From: panlilio@acs.ucalgary.ca (Victor P. Panlilio)
Subject: Re: Fashion Photography -- Going Pro
Summary: Why I like PKM so much
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 93 06:10:21 GMT
Expires: Sun, 31 Jan 1993 05:00:00 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: The University of Calgary, Alberta
Keywords: Kodachrome 25 Professional
Followup-To: alt.supermodels

In article <358@metran.UUCP> jay@metran.UUCP (Jay Ts) writes:

About Kodachrome 25 Professional

>o  Too slow

The price of sharpness. I got some PKM back today, and through my
Schneider 4X, I can see TREMENDOUS surface detail in a black lace
dress, as well as the model's gorgeous black hair. Detail that
just *isn't* there with Velvia. I've tried, believe me...

Hmmm. Indoors, with my strobes set at, oh, minimum power (white
background overexposed by 1 stop), I get f/8 using a main light
of 700 watt-seconds set at 1/4, in a 32-inch shallow pan silver
reflector (round beauty light). Since I shoot a lot with an 85mm
f/1.8, this works out to the lens being stopped down just past
the halfway point (f/5.6 on this lens, since minimum is f/16).

Outdoors in full sunlight I get incident readings of f/5.6 to 8
at 1/125th. And I tend to shoot with pretty fast lenses, anyway.

>o  Artificial-looking colors (to my eyes, anyway).

I did a side-by-side comparison with Velvia (VERY beefy skin
tones), Agfachrome 50RS (very earthy palette), Fuji RFP (nice
warmth, quite sharp, but much less shadow detail), and EPX (very
neutral, pleasing flesh tones, good color saturation).

Overall, my E-6 film of choice where skin tone matters is EPX.

>o  Requires K-14 processing
>	- expensive

I pay CDN$5.45 for pro-level dip-dunk E-6, sleeved. I pay, oh,
CDN$7.99 for pro K-14, mounted in the el cheapo cardboard, and I
glass-mount the best slides, sleeve the so-so ones. The exchange
rate is roughly CDN$1.28=US$1 right now...

>	- environmentally unfriendly

Sad but true. But is modern E-6 chemistry that much better?

(scratches head)  If only CCD's were good and cheap enough....

>	- cannot get it processed in less than a day, unless I want to
>	  drive like a madman to Miami Beach right after the shoot.

Ah, yes. Toronto-area pros have the privilege of having a REAL
Kodak lab (Kodak Canada) in their city, where they get 6-hour
turnaround on pro K-14 processing (and 70-minute turnaround on
pro E-6 at Steichenlab). I have to wait three business days.

>: And what other slide film has such good shadow detail, huh?
>
>Actually, T-max 100.  You didn't say *color*! ;-)

*chuckle* I've never used the TMX reversal outfit, myself...

>: E-6 pro-level (dip-dunk) processing is much cheaper, though...
>: But also less predictable and consistent.
>
>That depends on the lab you use.  A well-managed E-6 processor can
>turn out consistent results, just like a well-managed K-14 processor.

If they're optimized for one family of films, yes. I have yet to
encounter one in my city that can handle everything from RVP to
EPP to RS50. So, to get consistent results, I shoot just one E-6
emulsion and get it processed at the same lab. Or I shoot PKM.

>Prices vary, but I am getting E-6 locally for about $6 per roll, while
>I have to send off Kodachrome for $8 per roll, not including postage.

I use a Kodak Image Center that offers free courier service, and
I pay about US$6.25 per roll of PKM processed. Not too bad...

>: I may be shooting a
>: clothing catalog within the month, and my film will be PKM.
>
>How much do you charge for that?

I wish I knew how to price my services (first time). Most pros
I've talked with say for someone starting, like me, CDN$600 per
day (8-10 hours) PLUS expenses would be a reasonable figure. I
suspect that the potential client may find this too steep, so I
may end up submitting a lower bid or quote on the entire job.

Then again, considering how many thousands of dollars I've spent
on shooting tests (lighting, etc.) in order to build up my skills
to where they are now, and I'm constantly trying to improve them,
I think I'm not totally out of line. I show my portfolio to the
art director on Thursday...wish me lots of luck. I'll need it.

Oh, and depending on how much sharpness is needed, I may switch
my film to EPX or even EPN (very ACCURATE and neutral colors). If
the film will be scanned, I have been told by several places that
the number one preference here for digital color seps is PKM.

I wish I had a color meter that measured the Kelvin temperature
of flash illumination...oh, well....

Victor 8^)
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