Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/05/30

[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]

Subject: RE: [Leica] Digital cropping
From: Paul Chefurka <Paul_Chefurka@pmc-sierra.com>
Date: Wed, 30 May 2001 06:59:40 -0700

- -----Original Message-----
From: Rodgers, David [mailto:david.rodgers@xo.com]
Sent: Tuesday, May 29, 2001 4:44 PM
To: 'leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us'
Subject: RE: [Leica] Digital cropping

>Well, even light isn't so critical now with Photoshop. Stuff that used to
>take me an hour to iron out in the darkroom, can now be done with a few
>mouse strokes and a slider.

The quantity of light you can fix (intensity or contrast), but I find the quality of the light is pretty much set at the moment of exposure.  I can certainly rescue minor exposure goofs easily enough with digital, but turning high noon into 7:00 pm in Photoshop is still beyond me...

>I'm not sure digital is making me a better photographer. Though
>the final output may be better. 

And I'm sure that it's the quality of the final output by which one is judged as a photographer.  There are many stories of world-famous shooters producing egregious negs.  If you were to judge their worth on a light table, you might not be near as impressed as when you see the finished print.  For me, the mark of a good photographer is how capably they use all the tools at their disposal to realise their vision.  You may be right that an easy acceptance of cropping can make you a sloppy shooter, but if the final print looks better for it, they you've ended up a better photographer IMO.

Paul