William Robb <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > they could not print what I saw in the viewfinder.
> >
> > IIRC, they weren't as bad as wherever K-Mart sent film out
> > to, where they cut somebody's face in half on a group
> > photo then tried to tell me it was my mistake even when
> > I showed them the negative with a millimeter or so of space
> > between that person and the edge of the frame,
>
> I've explained before why this isn't possible on a machine printer.
Yes, you have.
Some machines -- and some installations -- seem to be worse than others.
The lab I use now prints enough of the frame that what I get back is
pretty close to what I saw. (Not exact, but reasonably close.) The
nearest Wal-Mart minilab and the bulk lab that K-Mart sent film out to
were bad enough that I basically couldn't shoot any subject that came
close to filling the frame. And in the case of that group photo where
the rightmost person got cut in half, I could understand the gap between
them and the edge of the frame getting swallowed up, but the gap plus
half the person? How many millimeters is it acceptable for the machine
to lose?
The lab I go to now did explain that they couldn't machine print the
entire frame either, but their machines are set up to print a lot more
of the frame than the one-hour places I've tried ... and if I _really_
need it, I can get hand-printing on an enlarger there.
> If you are putting needed picture elements that close to the
> edge of the frame you need to rethink your composition strategies anyway.
Isn't one of the stock bits of advice "get closer"? I try to _use_
the frame (when the combination of the lens I've got and where I can
stand allow me to compose exactly as I'd like, that is) to show as
much or as little context as I think suits the subject. So I'm
looking, when I remember anyhow, at the edges as well as the center.
I know my viewfinders are not 100% coverage, and that the machine
isn't either, but as long as the two lose _approximately_ (very
approximately) the same amount of the frame, its reasonably useable.
When I had a similar problem at a Ritz Camera a long time ago, the
operator tweaked something and got me more of the frame (though
still not as much as I get from the machines at my current lab).
At Wal-Mart they said that was impossible, but I don't know whether
they meant that model of machine didn't have that control or that
with the volume of customers they were serving they din't have
time for that sort of adjustment.
I don't know the make/model of any of these machines ... I had notes
on a few of them at one point, but I've no idea where I put those
notes.
I suppose if I were always using the same minilab, or if they
all cropped the same amount, I could put pencil marks in all
my viewfinders ...?
I'm not philosophically opposed to cropping, by the way, but if I
want a standard-size print from an intentionally cropped image,
I'm back to paying pro-lab prices anyhow; the other way to get full
control of my framing is to back up to make sure everything I want
will get printed, then take scissors to the print to take back out
the bits I don't want that I included just to be sure none of the
intentional stuff got cropped by the machine.
-- Glenn
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