[Leica] EverColor Luminage/Red Dots in Emeryville

[Doug Herr <71247.3542@compuserve.com>]

I met with fellow LUGgers George Hartzell and Gib Robinson at Galen
Rowell's Mountain Light gallery for the opening of an exhibit of EverColor
Luminage prints made from photographs by Galen and by Bill Atkinson.

Jim Brick (I think) and perhaps others have told us the the future is
digital.  Well guys and gals the future is NOW.  At the present state of
the technology, chemical-based film is still the best field technology, but
Evercolor's Luminage prints are quite simply stunning.  Bill Atkinson used
an audio analogy: cassette tapes vs. CDs.  The Luminage prints have no
"tape hiss".

During the Q&A session, Bill and Galen addressed the concerns about digital
image manipulation and a photographer's credibility when using a digital
process.  As several of us have discussed here on the LUG the photographer
him/herself has to decide how much digital work is acceptable given the
context in which the photograph is used.  It's like books: there are
fiction and non-fiction books and as long as the work is clearly identified
as one or the other people can (and eventually will) accept both.  Besides,
image manipulation isn't limited to the digital "darkroom".  Anyone besides
me remember Jerry Ulesman's (sp?) blended images from the 1970's?  What
about solarization, and other dumb darkroom tricks?  Fictional photography
was been with us  long before Photoshop.

Luminage prints are not for the faint of wallet but the cost of the
computer technology is constantly and rapidly going down.  Bill's guess was
that within 3 years the cost will be more feasible for most photographers. 
As for our collective investment in premium optics, fear not!  Technology
like this will let Leica lenses shine like never before.

EverColor's web site is www.evercolor.com.

Doug Herr
Sacramento