N
nei1
Guest
My money is on you Helen,you have everything thats needed,just follow your nose,analogue or digital,whatever,just keep going,youll make it fun and new.
The GetDPI Photography Forum
Great to see you here. Join our insightful photographic forum today and start tapping into a huge wealth of photographic knowledge. Completing our simple registration process will allow you to gain access to exclusive content, add your own topics and posts, share your work and connect with other members through your own private inbox! And don’t forget to say hi!
The MAGIC & ALLURE of the M8.....Is it For REAL
- Thread starter helenhill
- Start date
Helen,
One other point re digital B&W. Here is a link I'd like you to explore. It's landscape work, not street, but the images speak volumes. It was actually this guy that convinced me that digital could do respectable B&W; before these images I felt traditional B&W emulsion was the only way to get great B&W.
Oh, and his camera? A Sony R1 -- serious: http://www.mitchdobrowner.com/
One other point re digital B&W. Here is a link I'd like you to explore. It's landscape work, not street, but the images speak volumes. It was actually this guy that convinced me that digital could do respectable B&W; before these images I felt traditional B&W emulsion was the only way to get great B&W.
Oh, and his camera? A Sony R1 -- serious: http://www.mitchdobrowner.com/
johnastovall
Deceased, but remembered fondly here...
Helen give this listen.
"Photographers are explorers — so facing our own fears is a part of our creative path. Here is an excerpt from my interview with Camille Seaman in LensWork Extended #81 in which she talks about managing fear."
Brooks Jensen pod cast #510
"Photographers are explorers — so facing our own fears is a part of our creative path. Here is an excerpt from my interview with Camille Seaman in LensWork Extended #81 in which she talks about managing fear."
Brooks Jensen pod cast #510
J
Jamie Roberts
Guest
No--this is just not so
When you deal with digital, you're dealing with a "colour" file 9/10 times (unless you're doing your BW conversion in the RAW converter) that you want to give the sense of BW.
You'd have just as much trouble with Kodachrome, believe me
Skin, for instance, just doesn't look the same as it does with BW emulsions. That's ok, unless you want your files to have the sense of belonging to a history of imaging, and to the typical contrast and tonality other photographers would get chemically.
That's what the poster wants, and it has nothing to do with digital vs film, because really it's the print (or output) that matters.
So the point is, how do you get the tonality of panchromatic (or other) BW emulsions--their colour response, if you like--beginning with a colour "negative"/ RAW file?
There are *lots* of pages written on this. If you want to do it manually, and understand the channel mapping / mixing process, I'd suggest Dan Margulis's PS Color Correction books.
All SilverEFEX Pro or Alien Skin Exposure do is *automate* the process to get you in the neighbourhood without having to mess with curves and channel mapping. And they do a very good job.... and both give you typical BW film-like results from a colour original, because they mimic the sensitivities and contrast of certain emulsions.
Nothing wrong or fake or anti-digital or antedeluvian about that at all.
BTW--they're both great programs, and while you can do everything they do yourself, they are both great ways to explore monochromatic effects.
D
ddk
Guest
Nice images Jack but you can't get more digital looking than this, on the screen at least. Everything seems to have been shot with an IR converted camera and highly pp'd, they're great but definitely not film like!
robertwright
New member
...I had a mixed reaction to that. Difficult to tell from the web, but I have never really "seen" anything that looks like that, and I have a hard time "seeing" through the artistry to the 'scene' if you know what I mean. They all look like illustration to me, pictures, but not photography.
I actually like the LA scenes best, there was a quality about them that I could imagine seeing in a magazine article about LA for example, the stylization.
I don't mind heavy handed per se, Action Movies, cinematic effects, etc. Maybe the prints do convey the air out there, the space. On the web it was overwhelming.
I have not personally seen them, but a friend has and said they were "impressive" for having come from such a little camera
D
ddk
Guest
Sorry Jack, since the thread was about film look, I misinterpreted your post.
I agree, many look good to me too and they probably print better that what we see here too.And I agree that some look over processed like bad dodge and burn, but many look very good to me. I do however respect that other's opinions may vary on that
Cheers,
woodyspedden
New member
+1:thumbs:
jonoslack
Active member
Hi Tim
I certainly disagree. I know and understand Photoshop and C1 very well, and I NEVER use either with the M8 (well, I only use photoshop for panoramas and the like).
I use Aperture with the M8, and if I want black and white (usually) then I use Silver efex pro. It takes half an hour to learn, produces stellar results, and doesn't break the DAM advantages of Aperture.
Why make things complex . . . . .
TRSmith
Subscriber Member
I actually had you in mind when I typed that. Your approach works very well for you.
What's interesting here is the titanic struggle with the tools this all is. Daunting. Seems to get in the way a lot. (To maintain perspective, I had to dig back into the distant past and recall the difficulties of learning film.)
I think some excellent philosophical points have been made here ... refreshing to see an intelligent discussion on what usually is a polarizing subject. Thought provoking.
Helen, you are not alone in questioning your affair with the M8. Try as I might, I cannot connect with it either. The magic evaporated when I sold my M film cameras. I'm pretty good with many of the post processing tools available and couldn't be more digitally oriented. Like anyone, I could stand to learn more, but I already know 10 years worth ... however, when it comes to the M8 that knowledge doesn't make any difference for me. In the end, I always saw the world in B&W when a film M was in my hands. Perhaps that's a stumbling block I will never overcome ... or may never want to.
Frankly, I see most digital B&W and wince. Not because it isn't film, but because I don't connect with it emotionally on an aesthetic level as an artist. I keep seeking that Digital Holy Grail to no avail. In the process, I did discover some things I did like with digital B&W, but nothing that moved me in the same manner.
So, I just let digital be digital, and turn to film when I want that shimmering beauty and unfathomable blacks that eludes even the most ingenious digital mavens. To me the M8 need not be a B&W camera ... in fact it isn't. Releasing it from that unfair comparison may allow you to then connect with it. For me, I think it's to late
Just one person's perspective.
I think some excellent philosophical points have been made here ... refreshing to see an intelligent discussion on what usually is a polarizing subject. Thought provoking.
Helen, you are not alone in questioning your affair with the M8. Try as I might, I cannot connect with it either. The magic evaporated when I sold my M film cameras. I'm pretty good with many of the post processing tools available and couldn't be more digitally oriented. Like anyone, I could stand to learn more, but I already know 10 years worth ... however, when it comes to the M8 that knowledge doesn't make any difference for me. In the end, I always saw the world in B&W when a film M was in my hands. Perhaps that's a stumbling block I will never overcome ... or may never want to.
Frankly, I see most digital B&W and wince. Not because it isn't film, but because I don't connect with it emotionally on an aesthetic level as an artist. I keep seeking that Digital Holy Grail to no avail. In the process, I did discover some things I did like with digital B&W, but nothing that moved me in the same manner.
So, I just let digital be digital, and turn to film when I want that shimmering beauty and unfathomable blacks that eludes even the most ingenious digital mavens. To me the M8 need not be a B&W camera ... in fact it isn't. Releasing it from that unfair comparison may allow you to then connect with it. For me, I think it's to late
Just one person's perspective.
mwalker
Subscriber Member
I dig it :thumbup:
N
nei1
Guest
If leica wanted to they could bring out a camera witha black and white sensor,what difference would that make,I know kodak did this a few years ago.
Mike Hatam
Senior Subscriber Member
Helen,
I never shot an M film body, so I come at this from purely the digital age.
Lately, I've been processing more and more of my M8 files in B&W, and really enjoy the look. I'm not sure how it compares to the M film B&W look that you are striving for, but it's still a nice look in my opinion.
I do all my B&W processing in LR2 (same processing engine and techniques as the ACR - Adobe Camera Raw engine that is in Photoshop CS4). It only takes me ~2 minutes or less per file to create a nice processed image from my M8 dng file.
If you'd like to learn that method, we can start a thread for this in the Image Processing forum, and I'll do my best to show you how I do it.
Here are a few examples...
I never shot an M film body, so I come at this from purely the digital age.
Lately, I've been processing more and more of my M8 files in B&W, and really enjoy the look. I'm not sure how it compares to the M film B&W look that you are striving for, but it's still a nice look in my opinion.
I do all my B&W processing in LR2 (same processing engine and techniques as the ACR - Adobe Camera Raw engine that is in Photoshop CS4). It only takes me ~2 minutes or less per file to create a nice processed image from my M8 dng file.
If you'd like to learn that method, we can start a thread for this in the Image Processing forum, and I'll do my best to show you how I do it.
Here are a few examples...
Mike Hatam
Senior Subscriber Member
And a few more...