Kodak Medalist II - Graduation Day

[alexvaras]

Yesterday my daughter had the party at her high school and I did some pictures, first with some schoolmates.


Second she alone in a bench. I did not liked the result of this one, I had to put blacks on place, histogram was too narrow (any clue?)


I got three more pics so I walked to the lab and I found Maese Pushkin on my way. First one I had to choose another composition, less pedestal, more sky.


Second when I was about to leave I took a look back and here its.


Last one more domes of another church.


Attention to that horizontal stripe in the upper part, previous rolls from this camera had not, post processing error?

Thank you for watching.
Alex

[Julio1fer]

Good use of that Medalist, Alex. The sharpness is impressive. Congratulations for your daughter's graduation! Your daughter will treasure that portrait!

I find it best to do portraits in the shadow, with light coming from the sky. In sunny days it is very hard to get a good portrait in the sun unless you have some reflective surface nearby, to send some light to the shadow in the faces. Of course you might want the shadows for effect.

The stripe is also visible in both Pushkin monuments shots but not in the first two pictures of your post. If the stripe is in the negative, it might be a camera or a processing issue. If it is not in the negative, then it has to be a scanning issue. If there is dirt in the calibration area of the film holder you might get these stripes.

[GrahamS]

Well done, Alex. I can't add anything that Julio hasn't said except that the stripe may also be a pressure mark caused by something in the camera or during the development of the film. An emulsion fault is also not unheard of. Film manufacturers are not infallible.

[PFMcFarland]

Ah, they grow up fast. Somewhat harsh lighting on your daughter's portrait needed a little moderation with reflectors on the left (her right), or some fill flash. Overall though a good result.

I think the stripe is a scanner fault, as it is almost non-existent in the images with something to keep the scanner busy, such as the vegetation behind the park bench, and the building in the group shot (though I can see a bit of it in the pants of the person in the close foreground). The others are sky photos, so it shows up more in such a solid tone.

PF

[alexvaras]

Thank you all, as PF said, itsan scanner fault, the negative is clean (thanks Julio to remind to look at it
As for the reflectors and aditional lights... I don't do paid gigs so I will do portraits in shadow part, light was enough to allow me to do it but I thought different at that time, thanks for the advices.

[jamesmck]

Very nice, Alex!

[melek]

Alex - great job. I never could warm up to the Medalist (I or II). Just too big and awkward for me.

The sharpness of those photos is excellent. Love the compositions, too.

[alexvaras]

Thanks Mike, as I see my collection I prefer small than big, in this case I have no opportunity yet to buy a Ikonta 531/2 Tessar T or a Bessa II or a Telka III, way more expensive than the Medalist II, but so far I'm very happy and I started to buy more stuff for it, I already have the accessory back with ground glass, a Rada Film Holder with masks for 6x6 and 6x4.5 (with fits perfectly on the back), one extension unit, 3 portra lenses and one telek (-3) are on their way.
I need two more extension units and 3 telek -1, -2 and -4. Im having problems with some sellers not sending abroad from USA and the parcel workaround is really expensive to use, so I need to wait these items to pop-up slowly on ebay. Telek -2 and -4 I got sellers, but more important are the extension units.
When I have time I will start setting up the accesory back to the camera, it seems quiet tricky as I read.
So the Medailst II is bulky and heavy yes, but that viewfinder omg! I have glasses and its amazing how I can see so bright and the rangefinder its super accurate. Plus It gonna be like a Lego piece after piece and let's see what we get