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Re: [OM] ( OM ) Digital landscapes - example

Subject: Re: [OM] ( OM ) Digital landscapes - example
From: Ken Norton <ken@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 3 Aug 2009 17:20:42 -0500
>
> Not meaning to pick on Brian, but "digital doesn't cut the mustard for
> landscapes" is, well, hooey. More accurately, perhaps, the E-3 doesn't cut
> it. Or maybe the operator isn't familiar enough with his equipment. Or tried
> to push it too far. Who knows?
>


I absolutely agree.  It's just like those who say "film stinks" are off
their rockers.

Digital DOES have a look, just as B&W film has a look and Color film has a
look.  Yes you can get them to mimic each other, but that's compromising the
medium of choice to get it to pretend to be something it is not.

Some of my best landscape photography has been taken with digital, just as
some of my best landscape photography has been taken with film.  The medium
does influence what and how you shoot, though.  I photographed things these
past two weeks in ways I haven't shot for years because I specifically was
shooting film.  When digital proofing, I looked at the viewfinder and the
monitor and thought "this sucks".  It's because I didn't compose the image
FOR digital, I composed the image FOR film.

Does it make a difference?  Don't you compose for the image? It actually
does make quite a big difference. When your film is Velvia, you tend to look
for things which Velvia enhances. When your film is B&W, you look for
lighting and tonalities which are B&W oriented. When your camera is digital,
you look for things which digital is best at. I know that I was shooting
differently whether the camera was loaded with Velvia or Provia.

One evening, I was photographing a small mountain lake after sunset.
Earlier in the roll of Provia, I was lamenting the fact the camera wasn't
loaded with Velvia, but then a half-hour later, when I was shooting 2-3
minute exposures, I was glad I had Provia and not Velvia and especially not
digital.  I took pictures I wouldn't have even hazarded if I was shooting
digital.  (thank you Ken Rockwell). Digital also suffers when pushing the
limits of high-key and low-key images.

I absolutely agree with Chris Crawford that digital is good enough for
landscape photography if you are willing to spend the money.  My lowly E-1
is good enough for most of my event jobs, but woefully inadequate for
"fine-art landscape photography" (he says with a hauty accent). For this,
I'm more than happy with high-quality 35mm film.  Shoot, if was good enough
for Galen Rowell, it's good enough for me.  :)

I'm immediately going to get jumped on for implying that the E-1 is anything
near "state of the art", but actually, when you limit the maximum print
size, the specifications of the E-1's imaging system is very much near
"state of the art". There is nothing shabby about the color capture, nor the
dynamic range.

This "resolution" and "maximum print size" thing is a current fad. How long
it lasts is anybody's guess, but personally, I think it's way overblown.
I've sold far more 8x10 and 11x14 prints than 16x20, and 5x7 prints have
blown away all of the above.  There is so much emphasis on "size" that the
compositions have suffered.  There is an attitude that making it bigger
makes it better.

I was going hog-wild shooting with the OM-3Ti one morning. I had a polarizer
and red #25 filter on the lens. It was just as the sun peaked over the
mountains and started shining on the top of the dunes.  The lighting was
subtle, but in the viewfinder of my camera the images just lept out at
me--one right after another.  I had to force myself to stop shooting.  I
grabbed the E-1 to make a digital duplicate, looked through the viewfinder
at exactly the same scene and didn't have any clue what I was
photographing.  The visualization in the viewfinder was so different, I
might as well have been on different planets. I would have NEVER seen and
taken the shot and definitely wouldn't have post-processed an image to what
I saw in my OM viewfinder.

AG
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