keithmca:

2007. Digital Black and White

whats up with people hating photoshop and digital photography? it seems unsettling to some that when i edit digital files i use layer masks, blending modes, selective color corrections, adjustment layers etc. anything to make the photo look how i want it to look.

when i shoot film, the decisions i would make in photoshop with my digital photos involving color tones, contrast, exposure etc are already made for me when i load the film. film emulsions are complicated like that.

if i shot jpegs. my camera would automatically “photoshop” my photos before they even popped up on the back of the camera (well technically, even when shooting RAW, photos get temporarily auto corrected for viewing on the back screen. but for jpegs, the corrections stay). whoever engineered my camera software decides for me how much saturation, contrast, color values, and sharpening before i even see the photo.

if i get my film scanned or printed at the lab. the same thing. the noritsu mini-lab scans my negs first and essentially “photoshops” them automatically on my behalf using some ambiguous algorithms that usually do a for-shit job.

in summary, if you find integrity in being deliberate in your photography or being proactive and unaccompanied in how your photos look, don’t hit me with that “i only shoot film” snobbery or “i shoot my digital photos perfect in-camera, and don’t need photoshop”.

i shoot 75% film. im not proud of it. film’s nostalgic. it’s easy. the kids love the look of it regardless of how shitty the lighting or composition. there’s a whole visual language and aesthetic of bad film photography ( exempli gratia, lomography). people eat it up. digital doesn’t have the same yet. it seems clinical in comparison. in a sense, its harder to make good digital photos.

in twenty years, no one will shoot film. everyone will be shooting 3D hologram HD video and future snobs and hipsters will be using “old fashioned” 22megapixel digital slr’s from the thrift store, being arty, trying to “keep photography alive” and talking about the “good old days”. might as well be avant garde now. -f/8