Digital Voodoo - Digital Photography
Provided by: David Hessell
Digital photography has changed the way we look at photography. Digital photography has changed what we think of as art. Digital photography has changed the way I think as an photographer and as an artist. Digital photography has changed art, period. I love it.
Forget the classic darkroom. I can now take an image of my wife, and within five minutes, have her image posted on my website. Even better, give me a few more minutes and I can e-mail copies to my friends and family all over the world. Take that another step farther, and I can have an article and a dozen or so variations posted on the web as well. Unreal, yet very common place. What was once called Digital Voodoo in the local camera club, is now a legitimate art form.
This article came about when I took some images of my wife, Captain Cynthia Hessell, U. S. Army Reserve, while she was home one weekend while on active duty at Fort Jackson, SC. We live in Hudson, NC, but for the past ten months have been apart while she serves her country and I stay at home and hold down the fort ... Water the plants and feed her five cats. I do what I can for my country in a time of need. We visit each other as much as possible, but ten months (and counting) is ten months.
Of all the pictures I took with a Sony Mavica MVC-FD83 (an outdated, low quality, floppy disk type, point-n-shoot camera), I downloaded one image, used Adobe PhotoDeluxe, and experimented with as many variations as space for this article would allow, and then some. Very simple, very basic special effects that show the magic of digital photography and the limitless possibilities that are available; all at the push of a button.
Adobe PhotDeluxe is a very basic, simple to use image software program that allows you to take an image, preform "Digital Voodoo", and come away with a finished piece of art. From the traditional to the outrageous, everything is geared for the digital beginner, no matter what your photography level is. I like it. Think of it as PhotoShop 101. I have more advanced software but never use it. Really.
I find the basic PhotoDeluxe does everything I want it to and stop at that. Maybe someday I'll outgrow it and move on, but for now, I'll stick with the easy to follow "Start Here" buttons and follow directions. I like to keep it simple - in a complex way! The computer allows me that paradox.
Never mind the fact that I cropped the image, darken the image, and "sharpened" (more digital voodoo) the image before I even began with the special effects the program allows for. These are just a few different way to begin to take your art to another level. I love it. True, most of my normal use of digital magic is dealing with the age old problems of dust, highlights and shadows, cropping, and color shifts. Very basic, very minimal. I have done the same things (except the color control) for years in the traditional black and white darkroom. Forget the color, I leave that up to the professionals, I known my limitations. The computer has changed all that, and I don't have to worry about all the sheets of paper I wasted in the darkroom with that color filter pack. My favorite button, and one used most often, is the UNDO button. Works wonders. Don't like the color shift? Push the button. Simple.
I still shoot most of my work with film, but I do enjoy the freedom digital work offers me. In fact, even if I shoot with film, digital photography plays a major role in my work. My web site, www.hessell.net, is made up of film (color slides) images that were scanned into my computer using a Canon 2710 film scanner and then downloading them onto my website. Not bad for computer novice, film based photographer. I even set up and run my own website thanks to the genius of www.tripods.com, a website devoted to people like me that need help in doing anything related to technology. The trick is to get in there and try things out, be creative. Oh, and pay the $35 a year fee. Money well spent. I like the control. If I see something that needs fixing, I can get in, fix it, and be on my way; anytime, from any computer. Nice.
Nothing I use is really cutting edge technology. It must also be stated that the computer is no substitute for good photography skills. The better the original image, the better the results. The art of photography is still very much alive. Digital photography is just another tool that allows people to explore their vision in a new way. Art is art. Digital art is just a result of the 21st century, no less an art form then cave painting was in its day. Enjoy it while you can, for it is sure to evolve and change, just like every other art form has. Go ahead, jump in. Who knows what we will be using in five, ten years.
This article, along with the different images, is just to get you thinking about the possibilities of digital photography. It has been around for a number of years and is very much a part of the photographic world in which we live. Embrace it, welcome it, indulge in it, experiment with it. Hi-tech, or low budget hand-me-downs, see where your digital photography can take you. I can't complain, it gave me the opportunity to see my wife in a new light, or digital pixel, or whatever you call it. She is still beautiful in my eyes, no matter what button I push.
One aspect of photography that is often overlooked, even by photographers, is the role that emotion plays in the final product. In fact, what is the final product? Is the final outcome of a photograph the image itself or the emotion it evokes? What drives people to make images? What is the purpose of any given image?
Emotion can not be overlooked. I teach photography at the junior college level and find this one of the most difficult aspects of photography to convey to my students. It is much easier to ask, and answer, questions dealing with the technical aspects of image making: What kind of film do you use? What f-stop did you use? Which camera did you use? Students ask these questions over and over again. Other photographers ask these questions as well, and just as often. Funny thing - editors seldom (I hate to say "never") ask these questions. No, I have never been asked what camera system I use? What aperture? What tripod? Truth is, it does not matter. The "final product" is what they are interested in, not how I got it, or whether or not it was a mistake.
I teach photography at Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute in Hudson, North Carolina. One class, three rules. I start each class with a guarantee. I tell every student that shows up for a Tuesday/Thursday 7pm class that I can make them a better photographer. Guaranteed. Period.
Simple. In fact, I go on to say that after the first night, if they follow my three simple rules, they will already have all it takes to be a better photographer. No shutter speeds, no apertures. No exposure. No technical jargon. No numbers.
I am always looking for an excuse to take pictures. Truth is, it doesn't need to be much - a nice sunny morning, a foggy evening, a new filter, the way the light hits the wall in the living room, whatever. Starting the new year out with a new camera just makes it all that much easier for me to drop everything and plan a few minutes getting away from it all and learn what this new toy is all about.
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