Bye-Bye Bad Lighting
My Second Camera: A Kodak Ektra (from ~1980). I couldn't wait to my name on it!
Erik (my husband) and I were talking about photography this morning, reminiscing about the tall flash towers (cubes?) of our early cameras. He shared how he attached a battery to his to see what would happen. Of course, it flashed and blinded him temporarily. We had a good laugh remembering this. Then, we talked of our time in the darkroom, which was pretty minimal for me. While Erik was seasoned at black-and-white processing, I had no experience until I met him. Likewise, neither of us had experience processing our own color photographs.
I didn’t take yearbook in high school and the dark room was off limits to me. Or, at least I thought it was. (Looking back, I bet if I’d asked our yearbook instructor — one of my favorite teachers — he would have given me access.) That meant that realizing my photographic vision had to happen at capture; talk about a challenge! How I longed for some control in the back-end process. I even learned how to tint/hand-color photographs, resorting to painting my photographs completely at one point. As you may have guessed, this didn’t work out so well. I still felt disconnected from the end result: My own photographs.
At this point, our conversation turned to our digital evolution. When it came to processing our digital photographs, Erik was the Photoshop master. Frankly, the software overwhelmed me back then. Then, because I wanted to do more scrapbook layouts via the computer, I made my way to Photoshop Elements. Through Elements, I learned how to create layouts and digital scrapbook elements, but didn’t use it to process my photos. Here, I had this powerful digital darkroom tool and I used it to obtain the graphic effects I wanted, rather than the images I wanted. Then one day, I became curious.
Something caused me to start playing with my images, which drove me to experiment, which caused me to realize a lifelong dream: Control of my black-and-white and color images in the back-end! I was unstoppable, reading and watching everything I could about image processing. Most of all, I spent loads of time (and still do) playing with software feature sets and my photographs. Now, according to Erik, I am the digital master…er, diva?…in the house. This, I’ve come to realize, is what the digital revolution has meant to me.
While I miss some of the fun of the pre-digital world and love my film cameras (including my toy Diana), I am very glad to be a child of the digital age. It is glorious that I no longer have to seal the door to my windowless bathroom with tape so that I can process black-and-white photos in stinky chemicals and bad lighting. While the old days (and photos of pre-digital darkrooms) do cause a bit of nostalgia, I’m dancing in the streets because Elements has connected me to the entire process of making photographs. For me, the digital revolution has amounted to an artistic evolution.
At this point in our conversation, Erik had to leave — it was time for work. However, I’m still thinking about our discussion. Indeed, I’m wondering: What has digital photography meant for you?
Steve
February 17, 2011 at 2:29 pm
Liz
As an early age I loved cameras, throughout my adult life I have been fortunate to be able to purchase middle of the line cameras. What ever was popular at the time, I had it. In 1992 I bought my first expensive Nikon film camera, I NEVER took the camera off automatic. When digital arrived I was captivated by digital processing, I could now control a bit more of the image, meaning, if I took a picture and did not like it, I could delete and take it again. No more wasted pictures and money WAITING for film pictures to come back from processing. The early days of digital I was still NOT tempted to take the camera off automatic. The thoughts of having to remember so much was overwhelming. When my grandson was born late 2009, as I waited in the waiting room with my camera on AUTO, I was approached by another photography who helped me understand that I did not have to keep my camera in auto, with my little trusty digital camera we took test shots until I got the correct exposure, lighting and tones. So for me the digital age has given me the ability to learn the camera much faster and not have to wait for film to return back from processing to learn from a mistake. Mistakes are seen quickly, and corrected quickly.
Steve
Liz
February 17, 2011 at 3:09 pm
So true, Steve! The feedback is quick — so any experiments in a manual mode is quickly evaluated and understood, making for quick adjustments and growth.
Roy
February 17, 2011 at 2:54 pm
Hi Liz,
I have to admit that changing to digital I’ve become very snap-happy not being constrained to a roll of film and making do with the ISO number of the film.
Since buying Elements 9 (my first photo editing software) my camera is always at the ready for what ever comes along. My son and daughter in-law just this last week asked if I could work a little magic on one of their wedding photos and a few holiday photos. I’ve also completed scanning all our colour slides and have some negatives to also scan.
So do I miss my SLR and rolls of film, NO. I’m having lots of fun with digital.
Roy
Liz
February 17, 2011 at 3:12 pm
AWESOME Roy!
Also, you made me think about ISO. Before digital, I’d sometimes forget what I had in the camera (I was a kid — I forgot everything, heh-heh). But, I wasn’t able to crack the camera to remember — with digital, I can double check every setting — LOVE THAT!
James
February 18, 2011 at 2:30 am
Photography fascinated me back to childhood when I received my first little Kodak box camera, complete with flash attachment. Those newly fired flash bulbs were hot, not to mention a lack of modern day control when making exposures. They also left the subject seeing sunspots for a while after being photographed. There were some generally popular rules, though, such as “always have your subjects facing the sun.” It took years to figure out why so many people frowned or looked worried when being photographed. Such a delight to later learn that it didn’t have to be that way!
Later in life I managed to acquire a 35mm dream camera and was practically in heaven with its dedicated flash that actually communicated with the camera. Couple that with taking a home study course through NYI and photographs improved immeasurably as I finally understood the workings of the equipment and how to apply them. Photography became more fun than I could have imagined. As we all know, there were the limitations of film and processing costs, as well as the time required to run back and forth to the processor. It was very expensive to use the trial and error method with our equipment. There were many other drawbacks as well.
Then came the digital age, just after I had managed to purchase my all time most wanted F5 Nikon and matching speedlight. That camera had everything, and the thought of having to replace it was nearly unbearable. Time marches on, though, and it soon became clear that photography had outgrown the film cameras. Digital offered the opportunity to become a better photographer through the use of trial and error. What a break!
What has digital photography meant to me? It offers the advantage of almost total control over difficult shooting situations. The other benefits are too numerous to mention here, but the bottom line is that photography has been rejuvenated to the level of a new frontier. The fun and enjoyment have been multiplied many times over. Wouldn’t it be nice to be around another fifty years to see where it goes?
Liz
February 18, 2011 at 9:18 am
James, I love your perspective and thoughts on this. Also, I hope I am around in fifty years (and still getting out with my camera)! Here’s to new frontiers!
Lee
February 18, 2011 at 3:04 am
Not long ago I pulled out some of my old Kodachrome slides and scanned them. Then I looked at the scans in my Elements 9 program. I am so thankful for all the flexibility of digital photography. But, but, but…there is still a certain je ne sais quoi about a transparency image, even if it’s scanned. My challenge, for what it’s worth, to the d-camera manufacturers is this – give us a camera that can take photographs that look like Kodachrome slides.
P.S. if anyone knows where we can find slide film and processing at a reasonable ( i.e. cheap) price, I’d love to know. Thanks.
Liz
February 18, 2011 at 9:13 am
Thanks for your comment, Lee!
You know, you’ve made me nostalgic all over again! I remember the huge trays of slides my husband’s grandfather had — thousands of slides (he and his wife traveled often and he was a huge photography enthusiast). I loved sitting down after dinner to watch the slide shows. It was great!
Roy
February 18, 2011 at 1:14 pm
Hi Liz,
You seem to have got everyone thinking of those days of old. I read an article sometime a go titled “Being on the edge of tomorrow” and there’re right, with continuous improvement going on 24/7 all round the world, what exciting thing will we wake up-to tomorrow. As the boss of Intel said in a interview “you’ve seen nothing yet”.
Isn’t that exciting, I wonder what my grandchildren will be doing when they get to my age? What will a camera look like and be able to do?
Roy
Liz
February 19, 2011 at 9:44 am
So true, Roy! I’ve been hearing of holographic image capture in the hands of us (rather than in an expensive lab). I don’t know if it’s true, but wouldn’t that be something!
Jack
February 24, 2011 at 12:53 pm
For me, it is the freedom to take as many pictures as I want and to see some results in the camera immediately, as well as being able to do some backend editing. I remember the big family trips when I took about 16 rolls of film and then had to budget getting it processed. Now I just have to budget my time to get the editing done! Photography has always been fun for me, whether taking family snaps, nature pictures, or helping out with a wedding. Now that I have a second chance to fix whatever did not come out right in the camera, I am elated! Thanks for the memories (as Bob Hope used to say).
Liz
February 24, 2011 at 4:19 pm
Hi Jack!
I love what you said about now it comes down to “budgeting” your time — that’s so true! And, the Bob Hope reference (used to love seeing him in movies/shows)!
=) Liz