A Transient Rumination

The set of tools that photographer’s use today is rapidly removing the limitations that have traditionally molded the visual possibilities within the medium. What does this expansion of possibilities and the ease at which these variations can be realized do to the process of making images? I wonder why I see so many artists impose upon themselves limitations, whether conscious or unconscious, by choosing materials with defined boundaries. Why have so many people chosen a specific type of paint to work in? Why are there photographers putting the brakes on so to speak and saying “I just want to make pictures” not shoot video, not work on 3D models in Photoshop CS4? When did Photoshop become about 3D wire meshes and editing video? And of course where does the decisive moment fit when your camera can shoot 30 fps in HD-any of which are suitable for publication in many newspapers and websites around the world? Where does the still image fit into this ever changing set of photographic tools?

Original Post September 21, 2008

What a renaissance we are experiencing! Never before have we been able to control everything about an image. Never before have we been able to have ultimate flexibility with our workflow. And very soon we will be able to shoot 1080p video at unheard of quality with a $2700 camera. The Canon EOS 5D Mark II is upon us and it is indeed going to change the nature of what DSLR’s are capable of. Sure, Nikon recently released a D90 capable of shooting 720p video, but the new 5D shoots 21MP stills and 1080p video with some of the best lenses in the industry. From the murmurs on the grapevine those in the know claim it has some of the best low light performance of any video camera they have ever seen. 

I’m not sure how I feel about DSLR’s shooting video-but I do know that with such a capable camera shooting such fantastic video, photographers are going to be changing how they see the world. Will they stop shooting stills? Absolutely NOT! But what will they do with it? That remains to be seen. It is another fundamental shift in the capabilities of our tools and one that will reverberate through the industry.

Original Post September 14, 2008

As a long time Adobe Photoshop user and educator, I am almost loathe to say it: Lightroom will make Photoshop obsolete for many photographers.  Mark my words, the power in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.0 is revolutionary-not evolutionary. It is revolutionary because of it’s focus on photographic workflow, non-destructive editing, and control over every visual nuance in the image. Every tool is geared towards photographic control rather than just graphic control and herein lies the difference. Adobe Photoshop is indeed the 900 lb. gorilla in the room-capable of doing everything Lightroom can do and then some, but so many of the techniques in Photoshop are buried deep in an arcane but necessary understanding of layers, masking, channels, and selections. Lightroom offers up the controls photographers need and want all in an easy to understand and access interface. Add a non-destructive workflow, smart file handling, and reduced file sizes, and you begin to see that making images quickly and efficiently is more appealing than figuring out what an alpha channel is and how to use one.   

As a photographic educator, I have to wonder where Photoshop will be in 5 years. I won’t go so far as to proclaim “Photoshop is Dead!” as Paul Delaroche declared about painting when photography was born, but I’m tempted to say that Photoshop may not be king for too much longer.