[Leica] Daved and confused

[chs2018 at med.cornell.edu (Chris Saganich)]

AMEN!

At 04:46 PM 12/2/2008, you wrote:
>On Tue, 2 Dec 2008 "David Rodgers" <drodgers@casefarms.com>wrote:
>
> >Perhaps this is too deep a subject for a shallow mind such as mine, but
> >when I first learned photography I was taught that visualization -- the
> >process of imagining the final print before snapping the shutter -- was
> >essential to good photography. It was difficult, but made a little
> >easier because your scope of visualization was more narrow. For
> >instance, you were pretty much locked into the type of film you were
> >using.
>
> >Certainly you could cross over from BW to color using Marshall Oils or
> >the opposite direction using Panalure, but how common was it to do so? I
> >think I used Marshall Oils one time and I still have leftovers from my
> >first and only box of Panalure.
>
> >Now we can switch back and forth -- and I do it often, from color to BW
> >and back, at least -- with a mouse click. Since nearly all digital
> >begins in color (I'm not diciplined enough to shoot in monochrome mode)
> >it's almost like I'm admitting defeat when I determine that an image
> >can't make it as a color image so I try and dress it up a little in BW.
>
> >Thus when I shoot digital I feel like I'm a color photographer who uses
> >BW -- aka zero saturation -- as a crutch to make bad photos that have
> >some compositional merit but are colorly challenged, into mediocre
> >photos; sometimes even really good BW photos, if I'm lucky. I can even
> >hide unwanted artifacts....even noise.
>
> >Has happenstance replaced visualization? Is this even something worth
> >discussing? WWAS? (What would Ansel say?) Was visualization merely a
> >fancy metaphore for "you're stuck with what's in your camera, so make
> >the most of it".
>
> >There was a day when I'd have given my eye teeth to have someone come up
> >to me and offer a magic film that could be either color or BW at the
> >snap of my finger. After all, visualization was a tough thing for me to
> >grasp. Sadly, now that I'm an old dog I can't ungrasp it. I'm conflicted
> >and confused. What's that old saying? Careful what you wish for.....
>
> >DaveR
>________________________________________________________________
>I think it best to approach color and B&W separately, which is why I still 
>like to use
>film for B&W (also my M's, IIIf and other film cameras are more pleasant 
>to use than
>any digital camera that I use at work).
>
>When I have a digital camera in my hand, I ONLY think color, and when I'm
>using B&W film, I'm forced into visualizing how to get to the final result 
>with the
>controls allowed by monochrome.  I don't think good B&W pictures can 
>necessarily
>be gotten by desaturating color unless the subject was analyzed for 
>monochromatic
>rendition from the moment of exposure.  (i.e., how does this tone compare 
>to that tone?
>Will it blend in or separate? )
>
>I kind of like what you wrote as a mantra -  "you're stuck with what's in 
>your camera, so make
>the most of it".   ;~)  And since I like to do as little as possible 
>post-exposure, in PhotoShop,
>I would add another variation: "You're stuck with what's in front of your 
>camera, so make the most of it."
>Get it right first, so you don't have to fix it later.
>
>Alan   B^)
>
>Alan Magayne-Roshak, Senior Photographer
>UPAA POY 1978
>University Information Technology Services
>University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
>http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Alan+Magayne-Roshak/
>
>
>
>
>
>_______________________________________________
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Chris Saganich MS, CPH
Senior Physicist, Office of Health Physics
Weill Medical College of Cornell University
New York Presbyterian Hospital
chs2018@med.cornell.edu
http://intranet.med.cornell.edu/research/health_phys/
Ph. 212.746.6964
Fax. 212.746.4800
Office A-0049








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