Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/12/02

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Subject: Re: [Leica] Ranting and Raving
From: Eric Welch <ewelch@ponyexpress.net>
Date: Wed, 02 Dec 1998 22:49:50 -0600

> As far as the
>person knowing Ansel Adams, and thinking his so called Straight Work not
>being a pretty sight, I disagree. The stuff most of us see is not
>everything he did, and he made some wonderful unmanipulated images. I
>wonder just how well you knew him.

All anyone has to do is get his book "Examples, The Making of 40
Photographs" or whatever it's called. And they can see that he manipulated
many prints significantly, and others not so much. Dodging and burning are
required for almost every single print done well. Why? Because film does
not record light the same way the eye does. So contrast and tone have to be
manipulated to get the tonal modulation and levels the photographer
intended for the final print. Ansel called it visualization. (NOT
"previsualization" which is redundant).

As for your Photoshop rant, I disagree with your belief that you can't do
anything in Photoshop you can't do in the darkroom. There are tools to
lighten and darken tiny little areas you could never do in the darkroom no
matter how hard you tried. And certainly a lot easier for what you can do
in the darkroom. Photoshop is much more powerful that most people imagine.
But just like a camera. Using it guarantees only that there will be
results. Not how good they will be. Just like having a Leica is no
guarantee for great pictures.
- -- 

Eric Welch
St. Joseph, MO
http://www.ponyexpress.net/~ewelch

I'm not okay, you're not okay, and that's okay. - Elizabeth Kubler-Ross