Digital vs. Film. . . an On-Going Debate

Digital vs. Film

The Benefits of Using Film for Your Photography

There are several key differences (on monitor vs. photographic print) between film and digital; exposure latitude,  and image quality differences in the depth and type of grain or noise in digital images (when the image looks like it has dirt on it).  Film seems to be coming back in vogue just when it looked like it was all over. There are reasons why film is coming back…read on.

Many photographers are still working with film cameras, but digital cameras are by far the most popular cameras today. There is an ongoing debate about how pure the pictures are if a camera is film vs. digital.  The term Pure in the photography old world, could be considered any photography that uses film without the use of any scans or computer what-so-ever.  The use of film, processing with paper and chemicals could be considered pure or old school. All the photographs represented here if photographed on film would be considered pure if they were on photographic print paper on your wall or portfolio book. Once they have been digitized to appear on your computer, they are no longer pure.  Some of the below photographs are both pure and digitized, so you can see them on your monitor.  They have also been printed on both photographic chemical paper and archival ink-jet prints.

Black and White Infrared Film of Bayshore Blvd., Tampa, Florida. Nikon FM2 35mm Camera.  © Thomas Levine

 Learning Photography with Black & White Film

Black & White film is a great way to learn about photography, especially when it comes to composition. Form is easier to understand with B & W because with color, the photograph starts to get more complicated, more elements too look at.  It’s good to keep it simple when you are learning to design in your viewfinder.

Shadows and highlights are very important and B & W is nothing without high tones and low tones.  When you learning about contrast you begin to understand how the details show up or disappear depending on the amount of contrast, and what you desire to show in your photograph.

B & W Photographic Grayscale.

In addition, when you use your camera’s light meter, it’s easier to understand how the values translate to the image; this will help you make better photographs when you understand how the gray scale translates to film.

If you learn with B & W film, you will understand more of the technical side of exposures and composition and if you go back to digital, you will find that your images, whether you go with B & W or color, will be stronger.

The image below is a high contrast image, it was shot that way in the studio. Sometimes you want your shadows and highlights to show detail in them, but this  photograph has a smooth background and a very direct light that made it a high contrast image which does not need to show the detail like other prints do.

Highlights and shadows are important with Black and White photography.

This image of Pompano Pier in Pompano, Florida demonstrates that the details in both the highlights and the shadows. If you look at the surf you can see detail in the waves and ripples. You can also see details in some of the shadow areas.  The pier itself is very high contrast which makes it a very graphic part of the photograph.

Sunrise at Pompano Pier in Florida, demonstrating the all the grays  tones you can get with Black and White.

The image below of “Crossed Leopard” was a one of a kind type of print, until it was digitized.  To make the Leopard look like it does the lights were turned on for about 10 seconds half way through the development process in the darkroom. Because of the variables in making this print, it could not be duplicated exactly like you see here, until it was scanned and made into a digital image.

“Crossed Leopard” Black and White Film using a Darkroom method called Solarization.  Nikon F 35 mm Camera © Thomas Levine

 Expected Differences in formats of Digital & Film

What are you trying to achieve for your final print?  Film and digital both have a different look, although it may not seem apparent at first look.  The grain of the image is different for each format if you study the two next to each other. Photography should be about exploring your passion, but this discussion is about what is truly “old photography vs. new”. Whatever you decide, its still about expressing yourself.  When digital cameras came out many people changed from film, and today you find a new trend, people going back to film from their digital camera. Film is a great way to learn photography even if you shoot digital. You will learn so much more about photography when you work with film.

Value of the Print

Fine art print values are worth more money to galleries and art collectors (and artists) if they are Black & White photographic prints (made with paper and chemicals). First, they are more archival if they are made with archival materials, which translates to lasting longer (Black & White, not color) over time before they begin to deteriorate; this is great for collectors.  Second, each photographic Black & White print is unique because each fine art print is made by hand and each a little different from each other.  Digital prints are all the same from one digital image. Each print will look the same because they are printed by a computer. This results in a print that is not unique and therefore is worth less than a photographic print made by hand and chemicals.

(The photo below was taken with a Nikon film camera.)  Something you can do easier with film than a digital, are these kinds of collages.  I shot an entire roll of film and then rewound the film and stopped where it matched up to the first frame with the number one shot in the camera dial.  I then re-shot the roll using completely new material.  It was risky, because you really have no idea of what you will get, like the photo below.  If you try this with a film camera, make sure to adjust the exposure for two exposures (I doubled the ASA dial on the camera so I didn’t over expose for 2 shots).  You never know for sure what you will get.  This shot was taken in the Florida Everglades aboard an air boat, it was scanned, I used Kodak Ektachrome 100 transparency and put on CD (no longer pure).

Airboat -swamp collage – Nikon FM2 35 mm Camera. © Thomas Levine

Is Using Digital Photography Cheating?

Is using a digital cameras cheating?  Is it cheating if we start out with film and then make a digital print from a digital camera?  To be absolutely pure, we have to stay analog all the way by using film and traditional dark room procedures, light-sensitive paper and chemicals?  There are longevity issues and for a fine art print to have more value as we mentioned above, it still needs to be pressed from film onto chemical prints.

Whether you pick one medium or another, you can create great photographs with either tool. Its not about the tool, its about learning to use your tool to create your vision or record your memories.

The image below “Secret Meeting” demonstrates a high contrast image that still has some other gray tones in it. Notice the hands which show some detail but much of her left hand has highlights that don’t show any detail.

“Secret Meeting” was photographed using a medium Format Film using a Hasselblad Film Camera. © Thomas Levine

Renown New York advertising photographer Ryszard Horowitz (one of my mentors) was known to manipulate images using a process of shooting multiple images that he merged together using an enlarger. He used a type of red material called lithofilm to screen the enlarger light from the unexposed part of the paper so he could put together multiple images for his clients using photographic paper.  He was one of the first to jump ship and go to computer. I would not say his work improved, because it was already excellent, but he was able to create more complicated images in much less time. He started with a vision of what he wanted to accomplish.  It’s about the art for Mr. Horowitz, not about the format. You use what you think you need to get the end result you want.  Much of his imagery was either fine art or for advertising clients.

Photographed using Film – Nikon F – 35mm © Thomas Levine

Technically, if you take a picture using film and then have it scanned to a CD, it becomes a digital picture, something a true purist would never do. It is very difficult to stay pure, especially in color. Color printing was always very messy chemically speaking, and the longevity was never very good compared to todays methods unless you used a process called Cibachrome (toxic chemicals and expensive process). Today if we print on Giclee, many inks are archival as are many printing papers that push the longevity past 100 years. Epson, Canon and others are continually working to expand the archival time. The only way to obtain a Giclee print is to shoot digital, or have your transparency or film scanned.  After having the image scanned, depending on the media shown, the photographer usually has to adjust color, saturation, and contrast so to make it work with the printer or computer monitor. Using today’s Giclee printers, we often adjust through profiles (computer settings) to help match the color up with the printer. If we show the photograph on a monitor, each monitor will show the photo a little different, since each monitor is of a different age, quality, or manufacturer. There are tools to help color correct monitors, but each vary even after the correction.  The room or environment where we look at the monitor or print, will also change the color, darkness and contrast etc. of what we see in the monitor.  For example, if we take the print outside on a clear day, the print may look more blue in the shade during the midday, then it would in the morning or afternoon.  Photographers learns to make judgements along the way by making test prints; after a while the photographer is able to make great prints with ease.

Photographed for More Space Place using Canon Digital Camera.

 Digital or Film – Go Have Fun

What are you trying to communicate or show in your photograph? Today the mechanics of taking a picture has changed, but the design, vision and what you are trying to communicate is still the same as it was in the early years of photography. We have more tools at our disposal than ever to pick from, but what photographers have learned after shooting over a period of years, use the tool that works for getting out our message. We also have a tendency to use what is comfortable to us, or we sometimes get into experimenting, which is also part of photography. Is not photography a learning process? We learn about the technical side and design side of photography, but we also learn about our subjects and ourselves. Photography can be artistic, but we learn more about the world by capturing the image so we can study it, and go out to learn more and shoot again.

Many images were manipulated to work into this page of a children’s books called “Brain Storm”. It includes drawings and photography merged together for a unique and fun look. This image is possible because it was digital to start with. © Thomas Levine

What do you think? If the photographer uses a film camera, and then scans the image and makes a digital print, is that cheating?  Does it matter? It only matters if you decide to sell your prints and you would like to sell for more money. There is a lot more to making money with your fine art prints, but at least you understand now what can help values.

Good shooting, go out and discover the world through your camera…

Thomas

© 2015 Travel Food & Health Magazine online

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