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Well, we’ve all seen the advert, but that’s not what I want to talk
about, so get that out of your head straight away. No, let’s think
about what many call the “Queen of Arts” – namely painting.
Have you ever wandered around a huge Art Gallery and marvelled
at the works by Tintoretto, Raphael, Constable or any master painter
who has produced huge canvasses? Then again, we have many fine
examples of beautiful artwork in cameos and miniatures. In fact, in
all sizes between these two extremes the evidence of creative genius
can be found down through the ages.
However, it’s patently obvious that the correlation between size and
creative genius is poor. Mere size on the premise, “never mind the
quality feel the width” is not the prime element of a masterpiece.
Yes we are fascinated by the Sistine Chapel, for example, by the sheer
scale of the paintings, but it’s the genius of the painter that draws the eye.
It’s also true though that the artist tugs at our heartstrings by the
wealth of detail that working in a large format permits.
In the same way, large format and medium format cameras have
traditionally been the working tools of professional photographers
for many, many years. In a previous article, I suggested that there would
always be room for film, especially for users of the larger formats.
Now, we get to the nub of the matter, because in digital parlance, the wealth
of detail evident in the larger formats is expressed as the size of the file.
Unlike physical dimensions which cannot be changed once the work has been
committed to the recording medium, be it film or indeed canvas size,
the digital file is not so restricted.
Of course, when image size is changed from the original during, say,
image compression, there is generally a loss in quality e.g. jpeg
Even the use of a lossless transformation doesn’t add anything to
the image, it merely preserves what’s there.
However, there is a revolutionary item of image manipulation software
that does totally “change the picture” It comes as a Photoshop plug-in
with Photoshop 6.0 or higher and it’s called “Genuine Fractals” and
here is what the originators claim,
“It’s an indispensable tool for photographers, graphic artists and digital imaging
professionals, Genuine Fractals enables you to create
resolution-independent images from any size file and lets you print superior
quality enlargements without any degradation in image quality”
By saving your digital image with this package as a very small stn file, you
can create lossless files of up to 70Mb and beyond. After saving and re-opening
this file in Photoshop, Genuine Fractal kicks in and you can easily produce
files of a specified size
I was stunned by this software and began to wonder what the impact
might be for both digital photographers and medium/large format
professionals. Of course, as already stated, this increased size does NOT
put extra information into the shot. There again, neither does making a 67
dupe of a 35mm slide improve image quality and many photographers still do
that when submitting to libraries.
Digital photographers may get even more benefits by beefing up the file size
using Genuine Fractals, before printing out enlargements.
This could be very useful for Wedding Photographers who want the
convenience of using a digital camera, but are unhappy about the quality
of enlargements often requested. Using Genuine Fractals may save time
effort and money by eliminating the need for a film backup camera.
On the other hand, it may be that Genuine Fractals may produce the best result with
photos captured from film and then scanned, because noise in the original image
is not removed when enlarged, in fact it will be more obvious. This means that
mid-range digital camera shots are likely to fare worse on enlargment than
film shots captured with 10million pixels+
With a new version Genuine Fractals 3.5 just released, it could be worth a test
and could be a worthwhile investment too. So, if you want to explore this a little
more, get a copy of Amateur Photographer for 23 October 2004 and read
their review of this exciting software.
You can get a free test copy of the software itself from this link
http://www.dcp-systems.co.uk
Why bother with a medium format camera if 35mm caressed by this
Software will do instead? Oh I know I’ll get lectures from purists for even
suggesting something so daft, given superior lenses and better optics,
but for some people that may be just overkill. If this article has opened up the
possibility of a better working method for some freelances, that’s all that matters.
So don’t please run around telling your mates that size does not matter
and that I’ve assigned medium format cameras to the dustbin of history.
No, I’m just shining the spotlight on that funny old coin digital/film
and giving it a flick in the air. Who knows how it will land?
At least I’ve got a 50-50 chance of being right!
Resource Box:
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One of a series of articles by Robert Hartness, successful
freelance and author of an hotlinked, flip-over, e-book,
published on the web in October 2004. It offers a step-by-step
guide to those on the threshold of freelance photography and is
illustrated with 40+ published photographs. Acclaimed as a great
reference source for serious freelancers. More information and
order link - http://www.cashfromyourcamera.com Press Release:
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2004/10/prweb168698.php
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