This is the second and last tutorial on shooting with 4x5 film, focused on post-production. The first part of this tutorial will take you step-by-step through scanning your film through a technique called wet-mounting at home on a flatbed scanner. Whether you get lab scans or do them yourself through wet-mounting, the video at the end of this post will take you through color-correcting and finishing your scan in Adobe Photoshop.
To begin scanning at-home you will need:
> Aztek Kami Scanner Mounting Fluid (Budget Substitute: Mineral Oil)
> Paper Towels & Anti-static Cloth (Lens Wipes Optional)
> Your developed negatives
> A Scanner (Preferably the Epson Perfection V750 Pro or Newer)
> Epson Scan Program Downloaded
First, wipe down the scanner glass and get your materials ready. Then, use a nozzle bottle or the Kami fluid bottle to pour a small amount of fluid onto the glass (a little goes a long way!)
Then, lay your negative onto the fluid emulsion-side down. Using gloves to handle your negatives helps minimize damage or dust. Pour a small amount of fluid on top of the negative.
Last, lay a sheet of acetate (cut a 9x12 in half or a similar size) on top of the negative and use a microfiber or static-free cloth to press any air bubbles out of your mount. If you see dust, use canned air or a dust brush to get it off.
Now you're ready to scan! Open the EPSON Scan program in Professional Mode. Select your Film Type and "Film (with Film Area Guide)". I'm scanning at 2400 dpi and 24-bit color because I have a lot of negatives to do in a short timeframe, but you can choose something higher-resolution if you prefer.
Click Preview, then drag the box around your negative. Use the Histogram Adjustment on RGB channel to "flatten" your negative to prevent any shadow or highlight clipping. Drag the highlight (white triangle) to the top end of the curve and the midpoint and shadow to somewhere similar as I have them below. Your negative should look relatively similar to the one below. Then, hit Scan and save as a tiff file.
Now you should have a scan file that looks relatively similar to the examples I've put below. You're ready to drag your tiff scan into Photoshop! Follow the video below to see how I use Photoshop to color correct and finish my scan.
The finished file is below -- I created these images with support from Adobe Creative Residency's Community Fund. Thanks for watching!
