Doing anything more than just taking the shot -developing & post-processing!

AleksanderLoesch

AleksanderLoesch

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Hi all :wave:!

Just been reading up on a certain Cartier-Bresson (as any fule should know...) According to wikipedia he hated developing his work:

He disliked developing or making his own prints.[citation needed] He said: "I've never been interested in the process of photography, never, never. Right from the beginning. For me, photography with a small camera like the Leica is an instant drawing."


I was just wandering if there is anyone else on here who agrees! I know most of us would find it annoying, or a nuisance! BUT! is there anyone who agrees that the process is entierly seperate/not what they do!

I kind of agree, but I can still see the benefit of sitting in a dark room to get the perfect print, like W. Eugene Smith!

discuss!:D
 
I love the technical side of photography (partly the reason I've just got myself a film body too!) so would whole heartedly disagree. Although this isn't what you asked :lol:
 
Well developing digitally isn't too bad; it's as quick a process as you want it to be. You don't even have to do any.

Making prints in the darkroom is too time consuming for me though, I can see why you'd get fed up of it. I certainly do!
 
its a tough question! if your an art photographer, you have the time, but if your in reportage, then you need the shots ASAP and then have the freedom to go straight onto the next subject!

Digital isn't too bad (but I find it ZzZzZz tedious lol!) i was thinking about this from a more artistic point of view though! Bresson a believer of the "moment" the photo is taken etc... its not the developing that counts, but you being there, you lining up the shot in the frame (he didn't crop at all!) and pressing down on the shutter release at the perfect moment. for him thats what photography primerily was to him, the rest was just "fluff on the side"...
 
A lot of professionals never do their own printing. They are paid to take photographs, not process them. Even Ansel Adams didn't do a lot of his own work, and he is probably THE darkroom master. But he made damn sure that whoever did make his prints, they did it exactly the way he wanted.

I sometimes use a a guy I know for special prints. He's much better at Photoshop that I will ever be - I know what I want, and he just does it. He takes seconds for things that would take me hours. He also has a very big printer for framed stuff and does the PP pretty much for free :)
 
HoppyUK said:
A lot of professionals never do their own printing. They are paid to take photographs, not process them. Even Ansel Adams didn't do a lot of his own work, and he is probably THE darkroom master. But he made damn sure that whoever did make his prints, they did it exactly the way he wanted.

I sometimes use a a guy I know for special prints. He's much better at Photoshop that I will ever be - I know what I want, and he just does it. He takes seconds for things that would take me hours. He also has a very big printer for framed stuff and does the PP pretty much for free :)
Click to expand...

i know! its one thing I really envy them for! (other than the illusion of masses of cash:lol:)

I dunno about adams being the master, i think W. Eugene Smith is! -he spent days/weeks on uppers (speed) without sleep in darkrooms to get the perfect print! thats devotion! :lol:

I am really surprised at how fast some people can PS ***, I get sent stuff by my cousin in Poland (i guess he is "pro" or at least semi-pro) and every now-and-then when his work gets piled-high, I get sent the over-flow of stuff to edit/touch up! takes me hours! (him minutes:lol:) -but I do get payed:) but i am still amazed at how people can do it so fast.

on the "artistic" side of things, I do agree about the "snapshot" stuff, i don't really find myself caring about the "inbetween" period from when I take the film out of the camera - untill I see the pics printed on something!

Still do it though! its quite methodical, and it can help get my thoughts together, or start thinking of other things and cure me of "artistic block" :lol:
 
When it's going well I can spend ages in the darkroom. When it's not going well, I get fed up with it very quickly.

It still beats sitting at a computer to do it though!



Steve.
 
Interesting thread :thumbs:

Currently, it seems the jack of all trades types are becoming the more sought after and more employable types.

Undoubtedly there are still photographers who hand over the days frames to a retoucher or photoshop guru, but could these days be numbered?

I have a good friend of mine who travels the globe, working for a mainstream newspaper in Tampere, Finland.
She's a very talented journalist as well as an awesome photographer, it seems to be that photographers are accompanying journalists out on assignment a lot less these days, employers exercise a more cost effective strategy by looking for an individual who can write as well as shoot. A single return ticket, a single hotel room, single insurances etc.

IMO, alongside the technological advances of the digital age, being self sufficient with your photography is an increasingly important factor. Not so much the printing side if you happen to be working for magazines or papers but most certainly the post production side.

It's worth considering that the next time you fill an application or turn up for an interview, your most likely going to be amongst folk who run a very tight ship and with only a single member aboard.
 
Tiz an interesting discussion indeed.

I really enjoy working with photoshop and see it as a sub-hobby to my photography. I think I would even say that I see it as a separate thing altogether, even though one wouldnt exist without the other.:thinking:

The thing I do find a bit of a drag and wish someone else would do it for me is......the first uploading and sorting of the raw files, opening in the raw editor then again in PS.

I find it soooooo time consuming.
 
i see what you mean! -good news for me as I hope to become a jornalsit too!:lol:

I know all about the magazines and stuff, how they have "professional photoshopers" who after said 'tog takes pics and PS them, then they get PS'd again and then sent to the editor and back-and-forth for a while.

I like the idea that Bresson had that his artistic process was only up to the point where he pressed the trigger! -You either got the photo or not! And so he refused to have stuff edited (-what is the point of trying to create something that "isn't there"?), and one of the reasons he avoided the darkroom (if on dislplay, all his images would have a black border from the film to "show" that nothing was cropped! (even for non job-related photos) :lol:

I quite like the idea really, it makes sense to me. Although it does still require you knowing a developer/re-toucher who knows you and your style well.

he also didn't like to "delve deeper" than what you see in a shot. He still had the idea that the individual's life should be kept private, despite perhaps being on the cover of LIFE! magazine being sold in the millions! -He himself avoided any media attention because of this.



basically...... interesting bloke!
 
colonel_mustard said:
Well developing digitally isn't too bad; it's as quick a process as you want it to be. You don't even have to do any.

Making prints in the darkroom is too time consuming for me though, I can see why you'd get fed up of it. I certainly do!
Click to expand...

Done the B&W D&P bit many moons ago and did get fed up with it.
Doing the actual enlarging and watching the image appear in the developing solution certainly has a magic to it.
However, I found the preparation work with the chemicals and cleaning up afterwards etc to be drudgery. That bit eventually wore me down.

Quite enjoy digital editting though, but don't want to spend ages at it.
 
I enjoy PPing for the first 2 or 3 shots, but when I'm working on a days shooting of 200-300 shots it can get pretty mind numbing! I do enjoy playing around though, trying new ideas and new ways to totally destroy my work!
 
Sorting, editing, captioning etc. is a bit of a bore! Even more so with the way we work where often I will be working with other peoples photos. It's all part of the job though...
 
I would rather go and do a 1000 other things than sit in front of my computer on a nice sunny day but it's now all part of the job.
Best thing I can find about it is that I'm in complete control of taking the picture to delivering it to the client.

There were occasions in the past when film has been scratched and Saturday lads have forgot to top up developer :(
 
arclight said:
Doing the actual enlarging and watching the image appear in the developing solution certainly has a magic to it.
However, I found the preparation work with the chemicals and cleaning up afterwards etc to be drudgery.
Click to expand...


You're supposed to clean up afterwards?!!!!




Steve.
 
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