Topic: The comeback

[chris667]

Well, bugger me. Amateur Photographer has an article about Black and White FILM on the cover.

I might have to buy my first copy since about 1990.

http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/publication/amateur-photographer/amateur-photographer-3-june-2017

[Faintandfuzzy]

Looks like I'll be buying as well.  Thanks for the heads up. 👍

[Klaus]

Thanks for letting us know - haven't bought AP for ages either.
Been in town and got a copy - yet to be read - but my first observation is how thin the magazine is compared to how I remember it from 20+ years ago. But that's of course down to web publishing which has affected many of the printed traditional titles, in most areas of interest.

[Late Developer]

Yes, I had a rather frank exchange of views with the deputy editor of AP who was at Photographica at the end of last month.  Good to see AP extracting their digit but this needs to be maintained rather than a one-off special.

[John Robison]

Maintaining a film section could be difficult. So much content is already on the web. That said, even if articles rehash older material it would keep the digital folks mindful that the photography world is a big place and they are always welcome to come play in the silver halide sandbox. Perhaps some Filmwasters who can write well (not me, I can't even spel good) could contribute to a film section.

[John]

That's good. It'll shut up the most vocal of the digital converts for about 5 mins.

Anyone in a photo club? I'm the only film user and darkroomist in mine. Yes that is a word 'darkroomist' look it up. But they really respect it. We're sort of a club of rejects from the competitions based boredom of the mainstream. Comp = boring photos.

[Late Developer]

That's good. It'll shut up the most vocal of the digital converts for about 5 mins.

Anyone in a photo club? I'm the only film user and darkroomist in mine. Yes that is a word 'darkroomist' look it up. But they really respect it. We're sort of a club of rejects from the competitions based boredom of the mainstream. Comp = boring photos.

I've been a member of a few as I've moved about a bit.  The best one I joined was Bramhall.  Not far from where I lived, free access to a very spacious and well-appointed darkroom and an extremely friendly bunch of fellow film users.  That was in the late 70's / early 80's, though!!  I was in a photo club 7/8 years ago at the point when digital was all the rage.  Unfortunately, although they were a decent bunch, they were led by a digi-evangelist.  All submissions were JPEG and projected.  No time for prints and even some of the judges who came to the club had started to be dismissive and occasionally rude about film - i.e. why did I bother with it?  I seldom give up but this was like pushing a very heavy boulder up a very steep hill.

I've seen a few of the members from time to time but, even though the evangelist has moved away, it's not something I've ever been tempted to do.  I like and use digital but my preference is film and I don't see that changing anytime soon.

[Francois]

When they figure out how to make a 2kg all metal digicam, than I'll consider changing my mind 

Just kidding. The issue with those evangelist has always been that they don't realize there is place for everyone in this world. AFAIK, there's never been a war between acrylics and oils other than one won't stick well on top of the other.

[John]

That's good. It'll shut up the most vocal of the digital converts for about 5 mins.

Anyone in a photo club? I'm the only film user and darkroomist in mine. Yes that is a word 'darkroomist' look it up. But they really respect it. We're sort of a club of rejects from the competitions based boredom of the mainstream. Comp = boring photos.

I've been a member of a few as I've moved about a bit.  The best one I joined was Bramhall.  Not far from where I lived, free access to a very spacious and well-appointed darkroom and an extremely friendly bunch of fellow film users.  That was in the late 70's / early 80's, though!!  I was in a photo club 7/8 years ago at the point when digital was all the rage.  Unfortunately, although they were a decent bunch, they were led by a digi-evangelist.  All submissions were JPEG and projected.  No time for prints and even some of the judges who came to the club had started to be dismissive and occasionally rude about film - i.e. why did I bother with it?  I seldom give up but this was like pushing a very heavy boulder up a very steep hill.

I've seen a few of the members from time to time but, even though the evangelist has moved away, it's not something I've ever been tempted to do.  I like and use digital but my preference is film and I don't see that changing anytime soon.

I've had comments like that, but I reply - 'The easiest way to do something is not to do it at all' my weird logic but it shuts them up. Most competition photographers couldn't produce anything worthy without Lightroom or PS. I've moved clubs a few times. My current one is a nice gang. I do talks and some teaching. I've got an Art School  background so it gives them something different. Recently I did a presentation on the early days of colour photography - they loved it. We've got a projector, which I don't mind as it's a decent one. We have print nights sometimes. I shoot digital too, but film is my true love. B&W is all for me. I'm colour blind (protanomally - defective red/green). so I don't see colour correctly - so how can I do colour properly? I can't.

[chris667]

I attended a new one tonight. They have their own, high quality darkroom, permanently built in the village hall.

It hasn't been used since 2015!

A nice bunch, I think. I don't know if I'll fit in there. Photoshop/lightroom manipulation leaves me cold, I'm afraid, and they do A LOT of it.

Still having a go though!

[MiguelCampano]

I attended a new one tonight. They have their own, high quality darkroom, permanently built in the village hall.

It hasn't been used since 2015!

A nice bunch, I think. I don't know if I'll fit in there. Photoshop/lightroom manipulation leaves me cold, I'm afraid, and they do A LOT of it.

Still having a go though!

So.... They are a Photoshop club? 

[chris667]

So.... They are a Photoshop club? 

 

I told someone at another club I am a member of that the picture they put up for asking for perspective was a fine piece of digital art, but not really a photograph.

I'm not opposed to it on that basis. It's just the mentality that everything else is without value that irritates. Especially when those with the most ingrained belief in it tend not to produce particularly interesting work.

[MiguelCampano]

So.... They are a Photoshop club? 

 

I told someone at another club I am a member of that the picture they put up for asking for perspective was a fine piece of digital art, but not really a photograph.

I'm not opposed to it on that basis. It's just the mentality that everything else is without value that irritates. Especially when those with the most ingrained belief in it tend not to produce particularly interesting work.

Growing up in Venezuela, specifically in Margarita Island, it was very difficult for me to have access to photographic supplies. My first film camera was a Nikon FM2 with a 28mm 2.8, and then a 135mm 2.8 as well(which was confiscated as I was leaving the country, because according to the Revolutionary Militia guarding the airport, I was a traitor to the revolution and didn't need to take pictures or enjoy my time in the U.S.) That's it. The economic situation in the country, coupled with the exorbitant black-market exchange rates from $USD to Venezuelan Bolivars made it impossible for me to purchase anything else, let alone develop my own stuff since chemicals were almost impossible to come by. At last, I joined a photography club (remind you, I was about 15 years old when this was going on) and participated in a couple of contests. No prizes, just bragging rights.

So I get a hold of a roll of Konica color film, 12 exposures, and went to the beach (which was about a block away from my house) and took pictures of a sunset. I had them developed and scanned at the cheapest place and then adjusted a bit the brightness since I didn't have photoshop nor a computer fast enough to run it. I submitted my photo and it got last place, and the excuse they gave me was that it didn't represent the forward thinking of the group, and film images were just not within the expectations of a modern photography club.

While most of my "skills" are self-taught, I love being the outcast in the digital world.

[chris667]

That's an astonishingly good picture, Miguel.

[John]

So.... They are a Photoshop club? 

 

I told someone at another club I am a member of that the picture they put up for asking for perspective was a fine piece of digital art, but not really a photograph.

I'm not opposed to it on that basis. It's just the mentality that everything else is without value that irritates. Especially when those with the most ingrained belief in it tend not to produce particularly interesting work.

You made a very good point. That type of work is fashionable at the present time. In time people will get tired of it. I like you, question the value of something that is so manipulated. I feel deflated just looking at it. And if the purveyors of that type of work can't respect what I do, why should I give them any attention? I like to keep things simple. A lot of my digital friends share that opinion too.

But to save my sanity, I think of photography as a 'broad church'. Just like any other art, there are ways and means to achieve the end result . Film has not gone away, and even has had a resurgence. So it's not dismissed now like it was say 5-10 years ago.

I'm also a musician. Guitarist. I was schooled into classical, which I love. But I'm a blues player, you couldn't imagine 2 more different approaches and techniques. But it's all 'music', that's the way I see it.

[rpmdrd]

So.... They are a Photoshop club? 

 

I told someone at another club I am a member of that the picture they put up for asking for perspective was a fine piece of digital art, but not really a photograph.

I'm not opposed to it on that basis. It's just the mentality that everything else is without value that irritates. Especially when those with the most ingrained belief in it tend not to produce particularly interesting work.

Growing up in Venezuela, specifically in Margarita Island, it was very difficult for me to have access to photographic supplies. My first film camera was a Nikon FM2 with a 28mm 2.8, and then a 135mm 2.8 as well(which was confiscated as I was leaving the country, because according to the Revolutionary Militia guarding the airport, I was a traitor to the revolution and didn't need to take pictures or enjoy my time in the U.S.) That's it. The economic situation in the country, coupled with the exorbitant black-market exchange rates from $USD to Venezuelan Bolivars made it impossible for me to purchase anything else, let alone develop my own stuff since chemicals were almost impossible to come by. At last, I joined a photography club (remind you, I was about 15 years old when this was going on) and participated in a couple of contests. No prizes, just bragging rights.

So I get a hold of a roll of Konica color film, 12 exposures, and went to the beach (which was about a block away from my house) and took pictures of a sunset. I had them developed and scanned at the cheapest place and then adjusted a bit the brightness since I didn't have photoshop nor a computer fast enough to run it. I submitted my photo and it got last place, and the excuse they gave me was that it didn't represent the forward thinking of the group, and film images were just not within the expectations of a modern photography club.

While most of my "skills" are self-taught, I love being the outcast in the digital world.

i do think this is a great picture. for what it is worth, cliche of sunsets on photographs never bore when viewed in a different way.

[chris667]

But to save my sanity, I think of photography as a 'broad church'. Just like any other art, there are ways and means to achieve the end result . Film has not gone away, and even has had a resurgence. So it's not dismissed now like it was say 5-10 years ago.

I don't know, John. This was not even wholly original; the work I am thinking of is a portrait where the original was "lifted" from some poor sod on Flickr. Uncredited, I might add.

Charitably, it was a remix.

I don't like to classify myself as a luddite, and that is the light in which I am seen by a lot of photographers. I have a degree in computer science; you can't say I am not interested in technology. The reason I joined that club was to learn about digital photography, and to see if I could use it to get what I want.

Still looking.