Richard: I have been a pro for more than 35 years, owned a lab and sold off my
darkroom equipment long ago. I know where my time is most valuable. I also
recognize the handwriting on the wall. I shoot architectural exteriors and
interiors. Anyone who creates images (as in food, fashion, products,
architecture, nature, etc.) as opposed to snap shooting and taking what you get,
all controlled by the limitations of the silver based technology, will have to
move to working with their images in Photoshop or some other digital darkroom
set... I still have prints made from negs, when the lighting is just right and
there is no way I can improve the image with PShop... this is not something I
can trust a lab tech to do... the client pays me for my vision... my ability to
see their project in a special way, then deliver an image.. Right now, I have to
do my PShopping myself... But I look at it as part of the learning curve I have
to climb in order to develop a system that integrates my film based cameras and
materials with the incredible tools available that allow me to reach the full
potential of each image.. By making multiple exposures of the same subject, but
placing my exposure at different mid-points (one for shadows, one for mid, one
for highlights) them scanning each and superimposing in PShop, I can get ranges
of light I could only dream of capturing a couple of years ago. I suggest you
read the book that John Paul Caponigro wrote for Adobe press on that and other
techniques... It's the logical quantum leap of the zone system...
Mike Moore
Dicky wrote:
> --- Original Message -----
> From: "Michael Moore" <miguelmas@qwest.net>
> To: <filmscanners@halftone.co.uk>
> Sent: Tuesday, February 20, 2001 6:42 PM
> Subject: Re: filmscanners: Nikon 8000 ED or Polaroid Sprintscan 120 ??
>
> > Richard: I earn my living as a professional photographer... I do not scan
> for
> > fun... I scan because I have to have a reliable source of scans that I can
> > manipulate in Photoshop and be able to hand my clients a CD or
> photographic
> > print made from a digital file that matches the iamge I visualized at the
> moment
> > I shot the picture.
> >
> > I do not have the time to wait for PhotoCD Master scans to be made, nor am
> I
> > inclined to trust my scans to lab scanner techs who are trying to meet
> > production schedules. I have my 4x5 film scanned by a custom lab at $29
> per
> > scan...(I plan to buy a Linocolor 1400 very soon) I scan my own 35mm...
> that is
> > why I, and a lot of other PROFESSIONALS are buying these Minolta and Nikon
> and
> > Polaroid scanners... We must adapt and change in order to survive... I
> used to
> > shoot film and leave it at the lab and then go back and explain to the
> counter
> > person, who would hopefully explain it properly to the printer (who
> hopefully
> > knew what I was trying to achieve, etc) and three or four or five days
> later, I
> > would get a print... if it was close to what i wanted, great.. if not,
> back in
> > for a redo... I had one lab tech do me the favor of giving me ragged black
> > borders on what were supposed to be full frame prints from 35, no borders,
> for
> > an architectural competition... this all on deadline.. the client was with
> me at
> > the lab, he went ballisitic... Now I control this myself... I scan my own
> negs,
> > I do the appropriate manipulations, I print out on my Epson or send them
> to a
> > lab with a Fuji or Noritsu (for up to 8x12) printer that will spit out
> real
> > silver based photographic prints... and I can hand my client a CD with
> those
> > same scans as PSD or TIFFS and they can get all the prints they want, that
> look
> > like I want them to look, and I can keep shooting...
> >
> > You may be retired, but I am still in the fray of this digital
> revolution.. Just
> > as we saw the computers become smaller and into the hands of the end
> users, so
> > we will see more pro photographers take the scanning into their own
> control...
> >
> > If you want to see one photographer who has already handled the whole
> deal, from
> > taking the photo to making the final scans for his glossy coffee table
> show
> > book, check out this link
>
> I am quite prepared to believe all you say but that is hardly the point.
>
> You will, at some future stage, have to chose between taking the picture and
> reproducing it, simply because the time scale will eventually force you to
> decide between the two processes. One is creative and the other largely
> photomechanical and therefore technical rather than creative.
>
> No doubt there are photographers who will act as their own publisher and
> wish to have control over the whole job, well, unless they wish to work 24
> hours a day for ever, at some stage they will have to prioritise and perhaps
> they will decide it is cheaper to put the work out.
>
> I must say your paying a lot for a 5X4 scan set.
> In the uk these sizes are usually called a "min" and where a batch are to be
> scanned, in my time they were usually priced at between £7-9 sterling each.
>
> Richard Corbett
>
> I hope you get paid for your scans, it is my impression that many
> photographers do not.
>
> Richard Corbett
