It's All In The Details...

Photos: S. Banos

One thing that really kills it for me is when you have the makings of a great scenic, and the sky's a wash- I'm talking of course, of blown out highlights. I've seen way too many of them online- and I'm the very last guy to ask what percentage of this is due to the highlight limitations of digital sensors and/or the fact that they're just low res/online only jpegs.

The shot above was as much experiment as anything else- looking straight out, the light was blinding, and I was curious to see just what the hell would come out. Honestly, I didn't expect much; fortunately, experience dumb luck kicked in, I nailed the exposure, and I'm really quite amazed at what an inch and a half of Tri-X can do (on an 8 bit, low res scan no less).  I just don't see how a digital sensor could have possibly fared as well...

Likewise, I almost didn't take the picture below because I 'knew' the white, featureless, upper left sky would be completely blown out. And yet, there it was, right on the scan- detail! Or I should say, some measure of tonal value. True, I have darkened it a bit, the point being- there is, in fact, something to actually darken. Again, I don't think a digital sensor would have come through- particularly considering I had to expose for the shadows! Of course, the day will no doubt come when digital sensors will equal and surpass film's one remaining bastion of superiority.