Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/02/03
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I think your banker/painter/grain analogy can be refined somewhat. The successful banker wants to distribute his money in the most productive way to yield the highest return. Likewise a painter doesn't want to dislike pigment; rather the painter spreads it around in a sensible way. Same way with grain. Don't allow it to intrude in the process. Think of using it in a productive way. Jim 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. > The existence of plugins and filters to create the apperance of grain > further underscores its importance as the hallmark of the traditional > photographic process. > Sincerely, > Joe Stephenson > > -----Original Message----- > From: Mikiro M <arbos@iname.com> > To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us> > Date: Wednesday, February 03, 1999 5:35 PM > Subject: Re: [Leica] B&W output from digital devices > > >At 9:49 pm +0100 3/2/99, Mark Rabiner wrote: > > > >>You know about Man Ray saying Grain is the brushstroke of photography? I > >>know in some sense the grain particle of the digital world is the pixel > >>but I know that is now what you have in mind. I am aware of the many > >>Grain and Noise plug ins, many of them third party and free that are > >>involved with Photoshop. Though not the intrinsic makeup of the image > >>the grain and noise potential have its uses. I have fun with them and > >>would work with your water color look. That's all I know. > >>Mark Rabiner > > > >Thanks, Mark. I'll try those plug-ins. > > > >I sometimes look over my negs under a microscope and am surprised to see > how > >the grains look like. Does anyone know the size of grains that enlarger > >lenses can project on paper? Am I right in assuming that when the > >resolution of scanners and printers is high enough to visualise a single > >grain of film, such systems are *better* than any enlargers? > > > >-- > >Mikiro Mori > >Strasbourg, Europe > >http://www.members.tripod.com/arbos3/cigogne/index.html > > > > > > - -- James R. Nelon Hong Kong, China http://home.netvigator.com/~jnelon