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Thread: Basic change in photography

  1. #11
    Ted Harris's Avatar
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    Re: Basic change in photography

    Quote Originally Posted by Ash View Post
    As for the rest of the world. New generations of photographers will forget about silver-based film, just as early 20th Century forgot about wet plates, dry plates and bromide.
    And then even newer generations will rediscover these 'lost processes.' There is a real resurgance of interest in all sorts of classic processes. Ask Bostick & Sullivan or the Photographer's Formulary. Finally, the Alternate Processes Workshop at the View Camera Conference is more than half full already and when I put together the article on classic images for this issue of the magazine my onlyproblem was what to include, no problem at all finding practicioners of most of the 'ancient arts.'

  2. #12

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    Re: Basic change in photography

    GPS, in which format??

    Ted, if it wasn't for that 'loss and gain', art and photography would be a completely different game. I'm happy that 'lost' processes can be 'rediscovered'. I'm also happy at progression.


    All the kids shooting digital leaves me alone to shoot film without hassle

  3. #13

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    Re: Basic change in photography

    Quote Originally Posted by Ash View Post
    GPS, in which format??
    In all of them between 6x9 up to 4x10 or 8x10.

  4. #14

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    Re: Basic change in photography

    But isn't that due to a small but powerful (deep pocket) number of serious photographers pushing that market?

  5. #15

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    Re: Basic change in photography

    It's due to the confidence all these camera manufacturers have in the future of film. Their market research is correct - the advantages of film photography are so many that film won't be forgotten for a long, long time. (except for the B&W but Bill won't mind... ;-)

  6. #16

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    Re: Basic change in photography

    I don't want to hear about negative thinking.

    Ha ha ha ha
    When I grow up, I want to be a photographer.

    http://www.walterpcalahan.com/Photography/index.html

  7. #17

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    Re: Basic change in photography

    Generational difference: the older generation grew up wanting to be photographers (remember Blow Up). As they/we near retirement age, we finally have the means & time to indulge our interests. For us, manufacturers market their digital products as cameras, dry darkroom, archival prints, etc..
    For the younger generation who grew up with video games, chat rooms, instant messaging, etc., they want their cell phones, iPods and other digital devices to also enable them to make videos, maybe stills all of an ephemeral nature that they can use in communicating with others. Manufacturers who market to this generation do not need to use terms like cameras, dry darkroom, archival prints. Such terms are obsolete or tied to an archaic process.

  8. #18

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    Re: Basic change in photography

    Quote Originally Posted by Doug Howk View Post
    Generational difference: the older generation grew up wanting to be photographers (remember Blow Up). As they/we near retirement age, we finally have the means & time to indulge our interests. For us, manufacturers market their digital products as cameras, dry darkroom, archival prints, etc..
    For the younger generation who grew up with video games, chat rooms, instant messaging, etc., they want their cell phones, iPods and other digital devices to also enable them to make videos, maybe stills all of an ephemeral nature that they can use in communicating with others. Manufacturers who market to this generation do not need to use terms like cameras, dry darkroom, archival prints. Such terms are obsolete or tied to an archaic process.
    Doug, guess my age.

    .......


    ................19

    And none of what you say is untrue. At the same time I aspire to make full use of what is now marketed as an archaic process. Just as you say, the generation you are a part of is now retiring and finding the cash available for the ventures. I'm in debt because I'm young and can't get enough of traditional photography

  9. #19

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    Re: Basic change in photography

    The digital boom has raised the quality barrier a lot. In the past, a print with a little bit of spotting and some light dodging and burning was usually acceptable. Today, most people expect a print to be virtually defect free in every way, no matter how trivial the print, because of Photoshop and similar tools. More people do serious retouching than ever before - no air compressor or brushes required, one mouse click undoes mistakes.

    With the Internet, and forums such as this one and APUG, expectations are higher, yet there is such a wealth of information to draw upon. There is no excuse for a poor quality image anymore. Also, where at one time, simply making an image was enough, today so many approaches have been done to near perfection, so many topics treated, that we're surrounded with a lot of very good photography - that makes it more difficult. The wizard factor is gone now too in many ways - if people see an amazing image, they often assume that Photoshop or some digital camera had something to do with it, whether that this true or not. For commercial purposes, most uses of film are definitely history - having a Nikon F series no longer puts one in the "pro" category (as if it ever really did). These are the biggest changes.

    Where at one time, a great print was noted as exceptional or unusual in some way, today it is virtually expected as the starting point.

    In my travels, I've seen young people with LF cameras in the field, however rarely do I see anyone using a 35mm or MF camera lately. Young people today are possibly more diverse than ever, more flexible about generational technology and less hung up on the idea that a particular brand or technology is what makes things happen. As a whole, they appear to be more expedient in this way than their boomer counterparts - if it satisfies, then it gets used, otherwise, skip it; they do not seem to worship the technology itself. If that suspicion is correct, then more power to them because looking to results is a good way to go.

    If the resulting image is the basis for evaluation, one has as much freedom as ever to explore the photographic art and elements of composition without having to learn much about chemistry. A trade of chemistry for computer skills isn't too bad. Given that computers are bad for the environment due to their use of plastics and energy, etc.; I'm not entirely sure whether digital is in fact better for the environment or not.

    Now is the best time of all for a photographer. TMAX is a lot more capable than wet plate. For action shooting, my DSLR surpasses the capabilities of any professional 35 I've ever owned, and I've owned a few. And when coupled with the forums/Internet and the vast array of choices including equipment from ebay or wherever - things have changed for sure.

    With the daunting array of choices we have, staying focused, so to speak, is the biggest challenge - a challenge that replaces the search for a way to get to the base level of a decent quality image.

  10. #20

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    Re: Basic change in photography

    It usually takes a generation for any new technology to be fully adopted. Digital photography's been around only less than 10 years.

    Like Ed said, it raised the quality barrier to a whole new level, although I'd rather call it expectation. It also allowed for more interactivity between a photographer and his equipment and even the scene. It also allows more interactivity with a client. More speed and more convenience, less lost shots.

    The price of entry is computer literacy and capability. For those already there, it makes the medium much more predictable and powerful and much less capricious. There is no "black art" to it any more. No need for expensive factories either, the same ones that make computer supplies can now produce photographic supplies. No more toxic and messy chemistry unless one really wants to do it.

    Digital photography is only a part of a much bigger revolution, a computer-based one. It has already profoundly impacted the way we work, travel and live and it is now changing the way we create - and acquire! - art. It is also changing the way we think in the process.

    At the bottom of it, it made the post-industrial, informational society possible. We are witnesses to a trully exciting process that happens only once in a very while. We should be happy for it.

    People who look only at their own little portion of the big picture will never be able to get it, as it happens with any other new technology. They are angry at their world changing and they resist the change. They are the main reason why it takes a generation. Only once the majority of them goes away will the new technology really become mainstream. But it will happen, the Nature created us with an expiration date for that very reason.

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