>
> Do you tell them you're shooting film and it will cost more than
> digital? How do they generally react to "film"?
>
So far, quite good. It is surprising how many people (non photographers)
are convinced that film is better than digital! Evidently, this
"ultra-clean, digital-look" ain't quite what the customers want. Sometimes,
yes, but when it comes to people photography, there is a texture and feel to
the film images which just sings to them. We photographers are constantly
upgrading our cameras to please ourselves, but I think we've forgotten to
include our own customers in the equation. Honestly, I think one issue is
the over-sharpened prints that we're selling.
The fact is, if I wasn't passing on the film/development costs to them in
one way or the other, I would have had to raise my rates a similar (or
higher) amount to get an upgraded camera system.
But, what is also happening (and this is under development--by no means a
finished product), is that I'm changing the look and feel of my images to
exploit the characteristics of film and the OM system. It's definitely a
"look" unlike anything in the current uber-digital look.
The problem with the "digital look" is that it's so fleeting and temporary.
Pictures we thought were great two years ago are now not suitable for the
dog dish. The mad rush towards FF digital cameras means that images from
crop-sensored cameras are so "yesterday". In a couple of years, FF 35mm
digital cameras will be "old look". Meanwhile, film images continue to have
"legs" and even brazenly flawed images (grainy) will still be desirable long
after the digital look du jour has passed up the previous generation of
digital cameras.
Our Photoshop plugins also fall under the same scrutiny. Back in the 1970's
and 1980's Cokin filters were the "Photoshop Plugin" of choice. Anybody
want to use that look now? Riiiiight. Same thing with today's plugins
which slice and dice our digital images to make them interesting because the
picture, otherwise, is too weak. Five years from now, our current selection
of Photoshop plugins and actions will make us puke.
Meanwhile, a real film image is still a real film image and when shot in the
manner of the classics, will have endurance.
AG
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