Matthew Allen

When I worked at Surfer Magazine I was one of the first to bemoan the advent of digital photography. I loved, and still do love the look of photos shot with film. However, I have changed my tune a bit over the last few years and here is why. I can combine Adobe LightRoom and PhotoShop to essentially have my own darkroom. I can “develop” my photos to look exactly how I want them to look. I don’t need to have access to my own darkroom, or rely on someone else to properly develop and print my photos. Just as I would if I were shooting film, I know what look I am going for when I shoot. I know how I will “process” my digital files. I also have the control to crop my photos without sending them to a lab to be reprinted. Basically the ball is in my court to make the shots look the way I want them to look.

I still shoot film with my Holga, Octomat, Action Sampler, Fisheye, Diana and just about any other Lomographic camera I can find. These cameras counterbalance the complete control I have with digital. Lomos give me limited control and getting the photos back from shooting with Lomos is exciting.

In the end I think it is fun to shoot both film and digital photos. Digital lacks the charm of film. Film takes some of the control out of my hands.

That said, the above photo was shot with a digital SLR. I then overlayed it on a book jacket that I found in the school library when I went to Cal Poly SLO. I bumped up the contrast on the book jacket and arrived at the look I wanted.

I think in the end, for me, it is a matter of finding a way to evoke emotion through photography. If I can get people to feel something when they see one of my photos then I’ve achieved my goal.

That reminds me, I’ve got to drop off about 5 rolls to get developed. $$$

Photo: Matthew Allen

Photo: Stoner

Ron Stoner is one of my favorite surf photographers and I’m lucky enough to have come across digital files of many of his images. Here’s a great one taken at Blacks Beach in La Jolla.

Blacks Beach welcomes in the new year.