This is an interesting supposition Leon! A good printer should be able to print/interpret any negative.
- you are right there, Carl, but each interpretation will be entirely different owing to all sorts of variables. When I made the exposure, I had in mind what I described in the article, and on this occasion, I think it was the right interpretation of the negative - but probably only right in my eyes!
I am pretty sure your interpretation of botanypebble is not qute what was in front of you and differs somewhat from the negative.
yes, that is the case, but it doesnt differ from what I planned when I previsualised the print and took the shot (I havent actually printed it yet, and what I posted here was just a rough representation of what I want to acheive, but you get my meaning I hope)
Sometimes having the technical skills doesn't make for a good end result!
that is entirely my point carl. It takes more than that to get the image "right" IMO.
However, this leads us to the point of giving your film to someone else to dev and print - can they make a better print/interpretation than the person that made the image without some guidance?!
I'm not sure they can - I think they ca make a perfectly brilliant print from the materials infront of them, but how can they know what the photographer was trying to acheive without discussion with them?
I'm glad you've turned this around from a digibashing thread to some excellent thought provocations:)