This is not meant to devalue the image as it is fine as it is. With transparency film you get a fairly short contrast range seen here in the drop off in the shadows. Black and White film gives about two stops more contrast range with standard developing and will render more detail/texture in the shadows. Of course, to get there reliably you wind up taking shadow midtone and highlight readings and doing the calculations in your head to match the contrast range of the film to the scene (this process can be maddening until you have done it for awhile and learn what to expect. Choosing to use such a technical approach is an aesthetic choice neither right or wrong in my opinion. If you don't go "full techincal", not everyone does, you could still photograph the same scene in the color and B&W films of your choice, have standard development done and compare the resulting (monochrome) images. Pick what works aesthetically.
Nice
ReplyDeleteThis is not meant to devalue the image as it is fine as it is. With transparency film you get a fairly short contrast range seen here in the drop off in the shadows. Black and White film gives about two stops more contrast range with standard developing and will render more detail/texture in the shadows. Of course, to get there reliably you wind up taking shadow midtone and highlight readings and doing the calculations in your head to match the contrast range of the film to the scene (this process can be maddening until you have done it for awhile and learn what to expect. Choosing to use such a technical approach is an aesthetic choice neither right or wrong in my opinion. If you don't go "full techincal", not everyone does, you could still photograph the same scene in the color and B&W films of your choice, have standard development done and compare the resulting (monochrome) images. Pick what works aesthetically.
ReplyDeleteJon... I am not the technical type, but I sure appreciate what you do. I wish I had your patience!
ReplyDeletePhotoshop hell can be as bad as film hell so things can average out.
ReplyDeleteIt was a conscious choice to keep the shadows dark to contrast the bleak white center wall. Pretty mundane image.
ReplyDeleteStill a good Landscape/Still life.
ReplyDelete