Going Digital


Right Image:  Canon EOS D30, Tamron 200-400mm zoom,  Bogen Tripod and ball head. Multi-segment metering on aperture priority, 1/250 sec at f-5.6. Autofocus.

I'm slow when it comes to accepting new technologies. I no longer get too excited about new advances in photography. I take my time to see what the new technology can do for my photography before running out to buy the new camera or whatever new equipment is there. Digital photography is here to stay. There are those who love it and those who don't. I see it as a new tool that can help me improve my photography and definitely something I must learn and use to compete with other photographers. Digital photography is undoubtedly easier than darkroom work. No more chemicals and washing. It's all done at your desk while drinking a nice cup of coffee. Digital photography might be a new toy for some, but for me is a whole new process that can help me improve my photography. There are so many new things that you can do with digital technology that was impossible before.

Before you get into digital photography, ask yourself what it is you want to do with your pictures. Digital photography is no different than any other format. Do you need medium format? if so, why? What about a 4X5 system? You see, each of these formats including 35mm has a purpose. If you like photography equipment more than art of photography, then go ahead and by a digital camera and upgrade your computer. On the other hand, if you take pictures because you love creating art and want to show others how you view your world, think if digital technology can help you improve your photography. I can speak for myself. Seventy percent of my photography is done with my 35mm and digital cameras and the rest with my medium format. A small percentage of my photography is done with my 4X5 Omega 45E large format.

My digital photography is done with EOS SLRs and by scanning my slides which I believe gives better results than most point and shoot and even some higher priced all-in-one digital cameras. The problem for me is quality and price of digital cameras. I do serious photography and want serious equipment. Nikon D100 is an excellent tool for digital photography and the same is true with Canon EOS 20D that I now own. The problem is their high price tags compared to film SLRs. 12 to 16 megapixel SLRs can rival 35mm format, but 6-8 megapixel models do not. I don't really care if digital offers me instant view of my pictures on the spot. I know this is a major advantage of digital cameras, but I easily shoot several frames or even whole rolls of film per each shot to capture different moods and exposures. I don't believe this technique is a big waste of money. 30 cents per frame is cheap. What I really like about digital cameras is that I can view all my pictures once I get home.  However, for the type of photography I do, I can wait a day or two to process and scan my pictures. I'm in no big hurry.



Canon EOS D30, Tamron 70-210mm f-2.8, 1/60sec at f-5.6 in aperture priority

I must admit that I have been tempted to purchase one of the newer top of the line models, but I don't believe I could get better results than my scanned images. What I use digital images for is sending them to clients. I do this by e-mail or on CD. Copying images onto Cds and sending them for review is much easier than film. E-mailing is even easier. I pick and scan my best slides. All of my slides need at least some minor touch-up. I don't try to make my images different than what they are. I don't cut and paste objects or add a sunset that wasn't there. I try to make the scanned images match the original the best I can. Sure I crop and adjust contrast or exposure. I did this before in my darkroom to correct my mistakes. Now I can do it on my computer much faster and easier.
Some people believe that digital photography is fake and it is wrong to to edit images. In a way, some believe digital manipulation fools the viewer. The truth is that nothing about photography is real. Every time we release the shutter, we create an image that does not match anything in real life. This is because film and lenses see and record objects and light differently than we see with our naked eyes. Whenever we mount a short or telephoto lens and take a picture, we produce an unusual view of a scene since human eye sees roughly that of a 45mm lens. I guess you could call this fake as well. Photography is fake and digital photography is another tool for the job, except it can be pushed even further.

Before digital technology, one had to take the photograph and finish the job in the darkroom. Everything done with digital today was done in the darkroom before. Cropping, copying, pasting, color correction, exposure correction, special effects, and more. The real question is how far one should go? Is it o.k. to paste an image of an African lion onto a landscape in Asia? How about adding an Alaskan sunrise behind Southern California mountains? It's been done before without digital and will be done again with digital. Haven't you ever taken a multiple exposure or sandwich slides before? How about copying several images on a single frame? You can do all this now easier than ever. Since photography is unreal, do anything you like with your images as long as you can be artistic and creative.

What I believe is a lie and deceiving is pasting an African lion onto an Asian landscape and selling that image to a client who had asked for images of African lions taken in Africa. The client obviously does not want zoo pictures or just any lion pictures. He or she is requesting photographs of a specie in its natural habitat. It is dishonest and very unfair to the photographer who spent months photographing lions in Africa if we produce and sell a digital photo that we know was manipulated. On the other hand, if a greeting card company wants "nice" lion pictures and don't care where or how they were taken, then do whatever you like with your pictures. This is a clean sale and fair competition,  and the person purchasing the greeting card will not care either how the picture was taken.

I'll use digital cameras as I do 35mm and medium format. What I have described here are what works for me. See what you want to do with digital photography. If you need to purchase a digital camera now, there are dozens of high quality models available for all types of budgets. Just make sure the new camera has what you need to take the type of photographs you like. I'm going to wait a little longer for those super megapixel models. I got a feeling that I can get more and pay less if I wait a little longer.