of unprocessed Kodak Verichrome Pan 127 film a client of mine found after it had been packed away for a number of years. I was (and still am) trying to find a lab that will process it.

I usually go through each issue of Rangefinder fairly thoroughly; however, I may have missed your response to this inquiry. Can you tell me if it was printed, and if so, in which issue? If not, can you tell me if there’s a problem? I would really like to tell my client something.
Thank you very much.

Try Rocky Mountain Film Laboratory, 60 Geneva St., Aurora, CO 80010; (303) 364-6444; web site: [www.rockymountainfilm.com]. They can process virtually any older film. Sorry it took so long to respond to you. Hope this helps.

From: Ed Bonge
Operations Supervisor, Unisys
nevadae@earthlink.net
Soon, I will be photographing an office interior in which there will be an HDTV in the photograph; or maybe it’s just a Pioneer flatscreen monitor. The image is repeated and hooked up to a PC). More than likely, this monitor will not photograph as I see it. I understand there may be a problem with the lines of resolution and how the film/camera sees the screen. Could you give me some advice on how to best photograph this situation. I sure would appreciate it. Meanwhile, I will continue to research this topic.

I’m not sure of the scan rate of HDTV. I know that with conventional CRTs, you need to keep the shutter speed at 1/30 or longer to avoid the scan-interrupt lines. You should try a test with a Polaroid back at various shutter speeds. I’m pretty sure, however, if you keep your speed at around 1ž15 or longer, you won’t have any trouble.

Thank you so much for the return mail. I really appreciate it! Do have one other challenge… since my Canon F1 syncs at 1/60 (for flash—and I will have to light this interior—I assume I will have some distortion with that TV when I photograph everything else in the interior in the same shot. What’s your recommendation for this problem.
Your F1 syncs at 1ž60 and longer shutter speeds. It just won’t sync at speeds faster than 1ž60. If your camera is on a tripod and you’re shooting at 1ž2 second, your flash will sync just fine.

My suggestion is that if you don’t have auxiliary lights (hot lights or strobes), then “Paint” the room with a single diffused floodlight. Walk around and paint the corners, ceiling and floor. The camera’s shutter is, of course, open all this time. The TV should be off or it will overexpose. Stay in motion the whole time so your standing image will not be recorded on film. When you’re almost done, flick on the monitor for a few seconds with the remote, and you’re done. You’d be surprised, but this technique works great. You can stop the lens down to f/11 or f/16, paint the room (depending on size) in about two minutes, and go back and close the shutter. One thing to look out for—daylight coming in through windows will prohibit you from doing this. Do it either at night or, perhaps the room is enclosed. Continuous light sources will destroy the effect. Hope this helps.

From: blsflbride
blsflbride@earthlink.net
I am a bride and Photoshop technician looking for an innovative way to design my wedding albums. I own the negs and copyright so we're past the first hurdle.

What are the current trends and techniques being used by photographers for wedding albums currently? I've seen some really awful works on some websites but figure your association probably is on top of these techniques. Any help would be appreciated.

Check out page 33 of this issue, which features the work of Charles Maring, who is the grand award winner in this year’s WPPI Album Competition. His album, excerpted here, is all digital and quite wonderful. Visit his site: www.mar
ingphoto.com and also www.walkaboutstudio.com/albfrms/whglove.html, which shows some beautiful White Glove digital albums, which have become quite popular.