An interesting ongoing thread in clubsnap.org on what constitutes salon photography...... exerpt from
Tan Eng Loy, ARPS

Quote ".....Let me just say that salon photography does not equate to:

1) Black background
2) Everything sharp
3) Non-tilted standard 180? horizon and 90? trees
4) Posed/contrived, set-up shots

If it seems so to many, unfortunately I think it has been the undoing of the local (Singapore) (and perhaps regional) traditional camera clubs, who have been propagating this misconception by setting up too many posed/controlled situations for their members to shoot.

As I've mentioned, simply put, salon photography had its origins in wanting photography to be recognised as an art form rather than as a science in capturing, making and printing images. And this is very open to interpretation. Keep an open
mind and take a look at pictures by others that are submitted in international salons/competitions and hopefully you'd see what I mean (good starting points: The Photographic Society of America (http://www.psa-photo.org/), Gallery of Nations
(http://home.mn.rr.com/milansedio/index.html) , The Royal Photographic Society's Digital Imaging Group (http://www.digit.org.uk)).

I had the chance to observe a local club's distinction (what Azure refers to as "rubbish") judging session recently. One of the sections where panel can be marked down on is that if the panel submitted contains too many pictures of posed/set-up
situations. There were so many of such panels submitted unfortunately. The stricter judges failed them immediately (for lack of creativity/originality) of course " End of Quote

These discussions are healthy and it made me reflect upon myself as to how much or little salon styles have affected my own style of photography and how it affects my personal evolution in imaging perspectives.

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Spent last Sunday morning on a group shoot with a twist......only odd cameras were allowed. I'd given my 6x6 Iskra folder a bit of a dusting off and it was more like a camera admiring/wanking rally with everyone (yeah guilty me included) ooohhing and ahhhing each other's ancient cameras. Russian rangefinders and TLRs dominated the morning.

If these were SLRs or Digital Cameras.......we would've been lynched by real photographers......but because we were all lugging around creaking clunkers.....camera worship seemed more acceptable.

One said "....Anyway, it was quite a refreshing experience to at least get to know fellow snappists who shared the common passion, particularly, the mental excitement of deciding every single moment of mental calculation for exposure, shutter speed, DOF, etc., in hope of seeing a spectacular picture turn out the way you have planned it....." (Ed: sick puppy)

...while another said "...the fun for the hobbyist is the challenge involved in getting your tones and etc with the bare minimum, call me sour grapes, but I prefer my manual cams over the F5 anyday...." (Ed: sicker puppy)

.....and ANOTHER said "...Personally, I like using them for the entire photo taking experience that they offer - from the leisurely walk, to the framing, to the choosing of lenses, to the calculating (or guessing) of the exposure, to the focusing, to the hard mechanical feel when you finally press the shutter, and yes, even the winding of the film. Heck, I even like that little tension in the gut when you're concentrating on all of these AND at the same time thinking about composition. Oh, and sometimes you gotta hurry up and bracket while shooting a moving subject. Gives the brain a real workout! But I love every second of it... " (Ed: the sickest pup....in need of a good psychiatrist)

AND I SAID "I just enjoy the pain and the frustration"

We had a ball of a time that morning and I'm bringing the ol' Kiev 4am for the next croaking cameras' pow-wow. Thanks to Lester Ledesma for organizing the get-together shoot at the Hindu Temple along Serangoon Rd.

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I was offered a 3 month old Canon 300D Digital SLR and its packaged 18-55 lens for US$650.......quite a steal actually considering its minty condition and realitive young age. Still I turned it down.......Go ahead, send me flame and hate mail, I just HATE its plasticky silver color.

Actually its owner was also starting to feel stupid carrying around the entry-level colored camera and was looking to switch over to Nikon's equivalent class D70 Digital SLR.....THAT at least didnt scream "I'm a newbie lowest rung Digital SLR"

You arent helping the thousands and thousands of us wannabes, weekend pretend-to-bes and dreamers in the dressing up department. I mean, the 300D just doesnt go with my photo vest, Domke F9 and other gear that's supposed to make me at least look like a Reuters/AP/AFP/press or National Geographic photographer.

Just imagine.....tens of thousands of Regular Joes, who're keen closet bikers likening themselves to their heros in the movie Easy Riders or Kenny Roberts wannabes.... go into their regular weekend fantasy role-switching mode....Putting on black leather pants and jacket, Hell's Angels 'Kiss MY Ass'/ 'Eat My Smoke' T-shirt, riding boots and half-shell helmets and then go astride a Harley or Katana painted in a geeky pastel pink

COME ON Canon......with all that you've spent on marketing surveys on what kinda colors we like...... was that a stupid move or was that just plain stupid? You got the message loud and clear with the silver bodied poweshot G cameras that the G5 came in a stealthy BLACK. You want to give your customer that illusion of class, that superficial wet dream that he's got a classy camera.

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Rangefinder addicts rest easy.....news just came out that Leica is devloping a digital solution for its rangefinders......I guess they have to........I sincerely believe that the height of development has been reached in film....not because R&D cant push that technology further....but more because it looks like a big chunk of R&D funding will go towards digital imaging instead.

Just imagine if this did NOT happen......20 years from now, about 3 million Leica Ms and even more lenses ....being truly collectibles and relegated to display pieces or paperweights for lack of actual film and facilities/resources to get them developed at all.

Or it might not be that bad with NO film at ......years from now, expensive Leica equiptment might suffer the indignity of being sullied by paying $30 for a roll film in 2020 (THE SAME film TODAY that's dirt cheap at $1/roll and unwanted/unheard of like the Russian produced Colpan) that purists wouldnt touch with a 10-foot pole today. No different from the current situation where I cant lay my hands on the old style, old formula, Kodak 'Pan 100 anymore.

This is good too because its almost a given that the 'other' rangefinder producers like Contax (yippeee!!!) and Voigtlander will be close behind or even ahead (after all its a tech race and I've yet to hear of a German company pulling and staying ahead of a Japanese company in ANY area concerning consumer electronics....send me an email and prove me wrong please .... I'll publish it in the next log) Update:...Looks like Cosina and Epson is coming out with a combined effort to produce a digital rangefinder as well....pics from PMA showed a mock up model complete with a collapsible Leitz 50mm and a film rewind lever (???) ......the LCD looks like a flip-out Canon G style screen!

OK excerpts of the press release from Leica......

Quote ".....Another step in this direction is the development of a digital solution for the Leica rangefinder system, which has already been in the works for some time. The Leica company now confirms the speculations published in the Dow Jones Newswire of 6 February 2004.

For a long time, physical constraints were the obstacles to digital solutions for rangefinder cameras: Because of the absence of a mirror box as it exists in single lens reflex cameras, the rear element of a lens is often located very near the image plane. As a result, light rays strike that plane at an oblique angle, and this causes quality problems with today?s sensor technology. ?Based on a preliminary development project, we are now certain that a new generation of sensors with improved micro-lenses will lead to an image quality of the level that is expected of Leica?, informs Mr. Coenen.

?With the new financial means, we are now in a favorable position for developing a solution that will enable our customers to enjoy the superb quality of our lenses to their full extent in digital applications as well?, continued Mr. Coenen. According to the strict Leica standards, an image resolution of at least 10 million pixels is required for this purpose. ?In the digital world, the true Leica M feeling also requires high precision mechanisms and the renowned Leica range-viewfinder. According to Mr. Coenen, ?The corresponding solution is now in preparation.? End Quote

to be continued.....