just in case you thought large format was easy.....

so the image below is straight outta camera. somehow a mix of developing and loading caused a monumental amount of scratches, chemical residue, and the like. the awful thing about this is that i LOVE this image. LOVE it enough to spend the time to make it look real pretty.




film can be unpredictable sometimes.... there are so many elements that go into play when you are using something that requires more than bits and bytes. sometimes these little happenstances are marvelous. if this image was for another project, or just for me, i'd probably leave the mess... maybe only clean up around the face. it gives it character, shows that it is film. but sometimes, for beauty or to get the point across, the viewer needs the mess removed so he can just get to the point, agreed?

I LIKE that film keeps me on my toes. I have to keep telling film that I love it so it will behave. I actually enjoy spotting (digitally. hang me if it is on a silver print! egads). It is worth it to blow up the image to 100% and STILL see DETAIL in all the small and large parts of the image, not pixels. Film has personality in and of itself. And, thankfully, me and film get along just fine.