I liked these shots of Cate, but I had a lot of trouble in getting the contrast and tonality adjusted in a way I thought suitable. I generally do the initial scanning and adjustments on my old Dell desktop because I have the Silverfast scanning software on that computer. I also like the version of Photoshop better on that computer than the version on my laptop. However, I think the screen on the laptop is better calibrated in regard to what others are able to see, so I end up doing the final adjustments and the jpg image on the laptop.
After all that, the ambient light has quite an influence on how the images appear to me, so I always have to review the final result during the day and during the night. I'm a bit sorry that I don't have the capability of making prints myself any longer as it seems that would give me a more stable result in the end. I guess the problem ultimately boils down to the limitations of the digital medium.
2 comments:
I would find it fascinating to read about your results of printing some of these great images the old fashioned way...on photographic paper, exposed by the light of an enlarger, bathed in trays of smelly chemicals.
Some of my most satisfying photographic moments were spent under the glow of a red safelight. Digital processing is far easier and less fragrant, but not as romantic.
It is tempting to try some darkroom printing again. Good enlargers are a dime a dozen these days. My house is awfully small, however, and taking over the bathroom or the kitchen would be an imposition on my partner. When we lived in San Francisco in the 1970s I used the community darkroom that was on the upper end of Market St. They supplied the enlargers and the chemicals and I only had to bring the paper and my negatives.
Another possibility would be to make contact prints using some of the traditional methods that have gotten popular again. I did do a little cyanotype work when we lived in Las Cruces and I have one of those hanging on my wall now. I think I did make a few straight contact print cyanotypes then, but most of what I did involved producing internegatives on transparency sheets in my Epson color printer.
Practically speaking, it would likely make more sense for me to upgrade my computer and monitor, and maybe my scanner as well. Aside from the problems I mentioned in the post, my LED monitors offer a very narrow angle of view to properly perceive the contrast and tonalities in an image.
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