12/09/2011
08/25/2011
Old Chromes never die
they just fade away.
Chromes? The insider name we, professional photographers, used for our Kodachromes, Ektachromes, or transparencies, also known as "trannies". A professional never used the term "slides" for fear that would bestow on him or her the mark of an amateur.
The beauty of well exposed, not to mentioned correctly processed, transparencies is/was hard to deny; not only did they require a much more precise metering method but the metering method was diametrically opposed to the one used for B&W or Color negatives, both of which, for me anyway, resulted in a wee bit of pride when the desired for results came back.
Don't get me wrong here, I'm not pining, nor advocating, for a return to shooting with transparencies, it was a pain to work with;
ad agencies would often insist that a particular emulsion be used
there was the need to overshoot so that that when originals went out to agencies or clients the photographer would still have a decent copy in house
duping was a pain and did not always match the original
one had to take great care with the originals, improper storage, fingerprints, and even projecting could all cause irrepearable damage to precious, and I haven't even begun on the effects of time.
Like many photographers, who have been around for a wee while, I have a slew (that would be a lot) of chromes in my office; commercial work, from the 80's, lectures and presentations from the 90's not to mention a large collection of personal images that most members of my family gave up remembering let alone holding out hope that they one day might see and share some of those memories.
Whislt not quite gathering dust this collection of my work is taking up space and has for years moved up and down on my "to-do" list. Recently I have been entertaining notions of hauling out my Nikon Coolscan and just getting on with it, it being the garguantian and daunting task of scanning the aforementioned "slew" of chromes.
This week a friend of mine called, told me he was moving and asked if I'd like to come and take a piece of equipment off his hands. I was there in a heartbeat. I've been bugging him to sell it to me for years. Well he didn't sell it to me, I wouldn't sell it either if I owned it, he did however let me look after it and and take itaway on long loan. Thanks Steve.
So here's the set-up.
Bowens Illumitran, a device I used almost daily in the late 80's and early 90's. I charged right in two nights ago and produced some results which were frankly dissapointing.
To say I was unimpressed would have bee an understatement, the color wasn't good, focus was off, and the exposure was inconsistant. Oh dear, do I convert all these buggers to B&W?
Scanning began to seem more like a viable option, however a glass of wine, peace and quiet last night, a good bit of reading, some memory searching, and one more test gave me hope.
I'll post more on the procedure and maybe some images in the weeks and months to come.
11/11/2009
Color or Black & White?
When shooting film things were a little easier as far as deciding whether an image was to be B&W or Color. I simply reached to the my right (B&W) side or my left (color) side and pulled a camera to my eye.
Decision made. That' was it. Done deal.
Since I made the transition to a total digital workflow, about five years ago, a few things have changed even though I have a very clear idea, vision if you will, of whether the images I'm seeing and shooting are to be presented in Black & White or Color.
The final choice of B&W or Color is now determined as I go through my editing procedure and the images are processed accordingly. It's usually pretty evident to me which is best for an image or a set of images. Occasionally though I look at a particular image and go back and forth liking both the Color and the drama of the B&W at the same time. In most instances the decision is made in a few seconds and as with shooting film it's a done deal. This one though has me! I still making my mind up.
Your thoughts? B&W or Color? Let me know.
