Using Photoshop and three of my most recent digital photos, Alien Skins Eye candy 4000 "Shadow Lab" filter for the shadows, their "Bevel Boss" filter for engraved lettering, Alien Skins' Splat series "Frame" plug-in for the wooden frames ;Auto/FXs' Dreamsuite Series one "Metal Mixer" for the gold/silver plate, and Auto/FXs' Mystical Lighting, modified "Spotlight" tool to get the glare on the glass, I put together this possible faith of the Film Based photographer. I remember standing for hours as a child in my home made black and white darkroom, with polly contrast filters in hand and a bulk film loader ready to spin my next fifty feet of back and white film into spools. Things were relatively cheap then, by todays standards, and supplies were readily available at most stores. It seems as newer in-store processing equipment became available, namely the one hour machines, Interest in Black and White photography died off. I think this was more a result of the industry going for the fast buck, as it was much easier to run everything through a machine and handle the volumes of photographers who wanted instant gratification rather than quality processing that involved more human intervention. As these machines tended to cost an arm and the good part of a leg, and the demand for one hour black and white processing wasn't there, vendors found it more of a hassle and less profitable sending stuff off for black and white processing and the art of black and white photography became a specialty, or fine art. Somewhere along the line, even color processing devolved even more, in so that negatives were still processed in batches of overused chemicals, but the enlarging process from negative to print, was substituted for an even faster and streamline method of scanning the negatives to produce the prints we receive today. In return, the overall quality of our photographs have gone down, as many of the presets for different film type are ignored or not understood by those pressing the buttons, however there are still some places that will personally process each image to it's proper exposure and make the fine adjustments if you're willing to pay for the quality you deserve. Black and white, though more expensive all around can still be done at home or by specialty processors, and is very rewarding to get into, and relatively easy to master. Now we have come to another crossroad, where many of the big camera companies are actively talking about discontinuing their film based camera lines to plunge full speed into the digital market. So what will happen to the Film Based Photographer? Will they go the way of the Eight Track, or Vinyl LP and 45? Or perhaps be fossilized like the dinosaur, or put on display in a museum with the extinct or endangered species of our time? I still love my 35mm, as much or more than the Pre-Windows "MS-DOS", or "Edlin" programming of the mid Eighties. They still have special places in my heart, and get pulled out for special occasions, as having learned and known these old friends well, they have given me a greater understanding, or knowledge base with which to learn and know their successors. My personal thought is, "Embrace the future, forget not the past". What do you think? Brian
I've only just found your portfolio and it really is thought provoking. You have brilliant ideas and a sense of humour too which relfects in your images. You've conquered Photoshop like a master. Your work is subtle and outstanding making statements without being too intrusive.
Yes I think eventually film may go the way of the dodo but perhaps not in our time. Our generation still has enough die hards out there who will always use film over digital...but this IS the 21st century so it's just a matter of time.
Another great image! thanks for the inicial tips! I think that your previous experience before digital era will never be old-fashioned .. it helps you to increase your work using nowadays features! ~:-) Dri
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