Sept. 2000
President's
Message
Portrait of Karl Leck
Lindsey's Digital Notes
Lindsey's Digital Notes
- Bill Lindsey
If you can think it, you can do it. Welcome
to the Digital Corner where we will discuss various ideas, new products,
trends, and hints that will help us in this changing world of ours known
as photography. As the title says, “If you can think it, you can do it,”
really applies to what we do and how we go about our everyday business.
The first subject that comes to mind is photo-restoration. Just a few
years ago, someone would bring in a priceless treasured photograph of
their grandparents and ask you to restore it. Normally, you would say,
“Yes, of course!” But then panic would set in. I’m going to have to send
this thing out to a lab---THROUGH THE MAIL. Then I’ve got to tell the
person on the other end what my customer wants and hope they get it right.
Then, I’ll have to figure how much this is going to cost me, try to squeeze
some kind of markup out of it, and, finally, watch the customer slide
down the seat in a faint from sticker shock.
Here’s another scenario. The customer brings in the priceless photograph and asks you to restore it without sending it out to a lab. And you say, “Oh sure, I can do that. No problem.” As you look them straight in the eye, you quickly think about the airbrush that you haven’t used in six months. Is the air tank full? And where the heck is that thing anyway? After spending way too much time on the project and after mopping up the spilled paint that dripped down your arms onto the photograph, you ask yourself “Why did I ever take this job?”
Well, a lot has changed since those bad old days and now we are able to completely restore old photographs with just a good imagination and practice, practice, practice. Most imaging programs are very similar to the tools that are available on our computers. So if you buy a good retouching program, it is possible to learn how to achieve very desirable results. But, before you rush out and purchase Photoshop, Paintshop Pro, Picture Publisher, Ulead Photoimpact or any other image editing program, talk to friends who use one of these programs and find out what they like and dislike. Also, find out about the software requirements. For instance, how powerful must the computer be and how much RAM or memory do I need? What is RAM anyway? Read every magazine you can find on the subject and spend a lot of time in bookstores. There is a huge amount of information in most bookstores that is accessible, and all it will cost you is a cup of coffee and some time.
Next time, I will discuss hardware and software issues. And we’ll talk about what is available to help us through this transition from film to digital.
Contact Bill Lindsey by e-mail at: lindsey@magpage.com