An article today in the New York Times doesn’t bode well for my profession – “For Photographers, the Image of a Shrinking Path“.
I should of been a comedian like I wanted too – YouTube
Tagged Baseball, Sports
An article in the British Journal of Photography discusses the “end of transparency” – e.g. end of slide film. I appreciate and understand the value of digital cameras and what they do, but I never expected to read about film fading in my lifetime. Polaroid is dead – not the company but the instant film. (Some remaining product can still be found and purchased. Fuji does still make an instant film but I haven’t used it.) Kodak doesn’t produce B&W photo paper anymore. How much longer befor any of the other film products fade away?
Going down to the corner store for a quickie (not pro) print is almost dead. A Costco near my house still develops and prints color film. I pulled out some 35mm B&W negatives recently, and in order to share them with friends, I had to scan them. In the past, I would have gotten some prints made and passed them out. These images weren’t of some important, fine art assignment. They were photos from my teenage years with friends. I have more that I want to show so I have a lot more scanning to do. My comments aren’t meant to bash digital. I had expected both formats to exist side-by-side for years. I want to return out west (if you’ve read any of my previous entries, you know how much I love it there) with my 4×5 view camera. Will I even be able to?
The above image was shot with 35mm Ektachrome. (These comments are a continuation of what I wrote on Feb 15.)
Tagged Film, Ocean, Stock, Vacation
The setting Sun overlooking the Twin Rocks in Capitol Reef National Park, Utah.
Tagged American West
When I visited the park last year, I photographed with my digital camera. I would like to go back with my 4×5 camera. I really want to spend some serious time, taking my time, to photograph. Everything just takes my breath away.
There’s a bumper sticker that says “The more people I meet, the more I like my dog.” Amen.
I added a new photo gallery on my website titled “The West” – Rich Green Photo. The images were taken on my trip to Utah and Vegas last year. Also, don’t forget about subscribing to my Facebook fan page. That link is here – Facebook.
Tagged American West
It snowing like hell here on the East Coast today. I want to go back on vacation out west, speeding along on those wonderfully empty highways.
I haven’t traveled by bus – I mean long-distances – since I was a kid. Every summer my Mom and I would hop the Trailways bus to Washington, DC to visit for a week with my aunt. Sometimes we would continue on south to North Carolina to visit another aunt who lived there. It was probably the main mode of transportation for many people who grew up during the 1960’s. Not many folks were flying yet. And while I have great memories of visiting family, especially to the Capital and seeing all the monuments, the actual trips by bus were never any fun. They were a necessary evil. Buses are needed in cities like New York, but for long-distance trips? Please, no. Never again.
I don’t know if most folks realize but film is fading very fast. If you’re around a big city, a pro photographer might buy film and having it processed is still viable, but what about the consumer on the outskirts. They really are the largest part of the market. What do they do when they want prints from negatives that really aren’t that old. A friend asked me about getting some from 110 film – a consumer product. I assume that a google search would probably provide some answers but they wouldn’t be local. The friend is also a close friend so I considered it my job to get it done for him. My initial thought – I have a Nikon scanner – I can rig up something to do the trick. No, I couldn’t. It was time for another solution. One that some pros do practice for scanning – direct photography. I don’t have some of the specific items needed, but a tripod, closeup lens, careful setup and the job gets done. I photographed the negatives with my Canon 5D, in RAW, digitally processed and had prints made. Is this what it’s come to? For the consumer, I mean, that he/she can no longer make a quick trip down to the photo/drug/food store with negatives in hand for some quickie prints? No one is looking for artistic museum quality images just some prints of Uncle Bob kissing the dog. Now if my friend had used 35mm film instead, he could still easily go to Costco (and maybe Walmart, I don’t know because I haven’t checked) and get the prints, but for how much longer.
