froyd
Veteran
As a new scanner owner, I'm overwhelmed by the myriad of approaches to get the best color from a negative. Some films, like Portra and Ektar have very distinctive looks, and I'm interested in preserving it as much as possible. After all, part of the appeal of using film, is to benefit from the individual looks of various emulsions, so I don't want to give up that perk in favor of a generic looking post processed image from LR.
From what I've seen on the web, ColorPerfect delivers results that are as close to the colors I remember seeing on the prints I used to order from photo labs. Not working on PS (just PSE) I don't want to go down that path quite yet. ...unless there's a plugin that works in LR.
I have tried the recommended Vuescan workflow of repeated previews of clear negative base to lock exposure and hen film base. I then edited the resulting image --to which no adjustments were made-- into LR and with a few adjustments, I managed to make it look better than what I received back from the Costco minilab, however, I feel that the colors, while good on their own merit, are not true to the film.
Interestingly, I found a random bit of advice online that might be specific for coolscan scanners, and which produced very good results right with minimum fussing: select the Color Fading filter and set the Color balance to Neutral --two big No No from all the other advice I read...and yet the resulting files only need the contrast restored to look great.
I don't know that I have much of a point here other than wondering if there's a difference between creating a great image from a neutral scan, and creating an image that faithfully preserves the film's personality.
From what I've seen on the web, ColorPerfect delivers results that are as close to the colors I remember seeing on the prints I used to order from photo labs. Not working on PS (just PSE) I don't want to go down that path quite yet. ...unless there's a plugin that works in LR.
I have tried the recommended Vuescan workflow of repeated previews of clear negative base to lock exposure and hen film base. I then edited the resulting image --to which no adjustments were made-- into LR and with a few adjustments, I managed to make it look better than what I received back from the Costco minilab, however, I feel that the colors, while good on their own merit, are not true to the film.
Interestingly, I found a random bit of advice online that might be specific for coolscan scanners, and which produced very good results right with minimum fussing: select the Color Fading filter and set the Color balance to Neutral --two big No No from all the other advice I read...and yet the resulting files only need the contrast restored to look great.
I don't know that I have much of a point here other than wondering if there's a difference between creating a great image from a neutral scan, and creating an image that faithfully preserves the film's personality.
