Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/05/26
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]On May 26, 2005, at 8:36 PM, David Rodgers wrote: > Christopher, > > You may be right. But I'm not so sure the digital side of things is > merely a push of the button, even with a high quality neg. > > What these photographs bring to mind for me is that we moved away from > a > unique look that was present from the 40's to the 70's. Maybe it has > to do with the fact that films really started evolving then, driven in > part by the huge spike in silver prices. (We can thank the Hunts for > the demise of the traditional silver rich films and papers?. :-) ) > > This is just speculation on my part. But I think there's definately a > different look to 35mm photographs made pre-70's. And I wonder what's > behind it. Is it technology related? (i.e.changes in film and not just > more recent digital). Or is it technique related? Or is it a > combination? > DaveR > > I think there are several factors involved: I believe the switch to zoom lenses had a huge impact on the way shots are composed. Shooting strictly with a 50 or 35, makes you see the world in a very different way. The abandonment of the traditional canons of art in schools affected composition. The introduction of automated cameras affected the 'weeding out' process of the talent pool. The introduction of built in spot / averaging meters has had an affect on how scenes are exposed. There is a noticeable difference in look, between using a average reflected reading and a incident reading, when shooting a scene. The loss of magazines like LIFE etc. which affected the pool of staff photographers, who had years to hone their skills etc. Feli ________________________________________________________ feli2@earthlink.net 2 + 2 = 4 www.elanphotos.com no archive