[Largeformat] Re: introduction

[wd1346@airmail.net]

From: wd1346@airmail.net

Vic,

I don't mind at all talking about the digital retouching.  Ever since
technology put it in our hands and took it out of the printer's hands I
think it opened a magnificent creative door that is a logical extension
(just as the dark room was) to our photographic efforts and technique.

It simplifies otherwise complex shoots in some regards because we can do
some things in computer in minutes that will take hours on set, or even
be impossible.  There are still many purists out there who insist on
having it in the film, but I output to transparencies (4x5 and 8x10) all
the time and film is film.  So lets stop being hypocritical.  Art is art
and it is just a different kind of brush. 

I work on a mac...and I work almost entirely in Photoshop...maybe the
best program ever written (imhop).  

What I do is get my images scanned at the processors on their million
dollar machins so I start with the best quality.  I do all the work,
combining and manipulation and then either output disk to client or have
a transparency output.   The quality is perfect.  You cannot tell a
properly worked digital transparency from regular film.  Also now they
have a wonderful process for outputing directly to print from digital
called 'lambda' (at least it is called that here) and the prints I have
30x50 from images as small as 40 megs are absolutely sharp and crisp and
are no different than regular c prints.  Incredible!   So anything you
can produce on the computer can be output to prints with the quality you
expect and want.  We have finally arrived at a new age.

I keep waiting for the digital cameras to follow suit but they are still
too expensive and cumbersome.....just around the corner I think.  I am
talking about large format cameras with swings and tilts.

--Bill