Color balance - Ektachrome 120 film

Hello,

I just shot my first roll of 6x7 film (Ektachrome 200) and because it was of
my daughter's wedding I wanted it back in a hurry, so I took it to a local
place and they sent it out to their lab (got it back in two days). I'm sure
that this lab isn't accustomed to doing 6 x7 film and the color balance was
way off! I scanned the film and I was able to fix the color balance very
easily in Photoshop by using the "Auto Color" adjustment, but my question
is: isn't film processing pretty straight forward for transparency film?
I can understand how color balance could easily be off with negative
film because of the need to add the correct filtration for printing the
negatives, but with transparency film it should be a pretty straight-forward
process, with no filtration variables involved. Any thoughts on this?

I don't think I'll take my film there anymore

Thanks!

 

One thing that can be said here is HASTE MAKES WASTE. With such a low volume
of slide film being processed any more by the local labs I would think that
you fell victum to old chemistry.

 

but with transparency film it should be a pretty straight-forward

You're correct in thinking that there's no filtration involved in the
processing of E-6 film. Nor is there any after processing correction as
there would be with color negative film. As such, all things being equal,
the film will record the coloration of the light that's there when you made
the exposure. If for instance your exposures were made indoors under ambient
light, the film will record the *true* color of the light. If the ambient
indoor light was incandesant bulbs for instance, the film will give very
warm/orange/yellow coloration. Even if it was outside, in certain
conditions, transparency film can give unexpected results. Open shade for
instance will yield very cool pictures. Sunset, especially at this time of
year can give very warm results. E-6 can also be especially sensitive to
whiteners used in wedding gowns and render them bluish even when exposed in
*neutral* light. In most out-door or strobe situations though, E-6 will work
just fine, even if its exposed at above or below its optimum color
temperature light. For critical color rendition, however, you need to be
aware of the specific color temperature of the light that you're exposing it
in, and make corrections at the time of exposure if necessary.

Glad to hear that you were able to salvage the wedding pictures.

GaryT

 

Thanks Gary,

Maybe it was just because of the lighting, the wedding was outside on the
beach, in full shade (about 10:00 AM) and everyone but the preacher was
dressed in white and khaki. Thank god for Photoshop

 

Early morning shade would produce noticeably cool images with any daylight
balanced film. I typically shoot with an 81 A or B filter to warm things up
a bit.

GaryT