The Analogue to Digital Continuum

I recent years I’ve more than enjoyed spending time with my film cameras and their resulting images.

The negatives / transparencies get scanned, and out pops a digital asset, a JPG or a TIFF.

But it’s still a film photo, isn’t it.

The scans might have varied colours or not look quite right, so a tweak or two makes them look “better”.

But it’s still a film photo, isn’t it.

The composition wasn’t quite right, or the horizon wasn’t level, so another tweak.

But it’s still a film photo, isn’t it.

I’ve been cavalier, I’m not a purist.

But this image of ferns got me thinking.

Made with my Yashica Mat LM on Kodak Gold 200 at F3.5, I love the focus fall off, but also noticed a few marks on the negative.

The grain issue obviously noticeable at 100%, as are dust spots, and a hair.

But if I remove every blemish, it’s not a film photo, is it?

Image of a fern at 100%, on left with a hair on the negative, on the right it's been removed by Apple Photos ai clean up function