Over on Stills, we’ve been discussing how bright skin tones can go. I’m not in disagreement with the general statement that sometimes my skin-tones are too bright, but I wondering what to do about it. Colin, introduced the idea that it isn’t necessarily the absolute tonal value, but where it lands and how much of it there is. That sounds like a promising line of investigation. On that note, what do we think of these? Originals on top, modified versions on bottom.

Better now?

Thoughts on this appreciated.

This website used to have a section called serial photography dedicated to this kind of thing. I keep meaning to bring it back, along with the long defunct photo-essays section. One of these days . . .

This photo, the previous photo, and this one were all shot on HP5 rated at 800 and souped in Diafine. For a long time, Diafine was the only developer I used, often with TriX or Neopan 1600 (an oft overlooked combo). HP5 in Diafine looks a lot like TriX in Diafine but with one stop less speed. It’s an interesting look, and it’s dead simple to manage in processing and later on in scanning. With Diafine, highlights just don’t block up in the normal way, while shadows manage to retain some detail.

A couple of bits of gearheadedness to pass on:

• Colin pointed out a little propaganda-review of the ZM Biogon 35 over at Zeiss’ website (PDF version here).
• Jeff Ascough on Cameras and the Desire to Upgrade. Jeff Ascough is arguably one of the best wedding photographers in the world, a dedicated M shooter, and he isn’t buying an M8. His three criteria for new gear purchases are insightful.
• Olympus has released some more notes on the long-upcoming E-3. I’ll be curious to see if this thing ever makes it to market.

Editor’s Note: Two typos in a six line post is exactly the kind of accuracy and attention to detail for which I strive (2 points to whomever can point out the overly pedantic bit of grammar in this post). Would you believe that I used edit and index books for a living? Sigh . . . I gotta stop trying to write this stuff before my coffee kicks in.