Back in the late 80s and early 90s, when I was doing digital photography research, there was a popular topic in the bar at technical conferences: what would it take for digital capture to equal 35mm quality? It was clear that we needed a whole lot more dynamic range; in those days the highly-portable sensors… [Read More]

Serious practitioners of conventional photography know of the many ways that they can stage-manage the truth. It starts in the field. Where do you point the camera? What do you ask of your subjects? Do you move things? What do you leave out? When do you trip the shutter? How do you exploit lens distortions?… [Read More]

Ten things to do with a digital camera, even if you’re a film-based photographer See what things look like in black and white. The sensor in your digital camera doesn’t have the same spectral response as the film you’re using, and the LCD display on the back of the camera is small, but it’s a… [Read More]

I call it sharpening pencils: the things that you do to get ready to do the real work. Writers used to actually sharpen pencils. Painters still clean brushes. And photographers? Photographers do a lot of things: test film, mix chemicals, calibrate light meters… Sharpening pencils can be a good thing; if you write with a… [Read More]

Last time I promised you my take on producing negatives for silver printing on an inkjet printer. This is quite a challenge, because silver gelatin prints are so crisp and subtle that they reveal tiny flaws in the negatives. Roll up your sleeves, and prepare to get some vicarious ink beneath your fingernails, ‘cause here… [Read More]