In today's world of photography, everything reverberates with the seeming magic of "Digital", as if this medium is the be all and do all of the long evolution of the medium. The truth of the matter is that good photography still requires a thorough understanding of photographic theory, light, exposure, grey scale rendition and composition.
For just a moment, think of the art of Picasso. Did he begin as a Cubist? No - he began as a classical painter in the tradition of the European Masters. It was only after he had grasped the old techniques was he able to "transform" art into its most basic design - he learned how to carve away the unessential, in the same way Michealangilo carved away the marble to leave "David" standing.
Digital photography is really all about eliminating the mastering of the classic rendition of photography through the dependence of a camera manufacturer's idea of how the camera should capture the image, rather than using one's own intellect and experience. Photographers who are really good at the digital medium began their photography shooting film. And the film to use that best translates into shooting digital is Kodak Ektachrome 100 Pro S.
If you can get excellent detail in both the shadows and highlights with Ektachrome, then you will be well on your way to mastering the new realm of photography; because both Ektachrome and digital require very accurate exposure and light conrol to attain maximum quality.
Unfortunately, E-6 processing has all but disappeared. If you can find a E-6 lab that is still processing enough film on a daily basis to maintain the balance of the line, try shooting a dozen rolls of Ektachrome under normal and difficult lighting situations. When you have achieved good results you will then understand digital imaging.
With both mediums, overexposure is the death of your image.
Using your camera on automatic, shutter-priority and aperature-priority is a very sure way of loosing the highlight detail.
Learn to shoot in manual mode (underexpose before overexpose!) and pay attention to the results you get from using different shutter speeds and aperatures.
For just a moment, think of the art of Picasso. Did he begin as a Cubist? No - he began as a classical painter in the tradition of the European Masters. It was only after he had grasped the old techniques was he able to "transform" art into its most basic design - he learned how to carve away the unessential, in the same way Michealangilo carved away the marble to leave "David" standing.
Digital photography is really all about eliminating the mastering of the classic rendition of photography through the dependence of a camera manufacturer's idea of how the camera should capture the image, rather than using one's own intellect and experience. Photographers who are really good at the digital medium began their photography shooting film. And the film to use that best translates into shooting digital is Kodak Ektachrome 100 Pro S.
If you can get excellent detail in both the shadows and highlights with Ektachrome, then you will be well on your way to mastering the new realm of photography; because both Ektachrome and digital require very accurate exposure and light conrol to attain maximum quality.
Unfortunately, E-6 processing has all but disappeared. If you can find a E-6 lab that is still processing enough film on a daily basis to maintain the balance of the line, try shooting a dozen rolls of Ektachrome under normal and difficult lighting situations. When you have achieved good results you will then understand digital imaging.
With both mediums, overexposure is the death of your image.
Using your camera on automatic, shutter-priority and aperature-priority is a very sure way of loosing the highlight detail.
Learn to shoot in manual mode (underexpose before overexpose!) and pay attention to the results you get from using different shutter speeds and aperatures.
posted by Michael Harker at 8:40 AM
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