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Photo Developments Newsletter March, 1998

Meeting place:

The Science Centre, 701 11th Street S.W.,We meet at 7:30 p.m. on the first Wednesday of the month. Next Meeting - April 1, 7:30 p.m.

Newsletter Web site: http://website.lineone.net/~wbaziw/cps.html

New Calgary Photographic Society Members:

Welcome to the following new members:

Patricia Smith, Jose F. Guillen, Jill Clack, Edith VanderKloot, Pamela Jones

Critique Themes for 1998-1999

Apr 1998 Action

May 1998 Pierced

Jun 1998 Youthfulness

Jul 1998 Red

Aug 1998 Special Effects

Sep 1998 Alone at Last

Oct 1998 Junk

Nov 1998 Off the Wall

Jan 1999 Sleep

Feb 1999 Crooked

Mar 1999 Ice

Apr 1999 Time

Critique Results for March:

The theme was Eyes. Judges- Scott Winter, Brian Paley, Jill Clack, Brian Henson.

Presentations ...

Jeffery Perkins gave us a Presentation on Symbolism in Photography Titled "Crows or Carnations?"

Why should you be concerned about what your photographs contain, you might unknowingly add a symbol to the photograph that might have an unexpected meaning to someone else or culture. What would happen if you had a symbol in a photograph but didn't know it, you may be in a difficult position later to explain it. So it would be a good idea to question whether a photograph has any particular meaning, should you have any particular objects in there or not.

The following are a few examples of Symbolism in photography as presented by Jeffery:

Dove - Peace | Black - lack of reason or knowledge

Red Bed - Wealth | Peacock - Heavenliness

Swan - purity | Crows - eat flesh or sacred

Hand holding Roses - Joy | Green Dress - sign of fertility

Dog - faithfulness or loyalty |

Composition Corner ...

Submitted by Brian Henson

Quotes concerning composition:

Edward Weston - Composition is the strongest way of seeing something.

Ansel Adams - There are no rules to composition, only good photographs.

Arther Nishimura - Each image set the parameters of the subject matter, mood and intent of the image. In the process, anything is possible, there-fore nothing is sacred.

Controversy Corner...

Comments are encouraged via a note to the editor or bring the topic up at the next meeting.

Submitted by: Brian Henson

Bob Shell editor of Shutterbug - "Color is a crutch"

Submitted by: Wayne Baziw

Subject: Is color printing dead?

I've been browsing through the "rec.photo.darkroom" Internet newsgroup lately and there has been a lot of discussion on whether the traditional darkroom color printing is dead, I guess we should include Black & White printing in this discussion as well.

There has been some great advances in computer scanner and print technology, and it is getting harder to distinguish the traditional darkroom print vs. the digital print. My personal opinion is it is still expensive at the moment to get the higher quality digital scanners, powerful computer workstation, photo manipulation software and a high quality digital printer to be able to almost match the quality of a traditional darkroom print.

So for now I will continue to use my old enlarger, it continues to make great prints and isn't demanding an upgrade for more memory or faster processor; and it won't go obsolete every 6 months! Let's see what other people have to say on this subject.

Original posting for Subject: Is color printing dead?:

Michael Volow (mvolo@acpub.duke.edu) writes:

A few years ago I took a course in color printing (from negatives), converted my enlarger to a color head, bought the usual second hand drums and rollers, and did a fair amount of color printing (EP2 and RA4 processes). Then I stopped for a while. I'm thinking of getting back to it, but I'm wondering: are the current crop of color printers and negative/slide scanners beginning to kill darkroom-based color printing? For medium-sized prints (8 x 10, 11 x14), is the quality of computer-based prints comparable? How about the comparable investment in time? Any other factors would be appreciated. If this has been discussed before here, could someone point me to the appropriate archive?

The following are a few opinions on Subject: Is color printing dead?:

John S. Douglas wrote:

And even if we could, why should we ? There are no realistic values established on digital print stability. The equipment cost a lot more than a traditional darkroom. This same equipment is obsolete when you buy it. All in all I can't find one single reason for the average darkroom enthusiast to switch to digital. Unless he's just plain bored !

Keith Walter wrote:

Yes, but this class of equipment is way beyond the people posting to this thread, most of them have been led to believe they can ditch their darkrooms in favor of an Epson inkjet printer. They can't!

Georges Giralt wrote:

A color print will last, if correctly processed, for at least more than 20 years. I've "color prints" done in an HP DeskJet on special paper fading out in less than a year...Maybe this is due to using the "special" paper... My wife has on her room wall a Ciba print in full sun since 7 years. Still perfect. But the work is quite different.

Darrell Larose wrote:

The quality of some of the printers, like the HP PhotoSmart and others are amazing. If you only want to produce the odd 8x10, then you can go "digital" for about $1400 Cdn you can get the HP PhotoSmart scanner and the companion printer. The cost (in Canada) for materials works out to about $3.00 per "photo quality" 8x10, or about 300% more than doing it in your on darkroom. There is also the fact that you can only produce 4 or 5 prints per hour on the PhotoSmart system, so you are limited in that area.

Richard Knoppow wrote:

Well, I've seen professionally made Cibachromes and dye transfer prints which are about as good as you can get. The output from an Iris printer, if done correctly, is so close as to be indistinguishable in most cases. I have also seen absolutely top of the line ink-on-paper printing which is so close to photographic reproduction as to be shocking. The quality from such processes is astonishingly better than it was in the past. If you confine your judgement to prints made using typical home scanners and printers I will agree with you (until the next generation) but when speaking of the very best of both I think they match conventional printing pretty closely. There is a very long discussion of the longevity of dye-sublimation prints going on in the alt.processes mailing list at the moment. It is the one area where conventional methods seem to maintain an advantage.

MSchaf7081 <">mschaf7081@aol.com> wrote:

After 20 years in the darkroom is have decided to move to a digital environment which I presently define as scanning negs into photoshop and printing on an Epson photo printer or occasionally taking an altered print for a nice dye sub print from a fuji 3000..

1. I have decided to stay "negative based" for awhile due to the longevity questions on ink-jet and the high cost of digital camera's with the functionality I want.

2. Working in a "WYSIWYG" computer environment for the computer inclined is much simpler than traditional darkroom approaches. Having years of hard won darkroom experience in working with technical issues of contrast ranges, dodging and burning, toning, color balance, etc. still applies in the digital world; it is just easier to do. I have never seen a good Photoshop book written for the darkroom enthusiasts wanting to get into the digital world.

3. Working on the computer means I can do so while working in the living room and being around the family ; as opposed to holing up in a darkroom for hours on end where my spouse and kids don't see me. This fact has actually allowed me to increase my hobby time without hurting my family.

4. Yes I am giving up some level of technical quality (print output) in exchange for a tremendous amount of additional flexibility and creativity. Thats OK for me though because in recent years I have been focusing on more of the artistic aspects of photography since I feel I have been a better technician in the past and feel my artistic side needs more encouragement. By still producing a negative I can get the ultimate output (print) if desired.

5. Making multiple copies and different sizes for friends and relatives is easier and cheaper on a computer. Nice to be able to walk over to the computer; boot it, and produce a copy in all of about five minutes. Nice to be able to E-mail my images to friends and family.

Everyone needs to decide for themselves.

Classified

Wanted: EP2 Chemicals and paper supplies, contact Wayne Baziw 256-0976

Calendar of Events

April 1^st - At the next Calgary Photographic Society meeting -Linda MacCannel will be speaking about her projects "Life in Southwest states"

March 7 - May 31 - Glenbow Museum - "Native American Visions and Voices" Photos exhibit by 25 Native photographers

June 10, 17 & 14^th - Rocky Mountain Wildflower Macro photography Workshop. Two evenings one Saturday field trip. Instructor Robert Berdan Cost: $99.00 Max. For more information call R. Berdan 247-2457.

If you know of any events coming up, please let me know. Wayne Baziw 256-0976 Email: baziw@calcna.ab.ca

Calgary Photographic Society Calgary, Alberta, Canada

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