Large Format Photography

Although 35mm photography was a boon to photojournalism, a large amount of detail was lost as cameras got smaller. A negative not much larger than a large postage stamp simply couldn’t contain the same amount of information as negatives such as the 8 by 10 inch format represented by this picture of Notre Dame Cathedral which I took in the early 70s. The problem has been remedied, however, thanks to the advent of modern digital photography. Now with a palm sized Nikon camera, I’m taking pictures than contain 10 megabits of information per inch, producing ultra sharp images on par with what could be contained in a page sized negative.

But back to the 8 by 10 inch negative printed above, look at the incredible amount of detail – you can see the copper plates on the cathedral rook; the flying buttresses look like sharp knives holding up the nave; and look at the detail in the stone work around famous rose window on the south façade.

However, as much fun as my J210 class had printing this picture, I have to admit it was even more fun when I took it home and scanned it and manipulated the image in photoshop. Below is the pre-photoshoped version – muddy and lifeless. For PPT comparison, click here.