Re: [Leica] B&W output from digital devices: GRAIN

[Mark Rabiner <mrabiner@concentric.net>]

Joe Stephenson wrote:
> 
> Good point, Mikiro, but grain is even more intrinsic to photographic than
> than Ray's notion of "brushstroke" suggests. Grain is the very stuff of
> photography. It is the essence of the image. It is grains of silver that
> form the image. Actually, of course, it's the spaces between the grains that
> allow light to pass and form the image on the paper.
> When I hear photographers hashing over schemes to get rid ofor reduce grain
> to the absolute minimum, I often wonder why they do photography. It's like a
> painter saying that they dislike pigment, or a banker saying they want to
> get rid of money. Obviously we want to use grain in ways that supports and
> adds to the image. But to always seek to reduce grain to the minimum seems
> to me to be undesirable and somehow contrary to the nature of the process.

Actually what you say above" When I hear photographers hashing over
schemes to get rid of or reduce grain to the absolute minimum, I often
wonder why they do photography." is very much in the spirit of what Ray
is I think trying to say. He's certainly not implying some photoshop
cheap effect.
Mark Rabiner