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Sam Reeves wrote: > I can't believe all of the work is "darkroom" related (i.e. burning & > dodging). You know something helpful here, instead of whining about superior personal technique or beliefs, would be to tell us what papers, developers and contrast filters that you print with, at what apertures, and for what times, whether or not you do gradated test strips when your initial 'zone' or paper selection is 'off', and from all of this, which papers and paper developer combinations that you like these days, at those times, and then post some shots to look at and discuss. Taking a "my type of photography is best because I just don't know much about yours" is not very educational or informative to anyone else on this list. I currently, personally prefer the 'digital darkroom' and mostly shooting with color in mind for my finished output, and I try to keep an open photographic mind, try to stay creative without any self imposed limitations, and I appreciate the choices that are available to me whether I choose to use them or not. Because of this, I seem to be able to achieve 'superior' B&W prints to many of the over zealous and cocky (mostly younger) photographic students at the campus who seem to try exceedingly hard at specializing in an extremely narrow area or technique. This despite the fact that I rarely work in a darkroom anymore, and I do not consider myself a great B&W shooter. What is the moral of this? You can say that understanding what you are doing and what you are trying to achieve is often more important than repetitiously committing the same mistakes because of some "my method or vision must be best" enigma. With that in mind, how can young shooters primarily working in B&W and with only prime lenses possibly offer valid advice on proper color transparency use and with zoom lenses when these are not their areas of experience and success, but rather their areas of irritation? They can't. Seeing with light (and tonal range) is a key element in photography, regardless of what photographic philosophy that you subscribe to and how broad a view that you take while being creative. Saying that the Zone system is best, the prime lens is best, B&W is best, or any other narrow general assumption of anything else is ridiculous unless you are using the knowledge and experience necessary to teach, not preach, because there is no cast iron right and wrong while addressing a general audience, and forming such narrow views certainly is not creatively healthy for one's self. And Sam says: > Part of Ted's success I have to believe comes from studying zone > system, which all of his prints exhibit those perfect shadow densities and > correct highlight detail. I'd be interested to know how or who Ted got his > B&W education from. I'd be willing to bet that Ted got it from ongoing experience, since no one can give you something like that, only guidance and instruction. And "got" indicates that you believe that there is a point where you have learned something to a degree where you can learn no more, and this is a common mistake I see at the campus. I remind myself of this whenever I feel like I know everything and have just hosed a shot. Dave Cohen Photographer, Member ASMP Action Photographic Webmaster [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.anet-stl.com/acphotog/home/ ======================================================= -> SPORRS: 'Serious Photographers Of Railroad Related Subjects' -> Web Site: http://www.anet-stl.com/acphotog/sporrs/ -> Message © 1998 SPORRS® - All Rights Reserved =======================================================
