C A BRACKETT PHOTOGRAPHY

Artist's Statement

Digital:

All of the work I have exhibited on this site was captured with a high resolution Canon 5D SLR digital camera. I work in RAW mode, wherein no in-camera processing is done and where there is no compression. The reason for going to RAW mode is to give the control over the processing to me rather than the camera. This results in finer control over color and tone, enables the compensation for color temperature of the light, and provides a completely non-destructive work-flow.

Digital photography will soon be all there is, mostly, but it carries with it a stigma of "point-and-shoot" and push-the-button-to-print mentality. This is not an informed understanding of the way digital is being used today by professionals and serious photographers. Both straight classical image treatment and artistic image interpretation require as much input from the artist/photographer as did the older wet-chemical processing techniques. The advantages of the digital process include more precise control over the image treatment, whether for traditional interpretations or more abstract treatments or manipulations.

There are many applications for film-based photography, usually for large format cameras used in professional work. This is based on several important technical matters such as dynamic range and the shape of the film's response curve, as well as particular color renditioning and noise and grain characteristis. However, in professional work, much of the time the film image will be scanned at extremely high resolutions and then processed digitally. So, digital Rules, in the end.

There are many afficionados of film photography and wet chemistry processing just because it is so exciting to watch a print develop in the tray. There is definitely a mystique about that which those of us who have done it have a secret respect for.

The point of this little digression however is to assure the purchaser of fine art digital photography that he or she is purchasing "real" photographic images. The art involved is the same in either case, the artistic control is much greater in the digital world, the longevity is similar if not superior (I have seen an Edward Weston print valued in excess of $1 million which exhibited some obscure signs of aging) and the quality can be very similar. Still, those old silver halide prints give to-die-for blacks...