The Digital Luddite

When my daughter asked me this morning if I was ever going to update my blog I looked back and discovered that it was exactly a year since my last post. Spooky, as she said.

A lot has happened photography-wise over the last twelve months but not much that my old readers would find encouraging - which is probably why I stopped posting. The brutal truth is I’ve been back using my old DSLR for most of that time and began printing digitally back in February.

It all started because my darkroom was basically out of commission and so I began scanning the negatives I was producing to see what they looked like. As I’ve said often enough, I think scanning 35mm makes it look terrible so after a couple of months of this I thought it made more sense to start using the D700 as digital files look so much better on a computer screen.

The pics dotted around this post were pulled off my phone to give you an idea of what I'm up to so please don't worry too much about the quality

 

And then I decided to try printing using the QTR rip software and an Epson printer and found I really liked the results. That’s pretty much been me ever since. I still have all my film gear but the darkroom remains a mess and is basically just a glorified store room now. I’ve got plans to improve the situation but it might take time and I’m not sure if I’ll really get into it in a big way again.

Having passed a certain age, each additional year also seems to sap a little bit of my energy and motivation making any obstacles to the final mounted and framed image seem almost insurmountable at times. Essentially, it’s just easier and more convenient sitting down in front of the computer with a glass of Laphroaig and contemplating what to do with an image than the darkroom alternative.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not giving in. According to my iphone, I'm about three times more active than I was a year ago and 20lbs lighter. That's mainly down to the newest member of the household, Oscar the dashing hound.

Are the inkjet prints superior? I think it depends on how you look at these things and, to at least some extent, the type of photograph you take. If your photography involves the capture of an uncomplicated scene - in terms of contrast range - and you like to present that image more or less "straight" onto a sheet of Ilford multigrade then I think the darkroom print might still have the edge from a technical merit point of view, especially if printing from a medium format negative. I could be skating on thin ice here, but if you're like me and you look at a scene and try to visualise what it might end up as then inkjet prints win out on artistic impression in my opinion.* 

Photoshop can help me realise my vision more effectively than orchestral manoeuvres in the darkroom ever could and the Epson does a very fine job of producing a faithful print. All I can say is that I'm getting some very nice - and inexpensive-to-produce - prints from my ancient Epson 1400 printer, with files provided by the equally ancient D700.

Over the last year or so, I've also found myself concentrating more on the final image and less on the equipment I'm using or the process behind it. Having used just about every film camera I've ever fancied, it would seem all of the G.A.S. has been purged from my system - and it's a non-return valve. I no longer get any kick out of a Leica or Rollei beyond its use as an effective tool.

So whereas I once considered old cameras and film to be about as important as the final result - and made that same argument here - I feel I've moved well beyond that point, for good or ill. Our pictures will do well to live more than a generation or two beyond us and you can bet that absolutely nobody viewing them in the future will wonder how the print was made.

It helps that there are no digital cameras I have a particular hankering for either. My D700 is so old that even Luddites are urging me to upgrade - but to what end? The D700 will produce a lovely 10x15" print and that's big enough for me. In fact, I've simplified to the extent that about 70% of my photos are now taken on an 85mm f1.8 AF-D Nikkor and the rest on its 35mm f2 stablemate.

So that's where I am now, still snapping away when the spirit (no, not the Laphroiag) moves me. I can honestly say I don't miss film, the old cameras or the darkroom. I've thought about posting here from time to time but I thought doing so under the banner of The Online Darkroom was pushing it a bit! I've also thought about starting a digital equivalent but blogs seem so last century and isn't there enough digital content out there already?

Youtube is awash with people churning out videos on the subject almost all, from what I can see, with an eye firmly on the £10 per thousand views they rake in. The average reasonably successful youtuber in the US makes around $120,000 a year. Few seem to be doing it for the good of their health. It's a brave new world, apparently.

As I'm writing this, I'm wondering if anyone is going to read it. I feel a bit like a survivor going onto his radio set after a nuclear holocaust and asking if there's anybody out there. If there is, perhaps you could leave a message in the comments. At the end of the day, a photograph is a photograph regardless of how it's made so throw this old turncoat a crumb and say hello. It'll be nice to hear from you.

*Top marks (6?) if you got the old fashioned figure skating reference.