dave.gt
Well-known member
As a photographer, who has not wanted larger, sharper images with higher DR, etc.? Classic Medium Format and MFD has delivered what we all want and yet we want more right? and fantastic lenses!...
It is not uncommon for lenses to cost more than some of us have as annual income. Technology and quality come at quite a price and deliver the Holy Grail of Dante's world. Wow! Fantastic times we live in, right? Yes, indeed.
But not so fast... do all of your subjects really ask for (want/need) extreme images? Is it really desirable?
Sure, there are many artists using film and digital photography for impressionistic images and they are wonderful. But they are not the only ones who should think about less resolution/sharpness.
I have become weary lately of all the photoshop work required when I am asked or when I volunteer to shoot even simple casual images of my friends and family, some of them who are either older or simply aging physically and are never really happy with photographs of themselves.
Getting old sucks. Do they want to be reminded of their aging and, deep down, their loss of youth and yet another confirmation of their inner sense that life is near the end? MF and especially MFD only makes things worse without a lot of hard work in post-processing.
This weekend, I attended a small family gathering at my sister's home in North Georgia to meet our cousin and her husband. We had not seen them in more than half a century, having lost contact for so many reasons. They are a generation ahead of me, so I was only able to directly relate to some of their delightful remembrances and experiences while we poured over hundreds of vintage family photos. We spent a delightful afternoon together and it was good for the soul.:thumbup:
When the day was nearly over, I wanted to shoot just a few images to remember our first reunion and to share with them. Knowing that the Hasselblad would be overkill and not wanting to wait for film processing, I selected the D850 to use hoping I could tame the extreme rendering of the aging process. It did not work.
Upon returning home, I spent a whole day in post-processing delicately working to make three images that I felt comfortable in sharing. A full day's work, for three images. We are all somewhat happy with those final images, but there has to be a better way.
Casual shooting indoors or not, usually means difficult lighting, either too harsh or too dim, in the wrong direction, etc. and it is nearly impossible to get a clean image without a lot of work.
Perhaps there is a lens that would help making nicer images of those subjects with an abundance of wrinkles, blemishes and other physical attributes that could use some taming. Perhaps, I should stick with film.
After all, the image of my grandfather in 1891 has withstood the test of time.
It is not uncommon for lenses to cost more than some of us have as annual income. Technology and quality come at quite a price and deliver the Holy Grail of Dante's world. Wow! Fantastic times we live in, right? Yes, indeed.
But not so fast... do all of your subjects really ask for (want/need) extreme images? Is it really desirable?
Sure, there are many artists using film and digital photography for impressionistic images and they are wonderful. But they are not the only ones who should think about less resolution/sharpness.
I have become weary lately of all the photoshop work required when I am asked or when I volunteer to shoot even simple casual images of my friends and family, some of them who are either older or simply aging physically and are never really happy with photographs of themselves.
Getting old sucks. Do they want to be reminded of their aging and, deep down, their loss of youth and yet another confirmation of their inner sense that life is near the end? MF and especially MFD only makes things worse without a lot of hard work in post-processing.
This weekend, I attended a small family gathering at my sister's home in North Georgia to meet our cousin and her husband. We had not seen them in more than half a century, having lost contact for so many reasons. They are a generation ahead of me, so I was only able to directly relate to some of their delightful remembrances and experiences while we poured over hundreds of vintage family photos. We spent a delightful afternoon together and it was good for the soul.:thumbup:
When the day was nearly over, I wanted to shoot just a few images to remember our first reunion and to share with them. Knowing that the Hasselblad would be overkill and not wanting to wait for film processing, I selected the D850 to use hoping I could tame the extreme rendering of the aging process. It did not work.
Upon returning home, I spent a whole day in post-processing delicately working to make three images that I felt comfortable in sharing. A full day's work, for three images. We are all somewhat happy with those final images, but there has to be a better way.
Casual shooting indoors or not, usually means difficult lighting, either too harsh or too dim, in the wrong direction, etc. and it is nearly impossible to get a clean image without a lot of work.
Perhaps there is a lens that would help making nicer images of those subjects with an abundance of wrinkles, blemishes and other physical attributes that could use some taming. Perhaps, I should stick with film.
After all, the image of my grandfather in 1891 has withstood the test of time.