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Thread: Darkroom vs Scanning

  1. #11

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    Re: Darkroom vs Scanning

    No.

    Quote Originally Posted by Bernice Loui View Post
    The GOOD black & white fiber papers died about later 1980's, it's essentially down hill since..

    Bernice

  2. #12

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    Re: Darkroom vs Scanning

    The good point is why would one shoot a film to only print and scan and go digital, the process of shooting the film sure is a huge draw. I thought to myself also why would you shoot a film to only scan it and print it thru an inkjet, i think there are many benefits to being a hybrid shooter i think. It has to be more than just the process of shooting the film and developing it yourself, it has to give a look and feel that digital cant create and may never create. I could go down the scan inkjet route as long as i can keep that film look, the process alone is not enough for me, i need to keep the film look also, and I'm happy.

    I just don't get much satisfaction shooting a sony a7r iii, it's just easy to rip shot off after shot, i like being slowed down with film, and having to think more.

    On the other hand, there is a part of me that's not liking the hybrid thing, going to be an interesting journey.

  3. #13
    Tin Can's Avatar
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    Re: Darkroom vs Scanning

    I shoot DIGI every few minutes

    Just now to document an enlarger, online, maybe even on a giant TV

    I vastly prefer actual film to ANY DIGI paper and DIGI printer

    I also print RC, FB and ALT

    I like it all

    I was deprived as child

    really
    Tin Can

  4. #14
    Drew Wiley
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    Re: Darkroom vs Scanning

    I'm 100% real darkroom workflow, both black and white color printing. There is a certain level of nuance I get that way which I never see in digital prints. But it's also just a matter of personal preference for hands-on tactility to the craft versus excessive sitting on the butt punching buttons like I'm doing right now, at least till my wife picks up more salt at the store so we can get the turkey going. Plus I already have a nice darkroom setup with lots of good equipment I'm accustomed to. If it ain't broke, don't try to fix it.

    Sorry if I offend a few people - we all have our opinions and reasons for them - but other than democratizing convenient color printing, I regard inkjet as a step backwards, qualitatively. Kinda like soy-based imitation ice milk versus real ice cream.

  5. #15
    Pieter's Avatar
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    Re: Darkroom vs Scanning

    I enjoy printing in the darkroom, the hands-on work of dodging and burning, getting a great final print that may be one of a kind. High-quality digital printing will necessitate a hefty investment: a fast computer, a good monitor and a calibration system. Decent photo editing software. A lot of detail work is best done with a digital tablet. And a proper room or area with subdued light. Then, a good photo printer that can handle large sizes and has multiple black inks to get a rich black and white output. Good inkjet paper costs about the same as photo paper, and ink can be quite expensive, especially when the printer can have more than 6 cartridges. The best black-and-white inkjet prints I have seen have been produced using Piezography inks, where all the cartridges are different shades of black. Cone Editions is a great source for materials and they make fabulous prints. Oh, yeah, inkjet printer heads clog and need cleaning and alignment, plus service is hard to find. They're basically disposable if something goes wrong that is more than a minor problem.

    I don't shoot color film, all my color work is digital. All my black and white is totally analog today.

  6. #16

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    Re: Darkroom vs Scanning

    Quote Originally Posted by Drew Wiley View Post
    but other than democratizing convenient color printing, I regard inkjet as a step backwards, qualitatively. Kinda like soy-based imitation ice milk versus real ice cream.
    Ya but Drew that’s because you’re always hanging around the Bay Area where the inkjet prints aren’t very good and everyone likes the soy cream. Also there was that time you saw a Lik print, which traumatized you and permanently distorted your psychophysical response to inkjet prints.

  7. #17
    Drew Wiley
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    Re: Darkroom vs Scanning

    Some of the best inkjet printers alive are here in the Bay Area, including certain key consultants. But the only reason they're so good is that they know what they want, having mastered color darkroom printing first in several different specific media. But yeah, despite earning much of their income by promoting digital innovations, their result still doesn't look as good to me as their own earlier darkroom versions. I talking about people with taste, not about those unmentionable persons you dare mention who use Photoshop like a sledgehammer. Don't suppose you remember those old TV Sledge-O-Matic skits by a comedian who recently died? - sledgehammer taken to a watermelon in front of a live audience. Yeah, that would leave an impression quite like that of the work you just mentioned. But PS is just another big toolbox of its own, capable of either intelligent use or reckless abuse; it doesn't itself feel or think anything.

  8. #18

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    Re: Darkroom vs Scanning

    Judgement of print quality is based on.... Personal Points of Reference.. Yes or No_?_

    Given the Personal Points of Reference (applies to a whole lot more than just prints) is often extremely variable for any given print maker and audience..
    That "NO" from Michael R is a set up for Vast Violent Verbage...

    How many "rounds" of Verbage Wars will follow _?_


    No thanks,
    Bernice

  9. #19
    Drew Wiley
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    Re: Darkroom vs Scanning

    I'll risk my opinion. Having just sorted through about three hundred black and white prints still deserving to be drymounted, but realizing that only a third or less of them is going to get done, while even more are still being made... it's pretty obvious to me that, yes, the days of outstanding graded papers are long gone ... but the era of really good VC papers has solidly arrived. I adapt, always have.

    Same with color media. When my beloved Cibachrome was on life-support, taking its last gasps, I started concentrating on chromogenic papers and color neg films, and that learning curve paid off as those products steadily evolved into the very high quality options available today. Fujiflex is even better than Cibachrome in certain respects, and certainly it's never going to be mistaken for an inkjet print! - though it can be alternately laser-exposed using scanned digital files if one prefers that route.

    The main thing is that one masters their preferred workflow and tools. Garbage-in / garbage-out applies equally in both realms. Lots of mediocre darkroom work was once done; lots of mediocre digital printing occurs now. But it doesn't have to be that way.

  10. #20

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    Re: Darkroom vs Scanning

    But it's also just a matter of personal preference for hands-on tactility to the craft versus excessive sitting on the butt punching buttons, I LOVE THAT.

    There is a guy on youtube who sells prints, he has a very nice laid-out website and does pretty nice work on different types of photography. He said in one of his videos he offers darkroom prints and offers high-quality inkjet prints, he said 10% of his sales are darkroom prints. That to me says the general public isn't willing to pay more for darkroom prints vs inkjet prints. I think some people will but in general, that tells me they don't look all that different and it's not worth the extra money to most people. I can't wait to do some side-by-side comparisons.

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