Two New Galleries

[pstewart]

I have uploaded two small galleries. The Raccoon shots were taken this week, while the Pacific Northwest gallery photos were scanned from old slides.



Click here for more raccoon pics: http://www.pbase.com/pstewart/raccoon
Click here for more Pacific NW: http://www.pbase.com/pstewart/pacific

[gschmickle]

I really enjoyed your Pacific Northwest shots, Phyllis. What did you use to scan those in? I've got a number of slides that I've tried to scan using a Canon FS4000 and they turned out horribly. That scanner works reasonably well for negative film, but not slides. I'm curious to know how you did it.
-Guy

[pstewart]

I've got a number of slides that I've tried to scan using a Canon FS4000 and they turned out horribly. That scanner works reasonably well for negative film, but not slides. I'm curious to know how you did it.

Thank you...glad you liked them. I used my Epson Perfection 2450 scanner and the Epson driver. The machine comes with slide holders, and the Epson driver works well with slides, although I use the Silverfast driver for scanning prints.

These slides are over 30 years old. I have a ton of other slides taken back then to scan, but haven't got to it yet.

QUESTION: My biggest problem with slide scanning is dust. These are OLD slides as I said, so they've collected a lot of dust from being shown, even though stored in a plastic box. I have to go over them in Photoshop removing each little speck...yuck! What is a good safe way to thoroughly clean slides before scanning?

[gschmickle]

QUESTION: My biggest problem with slide scanning is dust. These are OLD slides as I said, so they've collected a lot of dust from being shown, even though stored in a plastic box. I have to go over them in Photoshop removing each little speck...yuck! What is a good safe way to thoroughly clean slides before scanning?

Yes, dust is definitely a huge issue. My Canon scanner uses a two pass method to remove dust specs during the scan and actually does a pretty good job. I would still use a bulb blower to try and remove as much dust as possible from the slide or negative. How to safely do a better job than that, I'm not sure.
-Guy

[auriga]

Phyllis,

Do you have any dust cloths? You can probably pick them up at any photography store. I used to scan and print lots of old slides at my old job and that's what I used to clean the slides and negs with. They are usually orange or red and soft and safe to use on the film.

Megan

[pstewart]

Thanks for the tips. I have tried canned air, but it seemed to put on as much dust as it took off (I live in a dusty house since I spend too much time here!) and I was afraid to use a cloth for fear of getting scratches. But then, as Megan suggests, I guess a really soft cloth such as the ones for cleaning glasses would probably be safe. I was wondering if there was a liquid cleaning agent or spray for this purpose, something that would help the dust stick to the cloth. Maybe on the web...