Re: [APML] (It doesn't have to be) Goodbye

["George Whitney" <gwhitney@maine.rr.com>]

I have to reiterate what Paul Howell has just said about film and CCD and 
the pursuit of the image.  I have been a working professional photographer
since 1968...in newspaper, wire service and commercial photography.
Capturing the image as best possible has always been the rule.  You do what
you have to do to make it work.  This means that at times you have to
compromise, at times you have to join forces, and at times you have to
change tactics.   (I should add that I entered photography through astronomy
and astrophotography.)

I remember well the change from flash bulbs to electronic strobes and how we
felt that electronic strobes just didn't have the purity and "sweetness" of
flash bulbs.  Then we would use the two side by side, as each had their
advantages.  Eventually, electronic stobes came of age and they are now
accepted by all.

Do we older photographers remember the resentment when Kodak introduced
Kodachromes 25, 64, and 200?  How we all ran out and bought up all the
Kodachrome II that we could find?

The point is that we want to make the best images that we can.  We all look
up into the heavens and see the beauty and we let our minds soar!  Capturing
that beauty and its aesthetics is what we are all seeking.  And no one
medium can do it all!  We need to merge the best of both the film and the
CCD worlds and to use them where they best apply.  And most importantly, we
need to merge the talent of both worlds so that we may achieve the highest
degree of success and appreciation in the beauty that we all seek!

I, for one, am in studious awe of the talent and the images on both APML and
SBIG.  I find that both are a wonderful source of knowledge.  I find both
provide me with the inspiration to feed my aesthetic thirst.  And I find it
important to blend the best that each provides.

I raise my glass in toast to both film and CCD and to working together to
our mutual benefit!!!

George Whitney

----------
>From: Paul Howell <paul@howell-ltd.com>
>To: <astro-photo@seds.org>
>Subject: Re: [APML] (It doesn't have to be) Goodbye
>Date: Sun, Nov 4, 2001, 7:24 PM
>

> Stunned silence. If we were talking that would be my reaction after reading
> some of the recent posts about folks leaving this list because they were
> "converting" (is film a religion?) to CCD.
>
> I am a professional commercial photographer. My business is to produce
> compelling images. I am also an avid amateur astronomer. Almost two years
> ago I started imaging for the first time. I chose to start with a CCD
> camera. It seemed that was the way to go but never mind that. It is true
> that I am interested in science, but that isn't what I am trying to do with
> my camera (if it is in fact a camera after all). I'm trying to make great
> photographs. I don't know if I've gotten there yet, but I'm trying. I select
> objects and choose techniques and focal lengths based solely on whether I
> think the combination will make a good, strong image.
>
> I've learned a lot along the way about technique and I was thinking I might
> join the dialog on this list - an astrophotography list.  Never did I
> imagine that astrophotography with a CCD is somehow not astrophotography.
> Blissfully unaware have I been that my painstaking work to romance the
> contrast of the quarter tones just *so* was not in fact, an aesthetic
> pursuit.
>
> I am new to this list (and evidently not long for it either), but there
> seems to be some outright vitriol towards CCD's. Why in God's name? At first
> I thought it was a joke. Then I thought it was funny. I would laugh to
> myself "huh - he's getting mad at a piece of *silicon*". Now I don't know
> what to think. Can anyone possibly explain why a piece of silicon could make
> someone mad?
>
> When I talk about composition, local and global contrast, detail, filtering,
> skyglow, light pollution and other such things related to astrophotography
> are there really two categories - yours and mine? Wow.
>
> Gee, sorry I couldn't stay longer, you folks seem like an interesting lot
> but I gotta go.
>
> -Paul
>
>
>
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