foto3/VC Conference - merged thread

[steve simmons]

We had several student groups from regional colleges.

steve simmons

[Kino]

Somebody's got to say it. Might as well be me. Sigh...

This would make me rethink attending the conference. The APUG and Silver people are adamantly against what I do, which is to print digitally. Many are pretty judgmental and vocal about it. I don't know why I'd want to spend money to put myself in a position where I have to defend what I do. This isn't my idea of a good time.

The thing is, LF isn't solely about analog. But APUG and Silver are indeed solely about analog. I can understand APUG and Silver wanting to team up together as they have lots of overlap. I thought View Camera was more open to new ideas and alternative ways of doing things. I guess that's changing.

At the risk of stirring this up again, I want to make the late point that MOST of the hard feelings on APUG about digital content are there because people get their feelings hurt when they post questions about digital that has no place on the forums because it breaches the terms of service.

APUG was created to create a safe harbor, in as much as is possible, for traditional photochemical practices and theory. Digital information is rampant on the Internet, but sites specifically devoted to traditional photochemical are few and far between.

A large number of APUG members are comfortable in both digital and analog photography and work in a hybrid fashion, but STILL see a value in keeping the site's bandwidth reserved for traditional processes so they may continue to be refined and passed on to future photographers without distraction from digital processes that tend to be covered extensively on other sites on the Internet.

Since no one mentioned it (or I didn't see if if it was posted), www.hybridphoto.com is the sister site of APUG that directly addresses hybrid photographic techniques and many APUG members have a membership there as well. While it the membership of this site is not as plentiful as APUG, it certainly has well informed, rich content.

Yes, there are yet a lot of gray areas between what can strictly be classified as Analog and that which can be classified as Hybrid or Digital, that can cause temporary flare-ups on APUG until policy can be sorted out, it generally calms down and things return to normal in a short time frame.

When these flare-ups occur, some people like to point at the conflict and say that APUG is anti-digital. That can, and has, been easily proven incorrect by the membership time and time again; while a small number of APUG members clearly detest digital and anything to do with it, the insistence that APUG remain an analog site has less to do with hating digital that it does wanting to preserve an analog repository and maintaining the site's charter.

So, if you wish to isolate yourself from the conference because APUG members will be there, then I think you'd just be missing a fine conference, but it IS a free country.

My 2 cents.

[steve simmons]

We are working on the 2008 program but it will include info about digitally enlarged negs and digital output. The program will be set up in such a way that if you don't like digital you won't have to part-take in anything digital. But if you do, up-to date info will be presented.

steve simmons

[Jim Grimes]

I can verify that Diane was there and she looks like she is younger than 60... Anyhow, she had her 4x10 camera and got some wonderful compositions. Pity the price she had to pay for film holders though.

James

[Ted Harris]

James, LOL, actually I think Diane was shooting 5x12 with even more expensive holders!

[Scott Davis]

yeah - it was 5x12. And I can feel her pain- I'm about to go down the same route, trading in some Hasselblad gear for a 5x12 and three holders. The holders make up a third of the purchase value.

[BruceN]

Anything new on potential conference activities, workshops, schedules, etc? I'd like to know if I'm going to have to add a day or three onto the front end of my room reservation...

Bruce

[Toyon]

Some, not all, digital users have become "digivangelists". Like religious fundamentalists, they cannot seem to promote their work without alluding to the "true faith" nature of digital photography. They use terms like, "flat-earthers," "luddites" and other weak metaphors to describe film users. They often seem to justify their switch to digital by denigrating film, the darkroom, or the mentalities of those who work with film. This is just a nasty habit, and their voices are far louder than those film people who, foolishly I believe, refuse to recognize digital imagery's strengths and potentials. I don't like fundamentalists of any sort, and support the work of film artists and digital imagers to develop in any direction they choose.

[steve simmons]

Ted and I are gong to Ft. Collins in late August to work this part of the program out. But yes, it is safe to say we will do some preconference workshops as we did this year.

We are considering some 2-3 day field trips to locations a few hours away from Ft. Collins prior to the conference. For example, west of Co. Springs is the old mining town of Victor which is very photogenic. Would people be interested in a 2-3 day field trip there. We would have to work out lodging, probably in the nearby town of Cripple Creek. We are open to other possibilities as well.

thanks,

steve simmons

[Jim Grimes]

I used to live in Cripple Creek and visited Victor a lot. CC has changed tremendously since I lived there. Hopefully, Victor is still the same.

James