DB_Gallery

...I am parting ways with all internet forums that have to do with photography. The reason for this is that my career is still going well, I am more excited about what I am doing in it than ever before and I just get really frustrated at nearly all aspects of playing a part in online discussions and also having my work lifted from this site which has happened a lot.

The digital age has brought a lot of attitude, garbage photography and worst of all, photoshop fantasy to the world of amateur photography. And what often makes it unbearable is the hypocrisy of so called photographers saying that they only do it for themselves and yet, claim to sound like they are experts in all aspects of the craft including technical, business and art history. So when it comes to industry experts with actual talent who would give a voice of reason, these people get shot down, the amateurs don't want to hear it....I can understand why as it seems to be easy for them to bury their heads in these forums and think that is all there is to photography. 

But people like me and the vast majority of successful professionals who will never post here know better. We keep living it, our work just gets better and the line of demarcation between what a pro does and an amateur does just keeps getting bigger and bigger. So there is nothing left for me here, I do not stand to benefit in any way from "sharing" my work or my knowledge with the majority of who now come to this forum. If you want to learn from me, look at my work as published all over the world, look at my book project at www.Kodachromeproject.com, keep googling me as my work and name move up in the photo world, not down. And maybe come out to Colorado in a couple years where I live and take a real workshop involving real photography in a real darkroom. 

As for the photo above, it was shot less than 24 hours ago while I was on assignment for a magazine. It was straight out of camera, not a thing done to it, from a controversial camera called a Fuji X100. It is my visual good bye to you, enjoy it. 

To Josh Root, a big thank you for standing by me, being a great person to hang out with in Rochester and for putting up with my rants. I have tried my friend, but I have my health, my talent, my in person friends and my wife to spend time with. I have a lifetime of a career ahead of me and all I ever do by participating on any photo forum is suck the life out of the soul that drove me to see the world the way I do in the first place....it is just not good for me anymore.

Good bye folks, keep it real too, someone has to, otherwise photography is simply going to die like mom and pop businesses have in being sucked up by Walmart. 

Man, we really need a category or a separate place for this kind of computer art. This is not a photograph anymore, nothing with that, it just does not deserve the label photograph. By the way, I am former military, worked on the deck of an aircraft carrier, have many wonderful photographs that portray that.

If only it were a real photograph.....*sigh*

Well Helen, don't expect to see these sand dunes in Namibia unless you are on copious amounts of hallucinogenic mushrooms, because they don't exist, at least not in this form....;-)

Here is the cover...

Cool, pulling the tube on P.Net...:-)

I souped the Techpan my self. I have a few hundred rolls of it and wanted to finally test the 120 batch to see it if was fine. Slidemaster in Aspen does E-6 and C-41, but no black and white.

 

I don't post much on here these days, at least not the real good stuff since:

 

A. There is so much computer art versus photography, I feel a bit out of place.

 

B. I run a high end stock business and part of the reason it grows 30-50% per year is that I keep my best out of the public eye.

 

So Photo.net is for "Happy-snaps" now...

 

The reason I even posted this here was to link it to another site for anti-film twits to see.

My first trip to New York. I was walking with my girlfriend and family while they were shopping and saw this fence covered in tiles in great light. I told them I would catch up in a few minutes. I waited for a passerby and hurried up to catch them. Who knows what kind of shot I could have got if I were actually working that day....

Greg Mitchell wrote:

 

"Being from "Iceberg Alley", I've seen many icebergs of all shapes and sizes, but this is the first time I have ever seen anything like this, it's so...blue!"

 

Well, anything is possible when you ramp up the saturation slider *well* beyond reality..;-)

 

Ricardo, it probably is not a good idea to compare your heavily photoshopped image to a great editorially based nature and wildlife shooter who's adherence to strict content guidelines is very well known.

 

He does indeed have some blue ice photos, but they are all naturally colored. He even has one that is wider than the tighter, more saturated scene of the penguins where the sun is behind a cloud and the natural saturation drops off naturally.

 

Besides all the photoshopped images in your portfolio and the *Huge* boost in saturation, the dead give away on this image is the lack of contrast on the highlights on the water. Why on earth would the sun hit the iceberg evenly with uber-strong light then conveniently fall off *right* at the water line?

 

Feel free to post an unprocessed raw somewhere for us to to have a look at. Otherwise, fake-a-roni.

 

I know this sounds harsh, but it just seems that more and more, people want to fake out what nature will always do best at.

 

I just can't believe how much faked out imagery is on Photo.net. I think that is really sad.

Thanks, I used a Gossen Digisix on a key lanyard hooked to my pocket.

About 2/3rds the way down a peak, the light started getting pretty close to sunset. It was striking...

By the time we were down to 13,000 feet, a couple of mountain goats were grazing on the shoulder below. The wind was pushing hard, it was just marvelous to see this goat facing into it.

We were expecting a milder day...we barely had enough from keeping frostbite on our hands with sustained winds the entire time. Night fall would occur well before we would reach the trees some 1,300 feet below the goats. Once in the forest, there were patches of ice packed in the trail covered in a light dirt that were almost impossible to see in the day. With only one headlamp, this part was the most treacherous.

With just a few ass-bashers below our belt, we managed OK. Shot with a 1956 Leica M3 and 50mm 2.0 collapsable Summicron, 400 speed film on 11.04.07.

Is it an actual photograph or a scene of composite images blended?

 

I don't see any written description that it is a composite but it sure looks like one.

Thank you very much! The detail on the full sized scan, about 270MB in 16 bit...is flat out incredible. This file is going to produce a grainless 4 foot wide print.

 

It is truly a crime that Kodak no longer makes this film and has since, permanently dismantled the coating facility.

 

I wish I had more of this film than I do, some 150 rolls of 35mm and 100 rolls of 120. Just enough to shoot like it is the last roll on earth and get some great stuff.

I love the 9000ED, well worth the money. But, I use the rotating glass holder exclusively. It really makes all the difference. I see this version of the image has a denser look than what I worked with on my screen in PS, I might need to adjust it for web...

The lens is a fixed 65mm 5.6 EBC on the Fuji, yes it is really sharp. The lens on the 5D is the really sharp 16-35 2.8L-II at 28mm. Thanks for looking!

But the 5D is no where near the match of Techpan 120mm in a Fuji GSW690III. With a scene the size of a 9x14 foot area, Techpan in 120 is clearly resolving details the size of a human hair....

This looks pretty good in a 16x20...

I don't usually shoot many events but this is one of them as it is very coveted where I live. The Aspen Ideas Festival is in it's third year and I have been in charge of a three photographer team since the inception of the program. The event is truly incredible as the dialogue is very real and inspiring.

 

http://www.aspeninstitute.org/site/c.huLWJeMRKpH/b.2072179/k.AE46/Festival_Overview.htm

 

This year, I shoot far less digital as I will be using Leica's and Kodachrome to add this to my project.

 

Glad you all enjoyed the images of Jane, that was truly a treat and I felt her energy when I spoke with her. I wish the color were better, I think it has to do with the format for web algorithm...

Shot in Sepia Mode, the full moon is directly behind as I lit the cross from both sides with a head lamp. Wish this were Tmax or Tri-X so I would not have got posterization.

Thanks Asher, others.

 

I just hope I can continue to post here, it is getting a little weird lately. Besides, I think I need to break from the whole internet thing get real with this project, time is a marching....

"It's common to blur or burn out background detail, but this has really interfered with the image's integrity."

 

When I joined this site in 2000, there were lots of great photographs, it was an interesting site and many thought good and hard before they gave something a top rating.

 

Now, what we have are a bunch of computer art images, hardly a well thought out and duely earned photograph. "Bravo, Masterpiece, 7/7++".......total B/S. And..to top it off, this computer art image is dead center like 90% of most of the bird images on this site and beyond, not even a dynamic composition.

 

From another post:

 

"There are so many hundreds of thousands of straight images out there that are 25, 50, 75 and well over 100 years old.

 

They bear a testament to the past in a very valuable way. I, in no way, can see an image like this having the same kind of value 25, 50 or even 100 years from now, because it is not reality.

 

For well over 100 years, people have had the scene before them while holding a camera. Only a select few took liberties in the darkroom, mostly in ranges of tones, rarely in content.

 

Now, why is it in a world full of reality T.V., fast food and fast everything for that matter, are folks steering away from the inherent beauty in the world and creating fantasy land images like the ones on Photo.net?"

 

Why do a large amount of people on here doctor photos up to the point of being fake?

 

Come on folks, try harder, stay out longer, get better at being a photographer, not a computer artist.

I have never seen my 17-40 vignette this bad, is there something wrong with yours then?

 

I mean, there is at least 2 1/2 stop difference between the center and the outside, certainly not the real scene.

 

It would have been a nice image had you not had such bad vignetting.

"There is a colour response there that I feel is lost in the digital domain."

 

I agree.

 

I do like the output of the 5D, but it takes a little tweaking to see what works best.

 

I shoot about 60/40 digital to film these days. The Kodachrome project will be the most important one I do in my lifetime.

 

I'm glad we can still shoot both. I am always amazed at how many "film is dead" comments there are.

 

Thanks for commenting!

I suppose it does, but it is supposed to promote the project, I thought it would be fun to put one around it.

 

Cheers,

 

db

This is the start of a very important tribute for me.

 

This is it. One day, the most important color medium of the 20th century will be gone...that day is coming soon. I will grow old, gleefully satisfied that I gave it my best shot and leave you all with this.

 

This is no ad.

 

This is history and I *will* leave a mark in it....... . . . . .