[Leica] Neophotography

[Afterswift@aol.com]

In a message dated 5/31/01 12:04:37 AM Pacific Daylight Time, 
owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us writes:

> Hi Dave,
>  
>  I think each of us has to make his own rules on these matters. My own rule 
> is
>  that I will not anything in Photoshop that I did not or could not do when 
I 
> was
>  printing in the wet darkroom. This means for me that the following 
> activities
>  are permitted:
>  
>  - - cropping
>  - - correction of exposure and contrast using levels and curves
>  - - dodging and burning
>  - - removing dust marks and scratches
>  
>  That's it for me. All these things are directly analogous to wet 
activities. 
> The
>  only digital-specific thing I use is unsharp masking, but I view that 
merely 
> as
>  a means to compensate for the imperfections induced by the scanning 
process.
>  
>  I definitely draw the line at Gaussian blur and the like. Also, my 
> experience
>  with exposure correction is that it can only go so far. If a slide or 
> negative
>  is grossly under- or overexposed, I do not find Photoshop much more useful 
> than
>  the darkroom. Just as you cannot create something out of nothing on the
>  enlarger, you cannot do it in Photoshop.
>  
>  These are my rules and they work for me. They have allowed me to avail 
> myself of
>  the conveniences of scanning and inkjet printing while still retaining the
>  feeling of doing "real" photography. But I have no desire to impose these 
> rules
>  on others.
>  
>  Nathan
>  
>  "Rodgers, David" wrote:
>  
>  > Personally, I don't think digital manipulation is what Leica photography 
> is
>  > all about. Especially Leica M photography -- which I feel in it's pure 
> form
>  > is b/w full frame printing. Maybe there isn't a difference between 
burning
>  > or dodging in the darkroom and using a sliders to adjust levels, or 
> cropping
>  > in Photoshop or raising and enlarger head. I think there is. Just my
>  > opinion, for better or worse. "Is that bokeh, or is that digital blur?" I
>  > have a hard time knowing these days.
>  >
>  > Dave
>  
>  - --
>  Nathan Wajsman
>  Herrliberg (ZH), Switzerland
- --------------------------------------------------
Nathan,

Yours is probably one of the most illuminating policies vis a vis digital 
printing I've read. If we must compromise with neophotography, then your 
guidelines are the most honest. 

Best,
Bob Rosen