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| This is a gem I rediscovered. I don't have a specific memory of making this image in July of 1986 but I do have memories of some of the other images that were in the same box, made in the same neighborhood at the same time. Something about this that I really like. Kodachrome 64. Nikon camera. (click to enlarge) |
So far, I've copied over 2500 35mm Kodachrome, Ektachrome and Provia slides. The oldest are from 1974. The newest from 2002. I've now somewhat modified and added to my procedure as I had originally written. You can find my initial posts about this summer project, Parts I-V, outlining the entire process from conception to execution here, here, here, here and here.
First, and probably most important, the project has been enjoyable and rewarding. I'll equate it to treasure hunting. Discovering images from the past 40 years that I had completely forgotten about is like finding treasure. I find myself smiling a lot! Images, travel, people, places, events, etc., that that had been long lost in my memory came rushing back with pleasant emotion. Very nice. Often times, I found myself smiling and mentally reminiscing about an image and the circumstances in which it was made. Also, this project now allow my family to have, look at and keep for the future photos that otherwise would never have been seen. Many of them included them on vacations. I'm glad I embarked upon this project. It has been satisfying. Now, what has changed?
2. The Nikon 60mm f/2.8G Micro NIkkor lens only focuses to 1:1. That means that when focused as close as possible, the edges of the slide mount are visible in the digital file. To try to standardize that border for later cropping, I attached the Nikon ES-2 digitizer in such a manner that each slide is positioned perfectly square to the digital frame and the mount showing in each file will be as close as the digitizer will allow to be identical. However, there is too much play in the slide carrier to be perfect. My intention is to be able to crop one slide, then copy that crop to all slides to eliminate the cardboard mount showing. There is still some variation, but not much. This will save time later having to crop each slide individually. Of course, I could just leave the cardboard mount showing at the edges in the same manner as in the past when prints from film showed the edges of the negative carrier as a style. We'll see what I decide later.
3. When inserting the slides into the holder, which only has a horizontal orientation, I rotate all vertical slides the exact same way. In my case, I rotate them clockwise so the top of the image is to the right. Later in LR, I can highlight all vertical images together and "rotate counterclockwise" to make them vertical again. I wanted to eliminate having to rotate some in one direction and others the other direction. A time saver.
4. Originally I had decided to use a measured fixed white balance to copy all slides so the digital file would copy identically to the original. After experimenting in modifying the white balance as I went through the slides, I settled on auto white balance. The reason is that, unlike digital cameras with auto white balance, slide film was set for basically daylight for outdoors or tungsten if you were shooting indoors under artificial light. That meant in order to get proper color, one had to add subtle filtration to your lens to correct for images made in shade, on cloudy days, etc. Many of my slides looked on the blue side, not due to any degradation of the emulsion, but because they were not shot under sunny conditions. The Nikon Z7's AWB allowed the camera for the most part to correct that off color automatically as I copied the slide. That will save lots and lots of time later having to white balance each individual digital image file. The Z7 has 4 AWB settings. I settled on the Natural Light auto white balance.
5. I've found the best exposure method is to "Expose to the Right" (ETTR) then add 1/3 stop more exposure. I want my highlights as shown in the histogram just off the right edge. Remember the image you see on the LCD is a JPEG representation of the RAW file and there is much more "headroom" in the RAW file that what the camera's histogram shows. If you don't expose bright enough, white objects, white skies, etc., appear gray in the digital file. This is not photographing outdoors, this is photographing a fixed image with limited dynamic range. If there is a question about a certain slide, I'll bracket a bit to ensure I can capture all of the detail from deepest shadow to brightest highlight. That also has a lot to do with the limited dynamic range of the slides themselves.
6. After editing the first hundred or more slides, I recognized certain editing corrections were about the same in almost all of the copied slides. With some experimentation, I was able to create an "import preset" that is applied to all files as they are imported into Lightroom. That has saved a lot of time. There will still be a need for additional editing, but for the most part, they look pretty good after applying the preset. A good baseline. I'm sure I won't edit all of the slides I've copied, but the preset has accomplished most of the editing of the ones I will further edit. By the way, I tried the "Auto" button in Lightroom's Develop Module. It didn't work so well.
7. After thinking about it as I was copying the first batch of slides, I want each slide to be searchable by subject matter, location and year. After all, why copy and catalog all of this archive if I can't find individual slides? I've now created a "routine" to provide more information about these files so each can be found. After importing the files I've made each day, I keyword each file with the appropriate words that will allow me to identify it in several ways. I also add the date of the slide (month and year as imprinted on the slide's cardboard frame). This will allow me to search for all images made in a specific year by searching the keywords (text). Normally, LR uses metadata to search by year and placing the dates into the keywords won't allow that. But wait, I have a plan. When the project is completed, I will create a collection of all slides by year, then change the "creation" date in the metadata fields from when I made the digital file to when the slide was shot. That then will allow me to search by metadata as I would all other digital files in LR. This is a lot of extra work, but I think it will be worth it. Again, what use is it to have all of these old images copied if I can't find them later?
8. As I copy each box or page of slides, I use a notepad to make a couple of notes about the subject matter and dates of the slides. That way, at the end of the day when I import them into LR, I will easily know which slides go with which dates. Also, I make a blank exposure for separation between each box or page of slides. That helps me identify which is which as well. I have found this an easy way to reference and keyword and date the copied slides. When all of the slides in a box or in a page are the same date, everything is easy. But I have found numerous pages in which the slides are not only different months but also different years. It can get complicated.
9. I've found I'm quickly running out of hard drive space! Each of the files from the Nikon Z7 averages about 60mb. Each RAW file ranges from about 56mb to 64mb. Sooner than I expected, I'll have to buy a larger hard drive so I can continue this project and later on start my second project of copying my negative archives. Of course, I'll continue to photograph as well. And so it goes...
Finally, I did purchase a different light source. Instead of using my big, heavy and bulky Acculight 24" light box with the 20+ year old fluorescent bulbs, I purchased a small, 6" x 9" LED light box to complete this project as well as utilize when I start copying negatives. The LED light source is a bit brighter than the old Acculight and is balanced for 6500K. It has worked out very well.
So far, the system and process I've set up has gone really well. In fact, it has gone faster than I anticipated. Here is my routine. I take out a box of slides (or page), place all of them on a small table located next to m, insert them two at a time into the slide carrier, spray them front and back with canned air, insert the carrier into the ES-2, make the exposures, remove them and place them in another pile. Then when all the slides from the box/page have been copied, return them to their box or page in the same order in which they were stored. I then make the notes on the notepad and move to the next box. Really straightforward, efficient and easy.
I've now copied all of the slides I had stored in my boxes and slide pages. I still have another container of (I think) more slides, negatives and prints, which I will be retrieving to see how many slides may be in it. I'm thinking several hundred more. If so, I will continue. If not, after a break, I may just commence starting the negative copying project.
If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below. We all may be able to benefit from your knowledge or others may have the same question.
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Thanks for looking. Enjoy!
Dennis A. Mook
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