The Vent and Rant Thread

[kindlekitten]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

If you're still shooting film I hope you're keeping it in the fridge! One of the nicest things about going digital was that I could get rid of my mini-fridge and get more space for toys! (I do have 3 rolls of film frozen in the back of the freezer just for nostalgia! 25ASA... They don't even make that stuff any more!)

Stitchawl

isn't that some incredibly sloooooow stuff?

[maianhvk]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

What a great idea! As soon as the temperature drops below scalding, I think I'll try that one myself.

I did that yesterday and it felt great Don't forget to post some picts here!

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by kindlekitten

isn't that some incredibly sloooooow stuff?

Outrageously slow! I think Illford was the last film manufacturer that was making anything even close, and I believe that was 40 ASA. The results that can be obtained when shooting landscape photography in low light conditions with it using very fast lenses can be magnificent.

We've sold out a lot of our traditional values in favor of speed and efficiency. We opt more and more for instant results, be it in food prep (TV Dinners, Fast Food joints, etc. = speed over flavor,) Electronic repair... swap an entire card rather than replace one transistor, and photographic output. Remember the days when we'd bring our rolls of film to the shop, and then wait a full week to get back the prints? These days we look for the nearest 1-Hour Developing place. In the 'Good old days' the shop tech would handle one roll of film at a time, adjusting the development process for each frame to insure optimum results. Today, they only look at the first frame, optimize that, and uses those setting for the rest of the roll. Fast, but not nearly as good.

Digital is bringing back a lot of the traditional quality, but that's up to the skill of the Photoshop tech. Most folks simply don't bother. Only those of us who are dealing with magazine output really pay careful attention to white balance, color correction, hue and saturation, vibrancy, etc., etc. to say nothing of the histogram corrections! The difference is good picture or great picture.

Stitchawl

[Freeshadow]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

really pay careful attention to white balance, color correction, hue and saturation, vibrancy, etc., etc. to say nothing of the histogram corrections!

and since most of the average people (me included) even have no idea what most (if not all) of this is I stopped to wonder why I look like a zombie on most (99.x%) of photos made of me.

statements like these should be made more often about more crafts.

having high-quality tools is no replacement for knowledge

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by Freeshadow

and since most of the average people (me included) even have no idea what most (if not all) of this is I stopped to wonder why I look like a zombie on most (99.x%) of photos made of me.

And that's the point! We no longer ask why we look so 'un-lifelike' in our photos. We just accept what the 1-hour developer gives us, or what pops out of the countertop machine at the Supermarket. Fortunately, we have the tools to put back the 'life' into our photos, and we don't have to attend long and complicated lecture seminars to learn how to use them. Here is a photo as shot, then one I spent less than three minutes correcting using only automatic settings...






(As you can see, being in a hurry I didn't add in the areas under the canopy to my selection when I increased the saturation of the sky.)

That's what we used to get from our old 1-week develpers, or what anyone can do today with three minutes pushing buttons in Photoshop.

The Camera can only 'see' just so much. It uses little computers inside to figure out 'average' settings so the picture will come out 'acceptable.' It's up to us to turn 'acceptable' back into 'natural. Fortunately, that's easy to do.

statements like these should be made more often about more crafts.

having high-quality tools is no replacement for knowledge

I prefer
Combining high quality tools AND knowledge gives us the results we want!


Stitchawl

[Mortis]

My rant is simply that I can't find a roll of black and white film anywhere, what ever happened to good old learn how to use your camera and spend days getting it just right so you can learn all over again for the next set of circumstances.

In school we learned to develop our pictures not to photoshop. We also made our own large format (8X10) bellows cameras out of and old Canon screw mount lens, hockey sticks, felt and plywood, still have that somewhere in a box, took amazing pictures.

I guess now people have to learn a new set of skills than we did, not better, just different.

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

And that's the point! We no longer ask why we look so 'un-lifelike' in our photos. We just accept what the 1-hour developer gives us, or what pops out of the countertop machine at the Supermarket. Fortunately, we have the tools to put back the 'life' into our photos, and we don't have to attend long and complicated lecture seminars to learn how to use them. Here is a photo as shot, then one I spent less than three minutes correcting using only automatic settings...






(As you can see, being in a hurry I didn't add in the areas under the canopy to my selection when I increased the saturation of the sky.)

That's what we used to get from our old 1-week develpers, or what anyone can do today with three minutes pushing buttons in Photoshop.

The Camera can only 'see' just so much. It uses little computers inside to figure out 'average' settings so the picture will come out 'acceptable.' It's up to us to turn 'acceptable' back into 'natural. Fortunately, that's easy to do.




I prefer
Combining high quality tools AND knowledge gives us the results we want!


Stitchawl

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by Mortis

My rant is simply that I can't find a roll of black and white film anywhere,

Try Selangor Photographers in the Pertama complex or Fotokem at Sungai Wang Plaza Ground Floor. Both used to keep their Fuji Velvia in refridgerator cases, and both carried Illford B&W films. But call first. I haven't been to either in several years...

what ever happened to good old learn how to use your camera and spend days getting it just right so you can learn all over again for the next set of circumstances.

The same thing that happened to 'bracketing' every single shot just to be sure you got it right! My old Nikon F5 had a bracketing button. Press once, shoot three frames. Set it for -.5, Spot on, +.5... or -1, -.5. spot on, etc. We don't need it any longer, thanks to digital. With the histogram immediately available, we can correct on the spot!

In school we learned to develop our pictures not to photoshop.

Ansel Adams said that for every hour he spent behind the lens, he spent 11 hours in the darkroom correcting and fudging his fotos. The only difference today is that we don't need trays of chemicals, and when we make a mistake we just hit the 'undo' key and keep on trucking!

I guess now people have to learn a new set of skills than we did, not better, just different.

That's all. Not better, just different.

My mother was always so thrilled when I'd take pictures of her. "Darling, I don't know why but you are the ONLY one who can capture the real me! I love it!!" (She never knew about the 'adjustment layer' I used in Photoshop to make her look 10 years younger... But she sure was a happy camper! LOL!


Stitchawl

[DixieGal]

It is not just a matter of learning Photoshop. The photo must look good to begin with. I learn so much about composing the shot, tips and tricks, and how to use m camera online. The Kodak site is very good. And googling finds all of the education an amateur like me can ever use.

I used to be the "go-to" gal at work when it came to kids' birthday party photos. Supposedly intelligent parents shoot the whole party without ever looking at the camera screen. I could pull out a lot of details in a nearly black photo of the kid that was shot facing toward the window, leaving nothing much but a shot of the white window light.

Can't really criticize them though, because a room full of 5 year olds takes up much more of the adults' attention than they can spare for snapping photos.

[wannabee]

Originally Posted by Mortis

I guess now people have to learn a new set of skills than we did, not better, just different.

But I think we have an advantage. When I see black and white adverts I smile and think of the sepia ones I did in the eighties.

[amward]

TV broadcasting has just gone digital here and we now have 20 or so channels, but there's still only about 2 worth watching. Why do they make so many terrible programmes? And how much TV can you watch anyway?

[wannabee]

Originally Posted by DixieGal

Can't really criticize them though, because a room full of 5 year olds takes up much more of the adults' attention than they can spare for snapping photos.

That would take some serious crawling from friends to ask me to attend a troop of monkeys like that.

[wannabee]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

My mother was always so thrilled when I'd take pictures of her. "Darling, I don't know why but you are the ONLY one who can capture the real me! I love it!!" (She never knew about the 'adjustment layer' I used in Photoshop to make her look 10 years younger... But she sure was a happy camper! LOL!


Stitchawl

I can spin some stories about learning how to develop film and enlarge pics when I was young. My dad saw those pics, and although I didn't get into trouble with him I think he had a new respect for me that I had grown up.

[bjones6416]

Originally Posted by Mortis

I guess now people have to learn a new set of skills than we did, not better, just different.

I agree. I love being able to "fix" photos on the go, and I particularly love being able to see if I've gotten a shot or not without having to wait until the film is developed. Having said that, I loved developing black and white film. The surprises, the smells, the whole chemistry aspect of it appealed to me. I never had my own darkroom (I used the one on the military base where I worked), but I think if things hadn't moved so quickly to digital that I would have set one up. I have fond memories, and nice pictures, from those days.

[wodin]

Originally Posted by amward

TV broadcasting has just gone digital here and we now have 20 or so channels, but there's still only about 2 worth watching. Why do they make so many terrible programmes? And how much TV can you watch anyway?

They have stock in Netflix?

[Rumpelteazer]

So I'm house sitting for my friends.

This morning I heard a beep every minute or so and I figured it was one of the smoke detectors. I was hoping it was the one on the first floor, since that one is easy to get to. But of course it was the one on the top floor which is right above the stairwell. I found the stepladder, climbed up and leaned over only to find you need a screwdriver to get it off. The only screwdriver I could find was one of those small voltage tester screwdrivers. Then I find out that the light fixture is half in the way, making it hard reach the press thingy for the screwdriver plus that the screwdriver is too small.

Already wrote on my hand that I need to take a proper screwdriver and a battery with me tonight.