Useful Photography Tip

Useful Photography Tip #189: A PSA for Those Who Shoot Slide Film

Chris Gampat
3 Comments
12/12/2018
1 Min read
Chris Gampat The Phoblographer Kodak Ektachrome (13 of 15)

Last Updated on 12/12/2018 by Mark Beckenbach

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Lots of film photographers only shoot their film, develop and scan it, and then mess with the scans in post afterwards. But if you’re shooting slide film, then you’re probably denying yourself a whole lot of justice. Those who shoot Ektachrome, Provia, Velvia etc. should really put their film down on a white box, get a magnification loupe, and look at all the beautiful details that the original piece has to offer. There are even apps on your phone that will act as a white box–and all you need to do is take the positives, put it down on the screen, and look at the images with a magnification loupe that will let you cut out excess light around the image.

This, perhaps more than anything, is the magic of slide and chrome film. These films were designed to be cut up (at times) and put into projectors so that we can easily see all the details. It’s where the idea of “slides” come from when you’re in a business meeting and a Powerpoint presentation is being done. In this case though, you’re really just looking a those photos and probably not using a projector. If you don’t have a lightbox or anything that can help you look at the details closer, hold it up to a neutral light source and simply look at the positives. The experience is often magical and can’t be put into words.

ektachrome film photography provia scans slide film velvia
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Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.
3 Comments

  1. Guest

    05/02/2019 7:37 pm
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    Everybody knows what a Public Service Announcement is, and the abbreviation has been in use for a good 60 years longer than the “BTW” abbreviation you used.

  2. Guest

    05/02/2019 7:37 pm
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    Thanks for clarifying what (you assume) Mr. Gampat meant by ‘PSA’. Your message prompted an exploration, as I had asked random folks, “What does PSA abbreviate?” Either no one knew or they suggested “Prostate Specific Antigen” (!). I explored this further with a Google search (“origin: BTW”): As you would probably agree, the first few links noted it’s internet slang for “by the way” & seems to date from the 1980s. When I repeated a search (“origin: PSA”), There were MORE THAN EIGHT PAGES of links to solely “Prostate Specific Antigen”; on page 8, there was a single link to “Public Service Advertising” from a “PSA Agency”: I continued several more pages, but never found”Public Service Announcement.” So, it would seem “Everyone [DOES NOT] know what a Public Service Announcement is…” This adds support to my continuing suggestion that Mr. Gampat include a skilled writer/editor among his hires, because the poor text on his site detracts from the GREAT effort that he is making.

  3. Guest

    05/02/2019 7:37 pm
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    Spot.IM/1.0 (Export)

    What’s a ‘PSA’? You use the abbreviation in the title but apparently not in the (brief) text. (BTW: If your site hired a skilled writer, probably all of the bad writing that actually impairs the value of your site would disappear.)

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