Photography Blog Talk » Articles

DIY E6 Processing in Singapore

Cheng — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 03:09:42 +0000

Recently I got back into film photography, primarily large format photography. One of the problems I faced was getting 4×5 slides processed as there is no longer any photo lab doing any 4×5 E6 processing .

Due to that reason, I was reluctant to shoot any slides but I decided that it is worth a try and at the same time I could pick up something new – Home E6 processing.

First of all, sourcing for the chemicals. After sourcing high and low , I could only get the Tetenal E6 3 bath 1 liter kit from an ebay seller from United Kingdom. The package costs about S$100 including shipping.

The Tetenal E6 3 bath kit consists of the following chemicals :

First Developer
Color Developer
Bleach Fix
Stabilizer

The kit will allow you to make 1 liter of working solution. Since I do not develop too often, I mix them on demand and hopefully the concentrated chemicals will have a longer shelf life.

The difference between E6 developing and B&W development is that the E6 chemicals need to be maintain at 38 degree Celsius. However this can be done easily using a hot water bath and deviating one or 2 degrees have no major impact on the results.

E6 processing equipment

Top left : Pail - this acts as my hot water bath. I filled it with about 2 inch high of hot water of maybe about 100-90 degree hot.
Bottom Left : Paterson Orbitary Processor. A light proof processor. It can take up to 4 sheets of 4×5. Hard to find these days . Again Ebay UK is a good source.

Top Right : I used 3 metal flasks to contain my 3 Tetenal chemicals. Each flask cost $1.50 from those Value dollar stores. When place in the hot water bath, the heat will be transfer fast to the chemicals in a short period of time allowing the chemicals to reach 38 degree quickly. The 4th bottle is the stabliser (20 degree).

Bottom: Beakers, funnels, thermometers, gloves & apron (not shown). I used a beaker as a cool water bath in case i need to bring down the chemicals if they stay too long in the hot water bath. Beakers, funnels, thermometers should be washed after every use to prevent contamination of the chemicals. Gloves & apron are for personal protection.

The timing for processing at 38 degrees is as such :

Preheat/Wash - 5 mins
First Developer - 6.5 mins
Washing – 2.5 mins
Color Developer – 7 mins
Washing – 2.5 mins
Bleach Fix – 7 mins
Washing – 4mins
Stabilizer – 1 min

Sound complicated? It is actually easier than thought. At the end of the day, the results will be fulfilling.

Ruby Photo Opening Hours

Cheng — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 13:06:00 +0000

I saw this being searched so often that I think it deserves it own entry.

Ruby Photo

This is the shop to go to for film stuff especially black and white equipment like papers, chemcials and film. You caln also send your black and white negatives, slides for development and printing. They also sell other photographic accessories like Bowens studio equipment, Holga cameras etc.

111 North Bridge Rd 01-01 Peninsula Shopping Complex, 179804, Singapore

RubyPhoto is opened Monday to Saturday from 10:30 am to 7pm.

Christmas Ideas for Photographers : Pelican Pelicase 1510

Cheng — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 14:20:27 +0000

I am considering getting a hard case for my camera gears when I go out for my assignment. I am thinking that a hardcase will be more convenient for me. Currently, I am carrying my gear in a Crumpler canvas bag and maybe another one or 2 bags for the other photo accessories. Obviously I have to pay more attention to the Crumpler bag since the equipment in it is worth the most.

Here is one of the one that I am considering getting : the Pelican Pelicase 1510

(See all Camera Cases)

I thought with a hardcase trolley will free up my concern for the cameras and lens since he Pelican is “The world’s toughest watertight protective cases. Pelican cases feature an exclusive 1/4″ neoprene o-ring to guarantee a perfect seal. Neither dust nor water can penetrate this barrier.” Sound pretty good isn’t it?

Let me know if you have use one before and what your experience with it.

Review : Thinkphoto Digital Holster 20

Macro Photo

Cheng — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 14:54:58 +0000

I always enjoy taking macro photos and have started running macro photography course. My students are happy to produce art pieces like with their macro lenses.

Here are a few of my works:

Bug

Flower

Cricket Ant

Ginger Flower

How to : Smoke photography

Presidential Elections 2011 – Rally Part 1

Cheng — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 09:51:42 +0000

The last time Singaporeans voted for a Elected President is 1993. 18 years later, we finally have a chance to vote again. The political landscape has changed a lot since. So this time there is a 4 corners fight for the President post. Here are a few photos taken from the first election rally by the candidate, Mr Tan Jee Say at Toa Payoh Stadium. Click on the photo for the bigger size photos.

An elderly supporter

Dr Ang Yong Guan, an very animated speaker

Supporting materials

Heart Shaped ballon, heart is the symbol for Mr Tan

Tan Jee Say

My building is Falling!

Canon DSLR – EOS 600D

Cheng — Tue, 24 May 2011 09:19:01 +0000

: Canon 600D

After many years of using Nikon SLR and DSLR camera, I finally bought a Canon 600D only. Why? Mainly is to use it for videography. In the last one year or so, there is a bloom of videographers or independent (also known as budget) filmmakers who made the switch from camorders to using DSLRs for making films and videos.

Here are the 2 main reasons :

You get HD quality off the camera. In fact the camera has to reduce the image size to HD quality which only has 1920pixels at its longest side.
The use of prime lenses with big apertures allow you to achieve the film look with shallow depth of field.
The digital format (in Quicktime MOV) will allow video editing to be done easily.

I only purchase the Canon 600D body as I could use a Nikon to EOS adaptor to fit my Nikon lenses on them. Just buy the simple one that I linked to above. Initially, I tried the AF Confirm Nikon to EOS adaptor but the video footage suffered from some light level flickering. I guess somehow the AF confirm signal sent from the adaptor to the camera is causing some interference.

So I have my Nikon 20mm , 50mm and 135mm prime lenses for use on this little body. Of course the camera lose the metering and autofocus feature. It is something that I can live with. I will probably get some Canon L glasses if my interest in videography continue.

I will share some more accessories used for HD SLR in my next post.

Time Lapse Photography movie using Corel VideoStudio Pro X4

Cheng — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 14:33:24 +0000

Photography and videography boundaries have been blurred by the introducing of video features on DSLR. Coupled with good performance and big aperture (f2.8) lenses, DSLR video has slowly gaining momentum even in professional videography work.

Good video footage captured would need to be edited for maximum results. I do not do much video editing but i decided to test the new time lapse photography feature found in Corel VideoStudio Pro X4.

I used the Interval shooting feature the Nikon D700 to shoot 750 pictures at every 5 secs. This took one hour and I chose to do it on a early morning from 8am to 9am. To create the video, just follow the 3 steps – CAPTURE, EDIT, SHARE.

CAPTURE – I imported in the 750 photos using the new Insert Photo for Time-lapse/Strobe function. Using the default settings, it will use 25 photos for every sec of the video hence creating a 30 secs video.

EDIT – I add in the title text, credits text and a music track. I found it easy even when doing it for the first time.

SHARE – Finally I output it as HD video as upload it to http://vimeo.com

Let see the output (for best viewing experience, wait for the entire video to finish streaming before playing) :

Time Lapse Photography from fotocourse on Vimeo.

VideoStudiopro X4

Cheng — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 07:59:00 +0000

Corel Videostudio pro

I have previously blogged about the Corel products and recently they announced the launch of the Corel VideoStudio Pro X4. Thesedays with DSLRs being capable of capturing videos, it would be interesting to check out how this package perform.

Corel has setup a site where with tutorials and samples video. Check it out here : http://www.corel.com/takethenextstep

Do take a look at the one on time lapse photography as it is very interesting on what you can do with it.

Watch out this blog for a review of the software soon.

15th day of Chinese New Year!

Cheng — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 13:14:24 +0000

It has been a long tradition that lion troupes go around performing “plucking green” at famous Keong Saik Street on the last day of the Chinese New Year. The grand finale “qing” ended almost at 930pm.

Discussing how to tackle the Qing which include quite a few cans of beer/stout. The lion dancers are expected to drink up the beer

The Zhoujia troupes spent a few hours performing

The grand finale which took about 45 mins to complete with 3 changes of lion dancers.

Happy Chinese New Year

Cheng — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 01:36:03 +0000

Yeah..times flies, we are saying goodbye to the Tiger year and welcoming the Rabbit year in less than 24 hours.

I wish all my friends, readers, partners and clients A Happy and Prosperous Chinese New Year!