Digital BW, The Print

Tom Baker wrote:

> I don't yet own a digital camera.  When I do get one (next couple of
months),
> I hope to take the same approach that I take with the 6x9, 4x5, or 8x10.
I just
> want to do some different things than I have done with film.  I won't be
taking
> the shoot 500 and sort it out later approach.

Then perhaps you might be missing out on one of the good advantages
of working with a medium where we can erase our imperfect
images rather than just having them be costly discards.

This is not to suggest the endorsement of a "motordrive
syndrome" but only to suggest that sometimes a burst
of ten quick images can better help us hit on that one
"decisive moment". And while this is certainly also
something we can do with film,  it is simply more
enouraging to do it when the the nine out of ten images
we later discard are simply erased digital files rather than
being a cost to us in terms of film and film processing.

So while I am all for well lit and well composed images,
I also find, at least for myself, that my use of a digital
camera has somewhat modified my shooting practices
from those times when I was using film.

*********

> I do wonder if the digital age will provide the same sense
> of magic that came with learning the wet process.

No, I don't imagine the "magic" of the digital age will
be the same as that which came with learning the
wet process. But I can well image the creativity might
well takes us to places we might not have ventured to in
earlier years.

I remember music I listened to back when  I was a teenager.
Some of it was good, some was great, and some as crap.
And likewise to the contemporary music I hear today --
some is good, some is great, and no doubt in the future
some of it will be looked back as just being crap.
Each generation, and indeed each decade brings with
it some new creativity (as well as some new crap).

The age of medium and large format camera gave us
some interesting image. And when 35mm became a more
popular format, we saw some interesting images from
this format which perhaps would have been harder or
even impossible to make with larger format cameras.
In like manner, digital photography will now have us
making images which we didn't much consider doing
when we were shooting film. And just like with music,
the new age of digital will reveal some good results,
some great ones, and some crap.

So no, I don't imagine the "magic" of the digital age will
be the same as that which came with learning the
wet process. But as I said, I can well image the creativity
of using digital cameras might well takes us to places we
might not have ventured to in earlier years.

CJ