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Thread: Must your image be technical perfect ?

  1. #61

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    Re: Must your image be technical perfect ?

    Quote Originally Posted by h2oman View Post
    This thread seems to be drifting...

    Allow me (or don't) to bring it somewhat back in line with what I think the OP had in mind with the following two questions:

    1. In your own photography, do you, deliberately and with intentionality, introduce what some would consider flaws (select areas out of focus, blacks without detail, blurring due to camera movement, lens vignetting, etc.) to express your vision?

    2. Are there other photographers, whose work you enjoy, that, deliberately and with intentionality, introduce what some would consider flaws (select areas out of focus, blacks without detail, blurring due to camera movement, lens vignetting, ...) to express their vision? Names/examples?

    (I'm checking out for a little to go make some digital prints. )
    I have started this discussion, because I saw over the years a lot of questions about how to get a sharp front to back image, and how to get the perfect exposure for the shadows and highlights.
    All the knowledge combined of the people on this forum is incredible !
    Knowing my own preferences, that this sometimes does not feel natural, I was curious to find out if you have a general style or it depends on the subject.

    But so I

  2. #62

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    Re: Must your image be technical perfect ?

    This is a how thread (or maybe what to avoid)... Note other thread running "Giving voice" is why (concept)...

    All this and more in your photographs, all together!!!

    Steve K

  3. #63
    Drew Bedo's Avatar
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    Re: Must your image be technical perfect ?

    Quote Originally Posted by PatrickMarq View Post
    The question is: do you want the complete image to be sharp, and have every detail in the shadows ?

    For a long time, this was quite important to me, but I have seen my style changing over the years.
    Some views need to be completely sharp (except when using soft focus lenses). But I don't find this a must anymore.

    A landscape can have a soft foreground and a sharp main subject, or some shadows may be complete dark. I find this more natural as we see this with our eyes.

    Then you have of course the impression of the artist who deliberate places thing out of focus, or creates harsh images in black & white, or a shallow depth but this is something completely different.

    I see these questions pop-up on a regularly base in the forums so I'm curious, so do you go for perfection or more the natural way ?
    "Technically Perfect"?

    Well, no. Technically inept LF photographer that I am, I often find that what I had wanted to capture on film is not what the film captured. Framing, exposure and focus may not be the snapshot I had in my mind's eye.

    Yet, some of my most liked images (by others) are the result of these happy accidents. One sunrise image I made many years ago shows a dramatic beam of sunlight slanting across a still pond that has "steam" rising into the freezing air over the slightly warmer water. I used a shutter speed that was too long. On the transparency, the individual tendrils of "steam" became a general mist. The final image still looks great, even to me, but it is still not what I had wanted it to be.
    Drew Bedo
    www.quietlightphoto.com
    http://www.artsyhome.com/author/drew-bedo




    There are only three types of mounting flanges; too big, too small and wrong thread!

  4. #64
    Alan Klein's Avatar
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    Re: Must your image be technical perfect ?

    I didn't make this up. Hmmm. I wonder if I can use this excuse with my photography?

    Deliberate mistakes in handmade Persian rugs and carpets
    Posted on December 16, 2013 by awilkins
    In many handmade Persian rugs and carpets you will discover the deliberate mistake. Followers of Islam believe only Allah makes things perfectly, and therefore to weave a perfect rug or carpet would be an offence to Allah. The original deliberate mistake is usually made in the execution of the pattern of the rug and not in the dying of the wool or silk, and certainly not the quality of the weaving. Genuine deliberate mistakes in oriental rugs and carpets may be very difficult to spot and can be as subtle as a different colour used in a flower petal. In reality with all handmade oriental rugs and carpets, mistakes creep in whether deliberate or not.
    https://www.orientalrugexperts.com/d...s-and-carpets/

  5. #65
    Drew Wiley
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    Re: Must your image be technical perfect ?

    Any obsession with mere technique is a symptom you're uncomfortable with the process, or perhaps even with your own objectives. Sure, I'm constantly learning new things technique-wise, especially because I make a lot of my own specialized equipment. Film and paper selection changes over time too. Things are never really static. But frankly, I rarely print an image in the same manner more than twice, and often deliberately make different renditions. Which is better or allegedly "perfect"? Dunno. They can be equally good but in different ways. Now if there's a big crease mark in the paper, or borders that aren't square when its dry-mounted, or a gouge in the emulsion, that is a flaw. An yeah, any new learning curve takes some time. But the whole point is to get PAST all the Zone System and ISO chatter and debates, and "which film is best" nonsense, and do something intuitively rewarding. All this reminds me of some neighbors down the street who have been constantly re-assembling the engine to their speedboat, repainting its hull, and polishing the chrome for the past twenty years, but have never gotten in the water yet, apparently waiting till it's completely "perfect" first. Life is too short to overthink everything.

  6. #66
    Alan Klein's Avatar
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    Re: Must your image be technical perfect ?

    Quote Originally Posted by Drew Bedo View Post
    "Technically Perfect"?

    Well, no. Technically inept LF photographer that I am, I often find that what I had wanted to capture on film is not what the film captured. Framing, exposure and focus may not be the snapshot I had in my mind's eye.

    Yet, some of my most liked images (by others) are the result of these happy accidents. One sunrise image I made many years ago shows a dramatic beam of sunlight slanting across a still pond that has "steam" rising into the freezing air over the slightly warmer water. I used a shutter speed that was too long. On the transparency, the individual tendrils of "steam" became a general mist. The final image still looks great, even to me, but it is still not what I had wanted it to be.
    There's a lot to be said for luck and serendipity.

  7. #67

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    Re: Must your image be technical perfect ?

    I think what work like Sally Mann's does is it sets a mood and evokes emotions and feels which is what I think many of strive for (but not always, depending on the subject matter). I'm finding work that is super technical and perfect doesn't do much for me other than as a printer who is curious about technique and process. ymmv
    notch codes ? I only use one film...

  8. #68
    Tin Can's Avatar
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    Re: Must your image be technical perfect ?

    I admire

    William Mortensen
    , WeeGee, Karsh

    for different reasons they all made 'ART'

    WeeGee did not retouch as there was no time

    Mortensen often retouched only the print as he cared for only one perfection

    Karsh greased the subject

    they are my thought leaders and I may never...
    Tin Can

  9. #69
    Alan Klein's Avatar
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    Re: Must your image be technical perfect ?

    Quote Originally Posted by Tin Can View Post
    I admire

    William Mortensen
    , WeeGee, Karsh

    for different reasons they all made 'ART'

    WeeGee did not retouch as there was no time

    Mortensen often retouched only the print as he cared for only one perfection

    Karsh greased the subject

    they are my thought leaders and I may never...
    WeeGee who shot a lot of dead victims who were shot often retouched the victim propping him up for a better picture or sticking a stogie in his mouth to give the dead gangster some character.

  10. #70
    Maris Rusis's Avatar
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    Re: Must your image be technical perfect ?

    Technically perfect? No, a better target is "good enough" provided it is genuinely good enough and not just laziness.
    Any effort beyond good enough is wasted and is better re-directed toward making the next picture good enough. Opinion is cheap.
    Photography:first utterance. Sir John Herschel, 14 March 1839 at the Royal Society. "...Photography or the application of the Chemical rays of light to the purpose of pictorial representation,..".

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