BDPC MEMBERS ONLY - PLEASE SEND YOUR ARTICLE/S TO THE - WEBMASTER
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ BARRY HAINES - APRIL 08
TRUEGRAIN, FOR YOUR DIGICAM - FOR LOVERS OF BLACK AND WHITE FILM
TRUEGRAIN I THINK IS AN EXCELLENT IDEA....I HAVE DOWNLOADED THE LENGTHY 595MB (THAT IS THE TOTAL OF ALL THE CURRENT FILM LIBRARIES - AT PRESENT)
IT REALLY IS QUITE SUPERB.....I HAVE ONLY USED THE DEMO AS IT COSTS $300 TO BUY OR $255 THROUGH DOP WITH 15% DISCOUNT SEE http://grubbasoftware.com/dop.html
THE FREE DEMO IS EXACTLY THE SAME AS THE FULL PROGRAMME, EXCEPT YOU CAN'T SAVE AND PRINT YOUR IMAGES....MAKES SENSE OR NOBODY WOULD BUY IT!
THE GRAIN STRUCTURE IS SUPERB, WITH BY FAR THE CLOSEST YOU CAN GET TO A BLACK AND WHITE FILM - GOING THROUGH A DIGICAM CONVERSION METHOD - IMHO
AS I UNDERSTAND IT - IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ADJUSTING NOISE SETTINGS (THIS METHOD NEVER DID GIVE A VERY SATISFYING LOOK IMO)....IT ALL HAS TO DO WITH VERY HIGH-END DIGITAL SCANS OF ACTUAL FILM GRAIN FROM A GOOD OLD CONVENTIONAL FILM CAMERA IN 110,135,120MM FILM FORMATS
YOU BASICALLY SELECT THE FILM TYPE WITH ITS PRESELECTED FILM DEVELOPER (RODINAL AND D76 ARE USED FOR CERTAIN FILM STOCKS)....THEN YOU CAN CHOOSE WHICH BW FILTER - YELLOW, YELLOW GREEN. GREEN, YELLOW ORANGE, RED...THIS AUTOMATICALLY CHANGES THE SPECTRAL RESPONSE - DEPENDING ON WHICH FILTER IS USED
YOU CAN CUSTOMISE THE FILM SPECTRAL RESPONSE CURVE (AND SAVE YOUR FAVOURITE CUSTOMISED SETTING....OR JUST USE THE PRESET SETTINGS)
YOU CAN CONTROL THE DYNAMIC RANGE....PLOT STEEPER OR A LONGER TONAL COMPRESSION....THROUGH CURVES....+ SAVE YOUR FAVOURITE TONAL CURVE SETTING
YOU CAN EVEN CONTROL THE OPACITY / INTENSITY OF THE GRAIN STRUCTURE....IF YOU FIND IT TO DOMINATING IN THE IMAGE
THE IMAGE RESOLUTION SETTING IS PRETTY USELESS....I CAN SEE NO POINT TO IT....IT BASICALLY JUST BLURS/SOFTENS THE IMAGE...BEST TO LEAVE IT ALONE - JUST KEEP IT AT THE 100% DEFAULT SETTING....YOU CAN USE PHOTOSHOP ETC... FOR ANY FURTHER ADJUSTMENTS.
THE NEGATIVES IMHO...
THE PRICE IS PRETTY STEEP....BUT THEN THE TIME SAVED IN FILM PROCESSING + THE COST OF FILM, CHEMICALS AND AN ASSORTMENT OF FILTERS COULD ARGUABLY JUSTIFY IT'S EXPENSE I SUPPOSE.
I ALSO DID NOTICE ON CLOSE INSPECTION, THAT YOU CAN SEE SOME VERY TINY SPOTS FROM IMPROPER FILM PROCESSING/FIXING/WASHING OR WHATEVER ON CERTAIN CONVERSIONS (BUT NOT ON ALL)....BUT THESE COULD BE VERY EASILY REMEDIED WITH THE CLONE TOOL/ SPOT HEALING BRUSH TOOL ETC... IN PHOTOSHOP
TRY IT YOURSELF FREE DOWNLOAD HERE http://grubbasoftware.com/download.html
CONCLUSION.
IF YOU COME FROM A BLACK AND WHITE FILM BACKGROUND LIKE MYSELF AND YOU WANT (MISS) THAT FILM LOOK FOR YOUR DIGITAL CAMERA IMAGE FILES....NOTHING ELSE COMES ANYWHERE NEAR AS CLOSE AS THIS....EXCEPT FOR HAVING A SMELLY OLD DARKROOM OF COURSE.
Q. WOULD I BUY IT?
A. YES - IF I HAD THE MONEY
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Brian Ross - December 2002In Pursuit of the Perfect Picture We are mainly amateur photographers who take pictures for our own enjoyment. Most of our pictures (prints or slides) are taken with competitions in mind. No money is awarded, but the prestige of winning a camera club competition or better, a regional, national or even international competition is great. Many photographers strive for accreditations and other honours which mark the level they have attained. “ARPS”, “CPAGB”, “BPE2” and “AFIAP” are examples of accreditations that some amateur photographers gain. All competitions are judged by an independent external judge. They will often look for the following qualities in a print or slide to determine a winner: Quality – Focus should be sharp where necessary and no unintentional blurring of the image, exposure correct, giving a clear image, colours accurate or if monochrome, a full tonal range. Quality is not so important when the author is using creativity to produce an artistic image, although it is normally considered to be essential for pure “record” photography. Composition and Balance – the traditional rules of composition are still used extensively today. A well balanced picture with a good lead-in and a focal point on one of the “thirds” is usually found to be pleasing on the eye. However, modern works that break all the rules are favoured by some judges. Impact – if this is the first picture you notice when you walk into a room full of photographs, then it is likely the judge will favour it over others. Sometimes, impact can be increased by simplicity, or minimalism Artistic flare / Originality – we all like to think our picture is original. The truth though is that very rarely can you produce a truly original photograph. Artistic creativity is easier to achieve and photographers often try to develop a style that is associated only with them. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ David Faldo 30/01/08 "The club has recently entered the Photographic Alliance of Great Britain (PAGB)
Great British Cup for Projected Digital Images.
This is the first year the competition has been run and we have submitted the
required 20 images.
There was a very good response from our members and the final 20 No. images
were chosen out of a selection of over 130 photographs.
The closing date for the submission was the 2nd February 2008 and the
results should be known at the end of March.
A CD of all the images should be available in September"
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