Despicable practices

[robbeiflex]

Despicable me I sometimes do both and even worse scan a film neg and add artificial grain 😀

Ha! That sounds like fun. I never thought of it, but now I can't get it out of my mind and know that the idea will stick until I try it.

As to the poll, I do both, and didn't vote. Still deciding, but might abstain.

Cheers,
Rob

 

[Ronald M]

If I had to choose, add grain. But we spent decades trying to make 35 look like 8x10 and now that we have it , we want the grain back.

Now that it is settled, add the appropriate grain on a layer and use blend if to keep it out of the shadows and highlights. Remember to split the slider so the transition is not abrupt. Yes I can make a D800 look like tri x. Do not forget the curve. Can`t tell the difference.

 

[Monochrom]

hahaha, nice thread!!!

every option is a sin...but i think the sinest one is adding grain to the pictures!!!

For sure i´ve done frequently the first...and perhaps i did the other once or twice!!

😀

 

[Scrambler]

I voted for adding film grain being a greater sin, but now I'm questioning my choice.

Is film or digital nearer to the Platonic Ideal of photography? Or, which is purer is essence?

If film is the ideal, then transferring the ideal into the imperfect is a greater sin than making the imperfect more like the ideal.

I think I was led astray by thinking about process: at the least scanning uses film for image capture. But it then degrades and diminishes it, where adding grain moves the sinful digital file one step closer to perfection.

Do I need to add that this is all completely tongue in cheek? 😛

PS - What about making an archival print on traditional paper from your grain-enhanced digital file? Does that then completely redeem the digital image?

 

[Rob-F]

I think "despicable" is too strong for either. "Questionable" might be more fitting. I would say that adding film grain to a digital shot seems aesthetically questionable; there is something about it that seems counterfeit. I can't think of anything wrong with digitally reproducing a silver print, or digitally printing a film negative.

 

[back alley]

i have been despicable…but it had nothing to do with photography…😉

 

[michaelwj]

Scanned film becomes just another digital file, partly loses the inherent quality of film and makes the whole process of shooting film a bit pointless.

Disclaimer: I scan my film.

I don't agree. While it becomes a digital file, its not clinical like a true digital file. It has loads of character, and doesn't look like a digital camera file.
Something is lost every step of the way no matter how you do it. From reality to negative; negative to wet print; negative to scan; it doesn't matter. Decisions are made and some things are kept, while others discarded.
In the end, you do what you do to get the final print you want.
Michael

I see the pole is quite one sided...

 

[Nathan King]

I do not have easy access to a darkroom, so I have my film scanned by Richard Photo Lab. I use a darkroom when I have what I feel is a special shot that I want prints of. Adding grain to digital files is not something I have personally done, but I can see it being a viable artistic choice when used in moderation.

 

[burancap]

Oh, who cares! When I see an image I like ... I like it.

I can't recall ever stopping and passing judgment regarding its creation when it just plain struck me as something I was attracted to...

Have any of us ever stopped and questioned why we might have had a love at first sight experience in our lives? Isn't that the beauty of what we do and why we are here? -in life as well as RFF?

 

[unixrevolution]

what id really like to do is shoot good sharp color film, scan, desaturate and add grain, invert it, then make a wet print of it using an LCD projector as my enlarger.

 

[Tom A]

Who actually cares how you do it. In the end it is the result that counts! I have a darkroom and I have a scanner. I usually scan my negs - it is a form of contacts to me. When I see something that interests me - I "wet print" it. Not that often as prints take up a lot of space - some book shelves are groaning under the weight of them. Every 6 month or so, I go through the boxes and shred what I think is not worth keeping.

 

[dof]

This poll is hilarious - well done for baiting the trolls and aficianados alike!

 

[rpsawin]

This poll is hilarious - well done for baiting the trolls and aficianados alike!

Lol...the problem with catching trolls is that it's always "catch and release".

 

[willie_901]

EDIT:
...

I wonder which of these practices is more despicable.

A poll for the purists among us.....

As I am not a purist, I didn't vote.