Sept. 2002
President's
Message
Article - "Digital Photoraphy - The Changing Scene"
Digital Photography - The Changing Scene
- Bill Talarowski
As those of you who have been competing in the Club contests have noticed, there has been an increasing number of "digital images" being submitted. The remarks heard about them have ranged from "That's beautiful, how did you do it?" to "That's not really photography is it?" And along with these comments also comes, "That's fine if that's what you want to do, but it ought to have it's own class". Anyone who has attended a meeting knows where I stand on this issue.
The other day I was reading an article by Dewitt Jones in Outdoor Photographer entitled "Becoming Vision Makers". He was asked, "Aren't you worried that digital photography will destroy photography as we know it?", and "How can one tell what is reality any more?"
These questions harbor all the doubt, mistrust, fear, dread and outright panic these non believers have about any major change in the status quo. What is there to be afraid of anyway, that a photograph manipulated digitally may not be "real"?
A photograph is never a reality! It's a two dimensional representation of what you see at a specific point in time. Where we point the camera and when we click the shutter holds more power over the "reality" that we capture than anything that can be done in the computer. All of us have experienced the thought, "Gee, I wish the sky had more clouds", or "If only the light were a little softer or warmer". These are the "real" pictures that you have in your mindís eye and not necessarily what is being recorded on film. If this statement is correct, what is wrong with adding them later?
Everything that is now possible by use of a computer has already been done on camera with use of filters, attachments, or in the darkroom. Additionally, there were techniques in using slide copiers and air brushing that took years of study. How come the question of reality never came up with them? Apparently, it is non believers perception that all you have to do now is insert an image into the computer and magically it goes through a metamorphosis into a beautiful image. Where are the sunsets, clouds, birds, mountains and other additions coming from? Believe me when I say that you will be spending more time and effort capturing these "bits and pieces" to render your new image then you ever did taking straight shots. Photoshop is not a simple quick-to-learn program, but one that takes years of practice to perfect, just as other aspects of image making.
What about simple color corrections, exposure changes and inserting birds, clouds and other small objects into your image? Spotting prints, adding filtration while printing, cropping, dodging, and burning have long been main stays of good darkroom work. No one questioned two slides sandwiched together or a moon dropped into a night shot. Why wasn't the question of reality raised? Because it didn't matter, since the finished image was improved by these additions.
Explore this new technology and feel a freedom in your imaging that you have never felt before. You need to take chances, shake things up, and digital will introduce you to a new way of seeing. As my good friend, Ernst Tomic, says, "Think Photoshop". The world is changing and you will either change with it or be left behind.