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  #1  
Old 27th October 2015, 10:19 PM
John King John King is offline
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Default Changes in styles

I have been looking at my RPS panels that I submitted for my LRPS and later my ARPS distinction (including my failed ARPS panel as well).
These date from 1991 and 1993 respectively.

Trying to ignore the emergence of the digital monster, (difficult) the styles and presentation of photographs have changed out of all recognition, and in my mind not always for the better either. Yes the modern images, almost all digital, are superb visually, but they lack a certain something and the closest I can come to defining what that may be is.....craftmanship.

Last edited by John King; 27th October 2015 at 10:30 PM.
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Old 28th October 2015, 05:12 AM
cndnlfartist cndnlfartist is offline
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I do not think that we really change our styles. We just refine it. Digital makes this easier being able to see our results almost instantly.

I know that I once wanted a certain look with some macros. I had lucked out and gotten it occasionally in Auto, so I knew it was possible.
One COLD day I spent 4 hours, snowshoeing and taking photos of every interesting small object. Towards the end I was getting the look I wanted. I really do not think I would have ever achieved it with film.
I still use this same technique from time to time, almost 10 years later on my Large Format cameras.
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Old 29th October 2015, 09:54 AM
John King John King is offline
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It isn't my style that has changed, I still take and print photographs in 'my style', it is the changes over the in between years that are markedly different. Is it because I have stood still with 'my style' whilst the digital world has allowed others to branch out using various programmes and hi-tech equipment. Each to their own but are they any better for it?
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Old 29th October 2015, 03:52 PM
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David Brown David Brown is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by John King View Post
... the digital world has allowed others to branch out using various programmes and hi-tech equipment. Each to their own but are they any better for it?
One is not a sample, but I am. As I write, I have just taken a break from matting and mounting digital color prints for a show in a week and a half. As soon as I return from that trip, my wife and I are off to Big Bend National Park in West Texas for a week of painting (her) and photographing (me) where I will use both black and white film and digital for color.

One can do both. They are not the same, and do not compete with one another any more than color film competed with monochrome film. Or water colors with oils.

The fact is, in well over 40 years of being a photographer, color (film) never "took" with me other than for weddings and other commercial work. Certainly not for my "art". But with digital, I am, indeed, able to "branch out" and do things - in color - that I could never do with color film and darkroom printing. And the experience has improved my film work as well!

I truly tire of the film vs. digital debates. They are two different things! One is not better than the other. Anyone who thinks making exhibition quality prints from digital is easier than in a darkroom, has NOT made true exhibition quality prints from digital.
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Old 29th October 2015, 05:22 PM
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Quote:
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One is not a sample, but I am. As I write, I have just taken a break from matting and mounting digital color prints for a show in a week and a half. As soon as I return from that trip, my wife and I are off to Big Bend National Park in West Texas for a week of painting (her) and photographing (me) where I will use both black and white film and digital for color.

One can do both. They are not the same, and do not compete with one another any more than color film competed with monochrome film. Or water colors with oils.

The fact is, in well over 40 years of being a photographer, color (film) never "took" with me other than for weddings and other commercial work. Certainly not for my "art". But with digital, I am, indeed, able to "branch out" and do things - in color - that I could never do with color film and darkroom printing. And the experience has improved my film work as well!

I truly tire of the film vs. digital debates. They are two different things! One is not better than the other. Anyone who thinks making exhibition quality prints from digital is easier than in a darkroom, has NOT made true exhibition quality prints from digital.
I agree.

I have always believed that digital was another tool in the bag to help with the creative process.
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Old 30th October 2015, 06:36 PM
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The "Craft" side of printing with darkroom work does indeed seem to have given over to "Technology" with digital.
But we have to take it as a compliment , when so many digital printers strive all the time to copy / emulate / silver printing.
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Old 30th October 2015, 06:41 PM
John King John King is offline
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Yes, much the same as comparing a flatpack IKEA table with one constructed by a cabinet maker. They both do the same job, but one is done with skill and probably costs more too.
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Old 31st October 2015, 08:37 AM
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Martin Aislabie Martin Aislabie is offline
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Quote:
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Yes, much the same as comparing a flatpack IKEA table with one constructed by a cabinet maker. They both do the same job, but one is done with skill and probably costs more too.
And lasts longer
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Old 1st November 2015, 09:37 AM
Alan Clark Alan Clark is offline
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Quote:
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Yes, much the same as comparing a flatpack IKEA table with one constructed by a cabinet maker. They both do the same job, but one is done with skill and probably costs more too.
I don't think that producing an IKEA print is in the exclusive domain of the digital photographer. On the contrary, I've seen plenty of "darkroom IKEAs"
Not that I've done any myself you understand....Well, not more than a few waste-bins full anyway.

Alan
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Old 1st November 2015, 10:30 AM
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David Lingham David Lingham is offline
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Originally Posted by Dave Hall View Post
The "Craft" side of printing with darkroom work does indeed seem to have given over to "Technology" with digital.
But we have to take it as a compliment , when so many digital printers strive all the time to copy / emulate / silver printing.
very well put Dave
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