That's a really good idea. We could do a kind of your point of view/my point of view post whilst linking each others content. Would have to coordinate a bit though. I can absolutely understand what you are saying about wanting control and digital giving you that ability. Lightroom is a fantastic tool, but I only really ever used it when I was using a slide copier to digitalise my negatives. A painful process, even with the ability to apply my setting to an entire set of images and I quickly decided to pay the premium for high quality scans, if I needed them. If I were in your situation I would probably take a similar approach, can't imagine what benefit a lab would have out of being so utterly difficult about things. I've always been fortunate enough to have good labs around me and cannot really stomach sitting in front of Lightroom that much. In fact, I recently got rid of my entire Adobe CC installation because it was sitting idle. I really like your theory about the human eye being tuned to darker tones for evolutionary reasons. Must put some research into that. Overall I have to say this has been a most enlightening discussion and has given me quite a lot of food for thought. Let me know when you will be putting up your post. Look forward to more stimulating discussions in the future.
BTW which Bronica do you shoot? I have the ETRsi and absolutely love that thing, although it's quite a cumbersome beast. There are few things that come out as nicely as Portra 160 on medium format in my opinion. The detail is simply stunning.
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I was thinking of writing something and you could either write a reply underneath or better yet for exposure write a completely new post as a response and tag mine so more people can follow along. It would be a conversation of sorts except we're being paid - kind of like what academics do when they publish papers and responses to other papers. I'm working on my thesis atm so it will have to be when I have more time but expect it soon :)
I've found film forces me to allows others to take charge of aspects of my creative process because I don't have the equipment to do it myself. Maybe my opinion would be different if I had the equipment but god damn scanning negatives is definitely not my thing; not to mention the need to colour correct always afterwards. Jealous that you have good labs around you but my experience was more business-like and condescending to say the least.
I've read that theory somewhere online but I can't remember where. I'm sure there are other theories regarding our ability to distinguish between darker tones rather than brighter ones. It was mentioned in an advanced colour theory course I took last year as well.
I've got a ETRS with a 150mm and a 75mm lens with various backs including the very rare 135 pano which gives a 70mm width negative (x2 of normal 135 exposure).
Sounds like a great Idea. I'm equally strapped for time, but that's just the way life kicks us ;-). Let me know when you are ready to delve into it. I think a post vs post approach is probably best if timed correctly.
I can totally understand your frustration with not having any decent labs around. I only discovered mine by chance after calling a place I found on the internet and telling them exactly what I wanted. Luckily they pointed me to my current lab, which I am more than happy with.
As far as scanning film goes, it's a total pain. I have a whole backlog of negatives and the usual slide-copier setup, but it's just a total hassle to set everything up and then go through the scanning procedure. On top of that, my hatred for digital editing software keeps me from going down that road too often, colour correction is a total pain for me.
I'm sure there is a whole bunch of really deep psychology that can be brought into photography to trigger certain human instincts. It's quite the fascinating idea really, that an image can be composed, exposed and presented in such a way, that it totally exploits our basic instincts.
Your ETRS kit is quite something to envy. I have been thinking of expanding upon mine but always drift back to a "why not buy a Hasselblad" mentality (the 6x6 format is really enticing).
Sounds great I will keep you posted :)
I prefer digital editing over traditional any day of the week. It's great because I can do it all on my laptop and don't have to set anything extra up or pack it away afterwards. I cannot see how you could hate colour correction but to each their own. The camera only captures so much and it would be a shame not to play with the results and improve upon them.
Visual arts are always going to intrigue the imagination :)
The 6x6 formats are really nice and usually allow for many different options - far more than the Bronica offers. Nothing beats the slap of that massive mirror for me and I think I'm over the whole GAS thing (Gear Acquisition Syndrome).
Traditional editing is not even an option :-D. That would quite literally require me going into photography full time. Overall I guess I just prefer taking pictures than mucking about with them afterwards.
As far as colour correction goes I usually just stick to filters, possibly adjusting WB on a digital camera now and again. I have to say that Fuji does an excellent job of colour rendition and I have been quite pleased with the different film simulations for my very limited digital photography needs.
The 6x6 format is something that's really churning through my brain again. I have to admit that I'm a total gear nut. I just love sorting out all the equipment, laying out what I need and packing it all as efficiently as possible. I'm also a total sucker for researching my purchases. I will spend hours mulling over the pros and cons of various choices. Sadly money doesn't grow on trees, or I would spend all day planning purchases and buying stuff.
Editing 100s of photos is a breeze with my laptop and less of a pain than taking the film down to the shop and simply paying someone to do it. However, I used to do CGI and enjoy spending time clicking around to get a look I like.
I used to love looking at gear but I think that phase is over. I might upgrade my digital when I've go the cash to spare. Lately using the entry level body and lens and really fine-tuning the approach I take has proved to be fruitful. I wouldn't mind on of those wooden large format cameras to play around with from time to time. Maybe in the future large format digital will become a proper thing instead of being so difficult and expensive to buy in to.
If you're coming from CGI then you totally have the patience to do photo editing. I guess it's pretty much child's play for you then. I don't think it's really necessary to always own top of the line equipment. When I bought my XT-10 I could have gone for the XT-1 but deemed it unnecessary for my personal needs and preferred saving a bit of money. That was an absolutely perfect decision, don't regret it one bit. It's probably wiser to buy entry/intermediate equipment more regularly than always pay the premium for top of the range.
Large format is another one of those big dreams...the Zone VI is incredible, but ultimately I would probably spend far too little time actually using it to justify the price.
I didn't know large format digital was a thing? Even medium format digital costs the equivalent of a car, so I cannot imagine what large format would cost.
Yeah that was a dream that died because of all the time it consumes :( Sometimes I dust off Cinema 4D and have a crack but only if I'm feeling especially motivated.
Yes I agree my D3300 is basic but I love it. I have to work around its technical constraints that might not be there with a more expensive system.
Oh yeah digital large format is a thing the Sinar company produces digital backs for larger format cameras but as you can imagine they're expensive to say the least. https://sinar.swiss/en
I really would like to get a good travel system that's light and doesn't have too many extra lens - like maybe a portrait and a wide lens would be enough for me.
PS The Philosophy of the Image debate is now live :) Check it out and let me know what you think. I started really general just to get the ball rolling: https://steemit.com/philosophy/@deterrencepolicy/a-great-debate-the-philosophy-of-the-image