Digital Photos have no soul

[jonnyblades]

Ive only got a digi camera,its a good one im quite proud of it. But when i compare my best of photos, to ones that are done old school, there is no comparison. my photos have no soul, whats the best way to get near to it?

[Mike Jackson]

What camera have you got?

[MagpieMick]

Nearly all digital image need some sharpening and your adjustments that will get the best out of the image...

[nutmeg]

I don't really understand what you mean by 'soul' - would it be possible to post examples of your digital and film images to get a better idea of what you feel is lacking?

[Lancashire Lad]

I think I know what jonnyblades means. When I compare projected digital images to those of say Kodachrome 25 transparencies there is a tangible underlying difference.

The Kodachrome pics. appear to have a more subtle colour rendition. I believe it is because of the inability, as yet, of the digital sensor to capture the full dynamic range in the same manner that the film did.

I'm not sufficiently concerned to go back to film use though , The benefits of digital far outweigh the slight compromise, and a bit of post camera tinkering with Paintshop Pro (or similar) can usually provide a suitably pleasing final result. - Good enough for me anyway.

Regards
Mike.

[Maccattack1]

Kodachrome25 ! I remember that...
Each film had particular characteristics and when we got used to them we could use that to our advantage , there was also the anticipation of getting your films back so we probably attatched more emotion to our successes (especially aswe paid for each shot unlike now) .Also take loads more shots and everyone is a photographer now.

Still got my 25 slides .

Maybe to get "soul" you might try getting a tripod and taking fewer pictures,hasn't helped me yet but sounds plausable.

Malcolm

[zan]

I'm not sure how you achieve it, but I think you have to view a DSLR as a different animal to a film camera. Where you would once choose your film, you now have to post-process, and I think having a look around at some of the online guides might help you get some punch in your images, if not the soul. I like to flick through the wildlife photographer of the year portfolios for a bit of inspiration every so often Usually find that helps with the enthusiasm a bit too - and all those images these days are shot on DSLRs, from 400d equivalent up.

Otherwise, I don't really know how to help you unless you could post some images for us to see with a more specific problem?

[Geoff F]

I would suggest that a lot of problems with digital photography lies with camera use. In the 'good old days' you had to get the image correct 'in your head' and make certain about correct camera settings, angles and composition. While, today, too many people just select auto and keep clicking in the hope that one of those photos might work out OK. But, much of the time, I still use manual camera controls.

Certainly, I always give my images a little bit of a tweak with curves and sharpening (not too much though) to bring out the very best result.

And, far too often, I see friends taking their camera cards to a cut price printer shop and return with those third rate prints that originally drove me to digital.

Different printing paper also gives widely varying results, just like different film types gave different effects.

ps. I would suggest having a look at this site and reading all of the free tutorials http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tut...a-metering.htm it might take a bit of time to understand everything but there is a lot of good advice there.

[sidewalkdoctor]

There is a range of "plug-ins" for PhotoShop which replicate particular film characteristics eg; Tri-X 400, Ilford HP5, Agfa 100/25 etc.

The name to look for is "SILVER OXIDE". I have nearly 50mb worth on my PC but rarely use them. So many film types, too little time.

PM me if you need further info.

Ben

[acherontia]

I seriously don't believe that film is better than digital. Ok -transparencies look good but what a nightmare that system was. And how expensive is medium format these days?

As Zan says - just look at some of the expert images taken with digital. Imaginative use of lighting and apertures and some thoughtful post processing can really make an image show soul - as can unusual angles and capturing an unusual pose. All the old pros would use digital darkroom techniques to optimise their images and digital post processing is the modern day equivalent.
Then there's a wealth of knowledge to learn about printing. Just taking it to 'Asco's' won't do any image justice.

It's all very complicated and , if the artistic talent and commitment to learn is there the soul of the image will eventually shine through! At least I hope so!!

Acherontia