Hi Everyone ?
I enjoyed reading previous posts about ?The Worst Large Format Advice? and ?The Funniest Thing You Ever Heard?. The ?Worst Advice? post really got me thinking, though, and I came up with a far more insidious example. I still hear it from time to time. It?s not format-specific, so indulge me a little.
When I was first learning how to use a darkroom, I knew a guy who worked in a ca mera shop. He would say really wise sounding things like ?expose for the shadow s and develop for the highlights?. He never really explained what that meant, b ut who was I to ask a bunch of questions? One day I was complaining about how b ad my prints looked, and he said,
?You just need to buy a box of paper and lock yourself in the darkroom until you learn how to print?.
There?s the awful advice. It not only sounds innocent enough, it actually sound s good! I already had a great deal of enthusiasm for the work, and here was thi s god-like individual (he worked in camera store!) telling me that I just needed to apply some time and effort, and I would be a good printer. Wow, this was go ing to be easy AND fun!
So I got busy. I printed, tried some different paper, tried some different film , printed some more, tried some different chemicals, tried a different light sou rce, made more prints, tried some different lenses, etc. I printed whenever I h ad the chance and made the same mistakes over and over and over again. Huge, na sty piles of bad pictures. I eventually became a Magic Bullet addict, but that? s another post.
The problem? His advice constituted an infinite loop. It included no test, no condition that tells you if you?re done, or even if you?re getting closer to you r goal. Being literal-minded (and sometimes no too smart), I followed his dictu m to the letter, and spent an embarrassing amount of time spinning in very small circles.
Not having an active photographic mentor, I did not understand the tragic incomp leteness of what he offered me. The intention was sincere, but some of the step s were missing. I eventually got out of the loop, but think of all the wasted t ime!
So what should he have told me? It?s kind of obvious in retrospect, but it was n?t at the time. Here?s how I think about it now.
1) Look at your print and decide what you would change to make it better. This step is really the most difficult. Until you develop a critical eye, it?s hard to tell if a print will benefit from changing the contrast, brightness, composit ion, or something else. There may even be a mechanical problem (improperly deve loped film, for example). If you can?t decide, show it to someone whose picture s are better than yours and ask them. Make sure they make good pictures and not just opinions.
2) Find out what techniques will get you closer to your goal. In other words, h ow do I fix the problem? Again, you may need to ask someone.
3) Try it. Compare your new print to the old one. Is it what you expected? Is it better? Maybe you need more or less of what you tried in step 2. Maybe you need to try something else, or some combination of things. Go back to Step 1, and repeat as necessary. When you get a print you like, or run out of things to try, you?re done.
Most of you already know some version of these instructions and use them in your work. They sound completely obvious (but so does the Bad Advice). If you?re s till in the ?repeat mistakes until time and money are exhausted? loop, consider giving the expanded set a try.
And if you see that guy in the camera shop, poke him in the nose for me.
Thanks for reading ?
- Kevin
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Originally Posted by Struan Gray
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