At 11:06 PM 1/8/2004, Qkano wrote:
Digital allows this learning process to take place without the cost (and time, if one develops at home) that this learning process incurs. It can be a great teaching tool in the same way that "burning film" was, but in a way that makes it much more accessible.
It can also have the opposite affect of making one lazy as the phrases that are now floating around suggest: if you shoot enough of a subject something is bound to be good. That's not a helpful nor productive or constructive approach. The idea is to work on technique so that you can get what you see the first time.
Working with large format, I spend most of my time exploring a subject, finding the perspective that most reveals what I've seen in it and then thinking my way through to the final image. It's a process that begins with seeing and continues through to the final mounting and framing of the photograph. Only occasionally do I make more than two negatives of a given scene and those are of subjects that constantly change and whose final form cannot be seen before the negative is developed.
Digital, in the concept Jeff described above, can be very beneficial as it gives immediate feed back on how you have photographed what you thought you were seeing thereby revealing the proficiency of your technique. However, except for live action situations, reporting and many commercial applications where immediacy is of great advantage, it remains just another medium for expression among many, but one that can be more deluding than it may appear on the surface precisely because of the advantages it offers.
Peace! Sidney
