Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/07/12
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Great summary Norm, and well worth the read. Thanks. On 12/07/2005, at 11:54 AM, Norm Aubin wrote: > Alastair, et. al. > > I went through the progression of sizes and types of cameras over the > last > 30 years, going from 35mm to 2.25 to 4x5, and the progression of print > sizes > as well, 8x10 to 11x14 to 16x20 to 30x40 as the negative permitted. > > I have long been a student of the Ansel Adam's school of print quality, > likewise of the late Barry Thornton's techniques, so to me the > negative was > the limiting factor in terms of picture size. I won't settle for > grain in > an image, it disturbs me, like noise on a stereo recording. > > I do print a size appropriate to the image though: if it calls for > jewel box > size, i.e. 5x5, then so be it. Likewise, if the image needs to be > really > big to have the right impact, then 30x40 it is. This means that many > of my > favorite images are made using large format. Then again, I love my 3.5 > x 4.5 > daguerreotype images too! > > It should be noted that I do recreational photography, landscapes and > architectural work, (ferns and rocks as Ted would say), so for me the > tonality and detail must survive the translation to a large print. > Most > 35mm negs, even scanned at 4000 DPI, don't get you there. > > I bought the Leica M6 for one simple reason: I want to have a camera > with me > at all times, one capable of recording the technically highest quality > images in the most compact package possible. It is capable of > producing > images of very high quality, up to around 12x18 or so, and that is > quite > satisfactory for a majority of my work, and it also leaves me with a > record > of the scene to go back and work on with a large format camera later. > > Why is another story altogether . . . I photograph to see and to speak. > Sometimes to share with others what I've seen. I have a career, I > create > for money in other venues, and in those venues I have some small > effect on > the state of things in the world. When it comes to photography I get > to use > the other side of my brain, and also to make nice things. To > paraphrase > Ansel Adams: I'm not interested in recording ugly things, there's > enough of > that already, I want to create pretty pictures. If some day some > pretty > picture makes someone happy, then I've done well. > > I love the wet darkroom for making large B&W prints, but it has gotten > more > tedious as I get older. Digital has opened up many possibilities for > printing, and the quality of digital B&W is fast approaching that of > silver > based printing, so it's time to get on the train . . . for color the > train > is already moving at high speed! > > Just some random thoughts while the salmon bakes . . . > > Norm > > > > > >> Date: Mon, 11 Jul 2005 >> From: Alastair Firkin <firkin@ncable.net.au> >> Subject: [Leica] More comments: how do you use your images > >> I am hoping to stimulate a bit more discussion on this topic: why do >> you take the images, what do you do with them, how big do you print, >> how do you print, why do you print etc >> >> Cheers > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > > Alastair