Earlier this month, I exposed these three views of Pan Am Southern’s autorack train 287 working westward at Buckland, Massachusetts on the old Boston & Maine Fitchburg route.
The color view is a digital photo made with my FujiFilm XT1. This is Jpg using the in-camera Velvia color profile, which I scaled for presentation here, but otherwise left it unmodified in regards to color, contrast, saturation etc.
The black & white photographs are film images, exposed with a Leica IIIA fitted with a 1940s-vintage Nikkor screw mount 35mm lens. I used Ilford Pan F (ISO 50) processed in D76 (1 to 1 with water) and toned in selenium for improved highlights.
I like to work with multiple cameras. I have my favorite of the three photos. Do you have your favorites?
Roger, I prefer the color one also from today’s blog, but I disagree with your comment that it’s time to ditch film or, by implication, b&w. As evidence, please view Saturday’s film b&w photo of sunrise from the “raifan” bridge. It has a particular quality that I doubt can be duplicated by digital means.
Note I am not in the camp of those who prefer analog records over digital CDs or files. Audio reproduction, all other things being equal, does not differ due to the means of producing it when the waveforms to the speaker are identical, which they can be even when digital to analog conversion is needed. This is not the place to describe why.
Is this also true for visual information? I’m not so sure?
I prefer the color shot as it projects the rich contrasts of different greens, blue sky and leaves starting to change in New England.
I miss it to a point. However, I know that after the leaves fall to the ground, everything looks gray, like B&W and the next thing to fall….is snow! UGH! Stick City is how I described winter.
To me, the B&W shots make the shots look like it was taken in the dead of winter because everything looks gray, (read: dead) except one can see the leaves on a bush in the foreground. As I might see the view if I were color blind.
The Springfield (MA) Sunday Republican newspaper used to have a “Rotogravure” aka “Roto Section” (I checked the spelling) that showed everything in “sepia”. If I had my “druthers” , I’d have chosen a sepia filter over B&W. But that’s just me…. Good info!
The color one, do not like black and white. It is 2017, time to ditch the film.