20 Sep
2007
Although it may be a tad self-serving, Kodak today released a survey of more than 9000 U.S. professional photographers that revealed 75 percent of them would continue to use film, even as many of them move to digital photography. Stateside photogs, however, appear to be more loyal to film than their European counterparts. A similar survey taken there shows only two-thirds of pros pledging continued allegience to film. One of those pros is Spanish lensman Pep Bonet-you can see a sample of his work below.
"I find film invaluable because the details and look of the photographs are crucial in re-telling the events playing out in front of me," Bonet said in statement released by Kodak.
"I do very little research or preparation prior to traveling to location," he continued. "Instead, I arrive, I observe and ultimately, I trust that my camera and my film will capture the story at hand."
"The stories may be stunning, disturbing or inspiring," he added. "But above all, they are real. There's nothing like film to capture those realities, particularly Tri-X black-and-white film."
In the Kodak survey, 68 percent of the pros preferred film for a number of reasons. Here are some of them.
- Film is superior in capturing more information on medium and large formats (48 percent).
- Film better captures shadow and highlighting details (45 percent).
- Film has a wide exposure latitude (42 percent).
- Film is better for archival storage (38 percent).
- It's easier to create a traditional photographic "look" with film (48 percent).
Speaking of the "look" of film, a good way that I've found to simulate it is with a Photoshop plug-in called Exposure from Alien Skin Software.
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