When looking at my photography (I have tons of 11 x 14 black and whites mounted on museum boards...but I digress), people often ask of a scene, "Is that how it looked?" Well, no. Of course not. Well, almost never. After all, some burning and dodging goes into the print (digital or traditional). Even the choice of contrast will alter the look of any image. Besides, simply recording a scene is no fun, and does not allow for personal expression. Take this photo of the south gap near our usual launch site.
No, it didn't look that way. For starters, I increased the contrast, especially in the sky. I also made subtle edge burns all around to draw the eye into the center (and, by the way, I do not consider this a great picture. Just one to make the point). I also tweaked the color balance and color saturation and, finally, lightened a few selective rocks. Then, I desaturated the entire thing and used a curve adjustment to alter the contrast in the shadows and high lights. Because...
This is how it felt.
Paddle safe..
DS
2 comments:
Ah for the good old days of shooting Ilford HP5 on the Zeiss Contraflex and using the dodging tool on your B&W prints. With all this digital stuff I sometimes pine for my completely manual Nikon FM but don't miss screwing with the chemistry!
Chemistry: Hell, it was alchemy. The smells and feel of it all. I, too, miss it. There is a huge darkroom, fully equiped, down stairs just waiting. There is also a Zone VI 4x5 and lots of sheet film holders as well.
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