I wish I enjoyed filing

Barney

Barney

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Wayne
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There is so much filing and paperwork involved in film photography, talking notes on camera, lens and exposure, time, development and agitation notes, printing papers, developers, fixers, apertures, times results.

I have never done my own admin, always had staff to do it. Now I know why - I am rubbish at it.

I need a PA.
 
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Very efficient. My filing system is the contact sheet with date written on, next to the negative sheet in the binder. I make no notes on exposures, developer etc. etc. With my older negatives, I can distinguish ones from the Exa IIB from the Exakta because they load the film with the frame numbers bottom on one camera, top on the other. The earlier 35mm negatives have the date as a giveaway.

Anyone else would just know when the negatives were taken. The only other thing I could point to is the rendering of the wall of our village church, which screams "Acutol" at me.

I just rely on my memory of the photograph itself. I've always reasoned that if I want to take the exact same photo again in the exact same lighting then I could use the data to see what settings I used to do it again; but if I use the same procedures I should get the same results.

I'm just a happy snapper.
 
I don't record the exposure details for each shot in MF and 35mm. I try to do it for LF but sometimes fail.

For the whole roll (or a group of up to 4 4x5 sheets developed together), I name the digitised negatives, on import to Lightroom, with:

Roll number + date + camera + film + developer + subject + sequential number

The same info is recorded on the negative filing sheet, and in a spreadsheet.

The spreadsheet can also be used to record when a fresh batch of developer or fixer was started.

The negative filing sheets are stored in sequential order in several ring binders. If I want to produce a darkroom print from an image I see in Lightroom, I can use the roll number to locate the negative sheet in the binders.
 
Kevin Allan said:
I don't record the exposure details for each shot in MF and 35mm. I try to do it for LF but sometimes fail.

For the whole roll (or a group of up to 4 4x5 sheets developed together), I name the digitised negatives, on import to Lightroom, with:

Roll number + date + camera + film + developer + subject + sequential number

The same info is recorded on the negative filing sheet, and in a spreadsheet.

The spreadsheet can also be used to record when a fresh batch of developer or fixer was started.

The negative filing sheets are stored in sequential order in several ring binders. If I want to produce a darkroom print from an image I see in Lightroom, I can use the roll number to locate the negative sheet in the binders.
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That sounds good Kevin, I like the spreadsheet idea for updating developers and fixers etc.

I have never thought of that

I love spreadsheets
 
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Peter B said:
1 camera, 1 lens, 1 film, 1 developer, f8 and be there as a wise man once said. That'll just leave the date to be recorded. ;)
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AndrewFlannigan said:
Allegedly it was Weegee (Arthur Fellig) who invented the saying. He was an interesting person of whom more here...
en.wikipedia.org

Weegee - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
and here...
en.wikipedia.org

f/8 and be there - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
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An interesting read which reminded me of something I read a few weeks ago which you may be able to help with, It seemed handy and I should have noted it more carefully.

Subject was: setting the hyperfocal distance on a manual focus camera.

It went something like - Set camera at infinity, note aperture mark and read distance scale at intended f stop and set distance to that reading. = Hyperfocal and everything in focus.

Have I recalled that correctly?
 
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These days when I scan a film the folder will be called something like 20260714FRFP4DDXlocation That would be date processed, camera used (Yashica FR ) film (Ilford FP4+ ) developed in Ilford DDX. The details will be reflected in the file name of the photoshop contact sheet I print and file with the negative sheet.

That is all the data I keep, as an enthusiastic teenager I carried around a note book for exposure details, lens used and location for every frame, that did not last long. ;)

I was subject to a similar requirements doing my photography degree (BSc) for obvious reasons.
 
Or just move the infinity symbol to the aperture you're using. Cuts out a step, and eliminates having to think about it.
 
My filing system is in Lightroom and (for film) includes Date / Camera / Film in the folder title. Other details are recorded in metadata tags, e.g. lens (if an interchangable model, location, and descriptive stuff like the subject. I'm much sloppier with the descriptive stuff though).

The only time I ever record aperture, shutter speed etc. is for large format, and I add it to a notes app on my phone as soon as the picture is made. I sometimes forget to do this though, lol.
 
StephenM said:
Or just move the infinity symbol to the aperture you're using. Cuts out a step, and eliminates having to think about it.
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The idea of hyperfocal is that you get an idea of the near distance that's in focus isn't it ?

When you set it and your at f 8 your are ready to take the shot "if your there" without faffing with focus and f stop. You only have to move the infinity symbol to the left or right marker on the distance scale, its the same "step" just a different position.

If the situation arises and you can reasonable estimate that the distance is within the hyperfocal range its guaranteed bang on.
 
I've probably misunderstood you, but my method doesn't require you to know the hyperfocal distance (or the subject distance). If you're using f/8 then you just move the infinity symbol to the rightmost f/8 engraved on the lens and that's it.

When you focus on the hyperfocal distance, everything is in focus from half that distance to infinity. Except that it isn't... Like depth of field tables, the markings on your lens have a lot of built in assumptions - how much you're going to enlarge the image, what the viewing distance will be, how good your eyesight is. And only the plane of focus is actually in focus anyway - depth of field continues until you perceive that it isn't sharp.

If I'm using this method, I give 1 stop leeway on the setting, assuming that if I set for f/8 and then use f/11 as the taking aperture, I'll be safer.
 
do I heckers like, only 5x4 mostly to learn what exposures are like with filters added. with a filter on any camera I try to remember the affect on the exposure of the stops adjustment
 
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