Just Saying (9/18/2011)
It baffles me, sometimes, that most photographers will fully embrace the importance of complete manual command over their cameras when capturing their images, yet will grasp at every possible straw to avoid learning and applying the same degree of manual control when it comes to processing and printing their work.
Category: Just Saying
Quite so… agreed
Well said, Guy. Post-processing isn’t the easiest thing to learn and it certainly takes time, but any photographer who cares about their art should make the commitment to learn how to do it. There are too many readily available resources including e-books, video tutorials and more that make it easy to learn at your own pace and on your own schedule.
It’s the equivalent of learning all the manual controls on your film camera and then giving the film to the local drug store to process.
A very valid point, there must be something about the time involved in learning processing in depth, plus some people are just intimidated by computers. I enjoy the processing very much but I know I could and should educate myself much more on processing techniques. I read information such as your ebooks but for me the learning doesn’t take place until I actually do it over and over. There much be a time thing there that people don’t want to commit too. From experience I know your point is right on.
>It’s the equivalent of learning all the manual controls on your
>film camera and then giving the film to the local drug store to
>process
I never shot color film but it is my understanding that very, very few people in the world did their own color slide developing. The process required too many chemicals, precise temperature control for people to do it themselves. Heck, even Steve McCurry did not do his own developing, and the last roll of Kodachrome was developed by the only lab in the world that still had the knowhow and equipment to do it (Dwayne’s Photo, in Parsons, Kansas)
While it is probably true that very few photographers did their own color slide developing, I’m willing to bet that many of the best did educate themselves on the developing and printing processes.
For those who are shooting film, I think it’s important to at a minimum learn the language of developing and printing to better understand what is, and is not possible. This allows you to have an intelligent conversation with the person responsible for your developing and printing. The ability to convey to the lab tech exactly what you are looking for in the print will result in both you and the lab being happy with the end result.
I agree with Guy with regards to processing and printing of digital images. I often encounter photographers that are unwilling to accept that a large part of the creative process occurs after the image has been captured. Perhaps they are a “purist”, or as Brad mentioned, they are intimidated by computers. In my experience some are simply unwilling to invest the time to learn.
It boggles my mind why people do what they do sometimes too.
But if they enjoy their photos then I don’t see a problem. If they feel they are missing something then I see the problem. Everyone is different.
i disagree with the statement “most”, maybe it’s necessary to quantify the phrase photographer, who i would qualify as someone who takes it seriously, vs perhaps a tourist with a point and shoot making snaps and memories, because i would think that most photographers embrace every aspect of the medium with the same zeal as making the image in the camera. or maybe im an optimist.
So true!
Not me. I love the post processing almost as much as I love the shooting. And both are equal partners in a successful outcome
For myself, it’s a question of affordability Guy. Not all of us can afford high end printers- and on that same note, not all of us sell enough prints to make it worth the investment. With my compromised vision, I trust the professional printers to do my printing.
For my part, I derive infinitely more pleasure out of my field work than my work in the digital darkroom. Yes, I know that the darkroom is a critical component of bringing an image to its full potential — and I’ve gotten quite good at it — but, still, the fact remains that it just doesn’t excite me as much. Perhaps that can shed some light on what baffles you, Guy.
[...] ce vedeam si simteam, ci sa interpretez. Am refuzat sa ma las la mila instrumentelor (Guy Tal o spune cel mai bine) si prefer, acum parca mai mult ca oricand, sa las sufletul si mintea sa fie singurele unelte in [...]