feeling cheap with digital?

DIRT · Feb 14, 2005

hello, i was wondering if anyone else felt as i do on this. i got my 10D d-slr a few months ago and have been shooting like a freak and i love it. I am getting great images and i get a lot of good shots relatively quickly with only minor adjustments in PS. But i feel kind of like im being cheap or something, its like i am getting good stuff with little effort. whereas with film I would have to process and print and dodge/burn etc. i felt like i earned it. I dont know, i just was wondering if anyone else felt like this. sorry for the ranting.

PreludeX · Feb 14, 2005

ya, thats why i choose film over digital... although i shoot some digital... i feel more like a photographer when shooting film

skiboarder72 · Feb 14, 2005

<---- doesnt have the money for film so he has a cheap digi camera

mistakendavis · Feb 14, 2005

i understand what you are talking about, i also feel like my shot selection is careless because i can look and see if i like it right away and if i dont then i keep shooting. when i use film i am much more thoughtful of my shots, i feel i think them out more, plan compositions better and take the time to look what is going on in the frame. digital is nice but my heart is with film.

DocFrankenstein · Feb 15, 2005

Can you post your 3 best shots on 10D which were so easy to achieve, that you need more challenge for yourself?

Just curious

Lorilye · Feb 15, 2005

I had this same convresation with my husband. I am brand new to photography before my digital camera I had a point and shoot film camera. Nor do I know how to develope film myself. My husband however used to be a photojournalist for the mititary, used a film SLR camera, and can do all his own developing.

He was looking through some of my pictures and we came to a conclusion that photography with film will probably become obsolite over the next few years.

With a film SLR he would have to set up the shot, adjust all his setting manually, then after taking the shot, go into the darkroom and develope the film. After all that he gets to see if the shot even turned ut the way he wanted it too.

With a digital however the same complex shots are just seconds away. I just set the camera settings (apeture priority, shutter priority, ect..), set up for my shot, click, then view. That simple.

As a beginner that is all I know. Digital technology has definatley made it easier for people that can't afford school (to learn how to process film), all the extra equipment that comes with SLR's, and don't have room to set up a darkroom/studio.

I don't think it is a matter of becoming lazy with photography persay. I believe that it just helps sharpen you eye for photography.......

Rogue Monk · Feb 15, 2005

There is a good chance you're shooting the way you've always. Old habits die hard and your way of "seeing" hasn't changed. Its just that you get to shoot more faster.

I found that "cheap" feeling came from only having to print the images I knew I liked. It was like knowing which images worked on film and saying "only develop those ones". Knowing that you can shoot a whole "roll" and find out right away whether they were crap or not takes a weight off your shoulders. You still have to set the shot up, but you can take 20 or more images to make sure you got exactly what you need.

Remember that a person that couldn't shoot well before will still fail to shoot well after going digital. That's not to say they can't improve. Its mainly to say that on their own, they probably won't (which is why forums like this are so important).

Unless I was actually experimenting with new techniques or the images where nothing but junk (most images fall into the "in need of a purpose" catagory), I keep every image I shoot (the good and the not-so-good).

Only your tools have changed. The person behind the camera is the same...and you'll still have to work for that image you'll be proud to show.

rmphoto · Feb 15, 2005

DIRT said:
hello, i was wondering if anyone else felt as i do on this. i got my 10D d-slr a few months ago and have been shooting like a freak and i love it. I am getting great images and i get a lot of good shots relatively quickly with only minor adjustments in PS. But i feel kind of like im being cheap or something, its like i am getting good stuff with little effort. whereas with film I would have to process and print and dodge/burn etc. i felt like i earned it. I dont know, i just was wondering if anyone else felt like this. sorry for the ranting.

i agree with what you say. when i shoot film, i put effort into, im careful not to waste shots, and when it comes back and you throw a saturated color slide on the wall, there is absolutely nothing like it.
with digital, people shoot 1000s of photos and get one good one, then show ot off and think they are the man.

ill stop now.

Big Mike · Feb 15, 2005

The camera is just a tool with the means to create a photo.

Do you think that carpenters feel cheap when they first used a power saw? Do you think less of a table because the carpenter used a power saw and a power drill to make it? I don't...I might appreciate the effort if it had been completely hand made, but that does not make it a better table.

There are still carpenters using hand saws and there are still photographers using b&w film and doing their own developing. Digital is not cheating...it's just the latest tool.

PreludeX · Feb 15, 2005

then everyone should dump photoshop and learn to shot it the way its supposed to be shot

and not use photoshop to alter things.... thats IMO

Digital Matt · Feb 15, 2005

Photoshop doesn't change the way things are supposed to be shot. Photoshop doesn't change the amount of effort that should be put into a photograph. Photoshop doesn't make bad photos good.

thomash · Feb 15, 2005

Yeah I try to use Photoshop as little as possible. Makes me feel stupid when I have to make a photo look nice through digital processing.

The thing I miss most about film is you shoot a whole film, bring it to the development place and you can't wait to get there the next day and pick it up. It's a really nice surprise when you get a film back that's got a few really nice shots in it. This whole surprise element gets cut out with digital. It always felt a bit like the excitement before Christmas when I was a kid.

Thomas

Digital Matt · Feb 15, 2005

I get the same surprise when I get home and unload my memory card. I get another surprise after I've processed the raw, and then the tiff, and gotten the most out of it that I can.

I get the feeling that a lot of people who slam digital don't shoot it, and hence know very little about it, or, haven't put for any real effort into getting professional results from it, and dismiss it as some kind of fad for the amateur. It's made to seem like any one can buy a digital camera, take a 1000 pictures, run them through photoshop, and get some kind of masterpiece. It's just not true.

I take great pride in my digital photography, which I put forth my maximum effort and care into every time I do it, and it's a bit tiring having to defend it on every forum I go to.

Nikon Fan · Feb 15, 2005

Digital Matt said:
I take great pride in my digital photography, which I put forth my maximum effort and care into every time I do it, and it's a bit tiring having to defend it on every forum I go to.

And you can tell it in your photos Matt

You can tell that you put everything into each shot, and make it your own and that inspires at lot of people at this forum. So don't feel you have to defend yourself b/c your work stands on it's own

When I first really started photography last fall, I thought that photoshop was "the devil" because I was loving the darkroom, and didn't really understand photoshop to be the digital darkroom...but now that I've actually tried it, I LOVE IT!!! It is a topic that goes around all forums all the time, and no one will ever solve it

To each his or her own

thomash · Feb 15, 2005

I agree to what you say and I'm not slamming digital. I haven't shot a film since I received my digital.
Shooting with digital especially when you're an amateur is incredibly convenient. You can correct exposure mistakes straightaway. You can check that the composition is alright on your display. You can check if the subject has the right pose or if you need to change something, .... It's obvious that it makes it easier to shoot nice photographs because you can correct mistakes straightaway and get an impression of the shot right after shooting. This is absolutely great.

What I find though is that this convenience comes at a price and the price is this surprise element, Sure you still have that when you stick your memory card into the computer. But it's not nearly as exciting as when you bring a film to development and are all excited the next day on your way to the photo shop. You open your bag with the photos and you've got something physically tangible in your hand. The direct result of what you shot before.
Well maybe that's a personal opinion. What I'm saying is that's how it is for me.

The benefits of digital outweigh this though. But that's how life goes with everything new you loose nice things but also gain a lot.