Saving space with smaller scans

August 25, 2022 fishyfisharcade4 Comments

I’ve made a decision today to begin uploading smaller scans to Flickr. Normally, I upload a JPEG version of the original scan at full resolution (this is 2400dpi for medium format negatives scanned on my Epson V550, and 3600dpi for 35mm negatives scanned on the Plustek). These are my raw scans which I then process further in Lightroom and add a white border in Photoshop before uploading to my Flickr account. These scanning resolutions are, to my eyes, the ones that pull the maximum detail from the negatives for these particular scanners without them simply becoming bigger files with no increase in detail.

The downside of these resolutions is that the scans are big. Not just in terms of pixel count, but also in terms of file size. The resulting TIF file for a 6×6 medium format colour negative can be around 150-200 megabytes, and even black and white TIF still come in at around half that size. This means that I’m using a significant amount of drive-space to store these files. Thankfully, the exported JPEG files are much smaller – around 15-20 megabytes for a 6×6 colour image. However, this still adds further space requirements on top of the TIF originals.

What I’ve noticed on Flickr is that, while it’s nice to have the full resolution image on there, after a certain amount of zooming there’s little notable benefit to be seen. In fact, at smaller enlargement sizes, they look sharper and nicer on the eye. So I’ve decided that I will no longer upload a full resolution JPEG, instead limiting medium format images to 3072 pixels on the short edge (a 3k image), and for 35mm pictures, 3072 pixels on the long edge. These pictures look nice on Flickr and still allow for a good, detailed image when zoomed in. They also have a nice bonus benefit of reducing the filesize by approximately two thirds for each image. If I retrospectively re-size my archive of JPEGs I expect that I can reduce the total disk-space required to store them by many tens of gigabytes, which is a worthwhile endeavour.

The picture in today’s blog is one that I’ve gone back and resized and, if you click on it to see it on Flickr, I think you’ll probably agree that the images is plenty big enough.

Olympus Trip 35 & Kodak Colorplus. Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.

Taken on 18 July 2022.

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Scarborough scenes

August 23, 2022 fishyfisharcade2 Comments

I thought I’d drop in a whole bunch of pictures today, all taken while in Scarborough a few weeks ago. Scarborough rose to prominence as a spa town where it’s popularity led to visitors from London and other parts of the country making use of its facilities. The actual discovery of the spa waters took place in the 17th century, but the resort bloomed with the coming of the railways in the mid 19th century.

The town spans a north and south bay, seperated by a headland atop which stands the ruins of a medieval castle. The south bay is the more commecrcial of the two and is where the majority of the tourist facilities lie, while the north bay is quieter (although still with plenty of attractions, including Peasholm Park where mock naval battles are carried out on the boating lake). All the photos here were taken in and around the south bay.

Our visit took place on the first day of a three day trip to the region when we stayed near Whitby a little further up the coast.

Olympus Trip 35 & Kodak Colorplus. Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.

Taken on 28 July 2022.

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Time Lords at the seaside

August 22, 2022 fishyfisharcade4 Comments

I guess even Doctor Who enjoys a day out at the coast every now and then. This police call box in Scarborough is grade II listed and still sits in (or at least very close to) its original location.

Olympus Trip 35 & Kodak Colorplus. Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.

Taken on 28 July 2022.

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Little details

August 21, 2022 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

Today’s photograph was very much spur-of-the moment with the only real intent being to frame the lady in the pink top in front of the dark doorway. I managed to do this without chopping off the top of the streetlight, which was nice. The thing I like best about the picture though – an I don’t know why – it the lone Costa Coffee cup stood on the floor. It’s a tiny detail in the photograph and yet it makes it much better somehow. Or maybe it’s just me?

The Olympus Trip 35 did another stirling job of catching the composition sharply and correctly exposed.

Olympus Trip 35 & Kodak Colorplus. Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.

Taken on 18 July 2022.

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Grand Central

August 20, 2022 fishyfisharcade2 Comments

Grand Central is the shopping centre located above New Street railway staion in the centre of Birmingham. It used to be known as The Pallisades following a redevelopment in the 1980s and, before that, simply Birmingham Shopping Centre when it first opened in the early 1970s.

The ameneties radiate out in various directions with a variety of retail and dining establishments present, but the area in the tow phots here is the main atrium where access to the railway station is present.

Olympus Trip 35 & Kodak Colorplus. Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.

Taken on 18 July 2022.

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Joke shop

August 19, 2022 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

This joke shop in Scarborough has been there for a long time, since 1996 in fact. I only discovered this today and it came as a bit of a surprise as, if I’d been pressed, I’d have said it had been there for much longer. I was certain that it was there when I used to visit the town on coach trips back in the 1970s and 80s, but apparently not. Maybe there was another joke shop there (or close by) before that, or perhaps I’d just gotten my memories in a twist soewhere along the way.

The yellow and red of the shop frontage have popped nicely on the Colorplus film, despite the day being somewhat dull and overcast. It’s certainly fared better than the Portra 800 I shot under similar conditions (of which you will see some results in the coming week or so).

Olympus Trip 35 & Kodak Colorplus. Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.

Taken on 28 July 2022.

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Fish & chips

August 18, 2022September 4, 2022 fishyfisharcade5 Comments

This is where my wife and I got some lunch when we visited Scarborough at the end of July. We’ve always used another chippy on past visits – the Lifeboat Chippy – further down this road at the bottom of the hill as they do very nice fish and chips, but as we were already halfway up the hill when lunchtime arrived, and as we were walking in the opposite direction to the other shop, we decided to give this one a go. We didn’t have any chips as we’d had breakfast sandwiches earlier at the start of the journey and were still feeling a little full, so both of us opted for fish only. The fish was pretty good and I managed to eat it without being attacked by gulls!

Olympus Trip 35 & Kodak Colorplus. Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.

Taken on 28 July 2022.

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Keeping the British end up

August 17, 2022September 4, 2022 fishyfisharcade4 Comments

So said James Bond at the end of The Spy Who Loved Me. I too am “keeping the British end up” at present, although in the somewhat less pleasurable sense of elevating my broken ankle (at the end of my British leg…) rather than Bond’s double-entendre allusion to a bit of hanky panky in a submarine escape pod.

Unfortunately, in order to type up these blog posts I need to sit at my computer with my foot on the floor (although I am tring to figure out if there’s any way to raise it while I work, even if for a short period). This quickly results in a dull ache starting in my ankle and it soon starts to look noticably more swollen. Luckily for me, my posts rarely stretch further than a few paragraphs, so I will suffer the twenty minutes or so it takes for my art.

I’m off work at present as there’s no effective way for me to keep the ankle raised at my office desk, but I’m hoping it might have recovered sufficiently for me to return next week, even if I need to take breaks. This is the first sick time I’ve had in years and I feel oddly guilty about it, probably because the reason is due to injury rather than actually feeling unwell.

Here’s a picture completely unrelated to what I’ve written above because, well, I suppose I have to post a picture in my so-called photography blog. 🙂

Olympus Trip 35 & Kodak Colorplus. Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.

Taken on 18 July 2022.

35mm · Film photography · Photography

A different point of view through the Olympus Trip 35

August 16, 2022September 4, 2022 fishyfisharcade10 Comments

A few days ago I posted another photo made at this same location. I was over to the right of the church for that one though, so it was completely out of frame with just the modern high-rise structure rising above the trees. I like this new shotfor the contrast between the two styles of architecture. That original image was shot with my Olympus 35 RC, this one with my Trip 35.

One thing that has struck me while looking at the photos from this roll of Kodak Colorplus is just how nice the lens is on the Olympus Trip 35. It’s a camera I’ve neglected – not having shot mine for a number of years – and then using it’s younger, more compact (and, for me, more recently acquired) sibling, the Olympus XA3 when I wanted a straightforward zone-focus point and shoot experience. The XA3 is a great little camera – truly pocketable – with a sharp lens, but I think the lens on the Trip 35 surpasses it. It’s amazingly sharp and doesn’t vignette either (which the XA3’s lens does to some degree). I shall have to ensure it gets more regular exercise from now on.

Olympus Trip 35 & Kodak Colorplus. Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.

Taken on 18 July 2022.

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Inbetween

August 15, 2022September 4, 2022 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

I was going to post different photos and maybe write a longer piece today but my broken ankle is aching and I don’t want to be sat at the PC any longer than I have to.

The picture I’ve chosen instead was taken while walking to the railway station about a month ago on one of the hottest days the country has ever faced (since records began, at least). The following day was even hotter, breaking the aforementioned records in more than one location.

The day was already very hot even at the time I made this picture, sometime between 7 and 8am, but the scene caught my eye and so I stopped momentarily to take the shot.