I’ve been sitting here reflecting back to the days of shooting with film, and a couple of thoughts come to mind:
Do I still get the same feeling after shooting a Gig or two of images, as I did when shooting a roll or two of print/slide film?
Are my images as satisfying to me now, as the film prints/slides were?
Answer: I don't think so, to both questions! Why, you may wonder:
There used to be an awesome feeling of anticipation, waiting for a roll or two of print/slide film to come back from the lab. When they finally arrived, and I got to view my shots for the first time, the excitement was almost unbearable. If you were like me, out of every 36 exposures, you would get (if you were lucky) 2 or 3 “WOW” shots, that made you feel like you really achieved something close to perfection! Something that would be yours to treasure and show off for years to come!
With the switch to digital, and the ability to view an image instantly, those feelings of anticipation, excitement, and accomplishment are somewhat “dulled” in comparison.
They’ve been replaced with: That’s a pretty decent shot, or that one will be awesome, when I bump up the saturation and add a levels or curves adjustment. “Don’t get me wrong, I realize that film processing requires adjustments to the images as well.” It’s just that now, with the ability to do all the work myself at home on my computer, the final print doesn’t seem to have the same “perfection factor” that the print/slide did back in the day! Now, once I get an image looking the way I want it, (perfect), I will look at it again a week or so done the road, and think, it still needs a color adjustment here, or a little dodging or sharpening there. Doing these adjustments makes it perfect again, (until next week when it needs something else done to it).
It seems as if I’m never quite as satisfied with my images now, as I was back in the day when changing something wasn’t an option!!! It seems as if that “perfect print” is a thing of the past!
I’m I knocking digital? No, why would I, it’s an awesome technology. Would I go back to shooting film exclusively? Not likely, as I really enjoy working with my images in post processing. What’s the point of this post? Not sure, guess I’m just curious if anyone else has feelings or opinions along this line.
Sorry for the long, and possibly rambling post (it’s hard for me to explain what I’m thinking sometimes) Thanks for taking the time to read it!
