RE: [Leica] Photoshop and Leica

["Rodgers, David" <david.rodgers@xo.com>]

Mitch,

Excellent points. I took up digital imaging for reasons of cost savings and
convenience. In one year I saved more than enough in processing to pay for
all my digital equipment -- scanner, printer, new computer components. That
was two years ago. Last year I photographed even more, so the costs savings
added up. Less cost meant I could shoot more. 

I feel like I'm entering into phase 2. I see some creative opportunities in
digital that just weren't there for me in conventional processing. I'm not
refering to things wild or off-the-wall. I'll use toning as an example. I've
always been interesting in toning b/w prints. But I never felt comfortable
using some of the relatively exotic chemistry involved. I've used selenium
and sepia, but that's about it. With digital I can do the same things that I
could with chemical toners, with a lot less effort, not to mention fewer
long-term health risks. 

Digital opens up avenues of expression that just weren't there before, in
both b/w and color. The only downside to digital is the huge learning curve
involved. 

Dave       

BTW, I remember doing page layout for a publisher. It was my first job out
of college in 1977. Hours and hours of cutting and pasting! I didn't much
like it.  

- -----Original Message-----
From: Zeissler, Mitch [mailto:mzeissle@gcipoa.gannett.com]
Sent: Friday, August 24, 2001 5:43 AM
To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
Subject: RE: [Leica] Photoshop and Leica


Dave...

This is an age old dilemma of old vs. new.  It has embroiled each new
generation of artistic creators [painters, sculptors, photographers,
etc.] in some fashion and will continue to do so long after we're gone.

As an example, when I attended graphic design school in the late '70s,
Apple IIe computers were just being introduced to the design curriculum.
Using Apple Basic, the results at the time were considered primitive,
but full of potential and promise; commercial Genigraphics machines
capable of producing good computer imagery cost well over $100,000 US.

Fast forward to the present.

In the graphic design world of the present, computers rule.  The results
are amazing and can be had for a tiny fraction of the cost of the
Genigraphics setup of yesteryear.  Most graphic design students of today
don't have any clue how involved and lengthy design projects were 25
years ago.

The same will be true of the digital photography argument of today.

/Mitch