VIEWFINDER

{viewfinder} Digital Photography Arrives-Even at Arizona Highways

ARIZONA HIGHWAYS PHOTOGRAPHY is entering the Digital Age. There. I've said it.

After 80 years of showcasing the finest print reproduction traditional film allows, the world's premiere scenic magazine has added digital imaging to its repertoire.

I can hear scattered gasps out there. In the past, I unapologetically defended Arizona Highways' preference for film, particularly 4x5 film. I had no qualms. Digital wasn't ready for prime time. But barring the scenic door against digital images generated a lot of criticism.

Well-we've propped open the door. Sort of.

At left are two nearly identical photographs, one from film, one digital. We followed our normal color correction process for the film reproduction, but made only minor contrast, brightness and sharpening adjustments to the digital image. Odds are, I'll be as surprised as you when I compare the results printed in the magazine. But before I reveal which is which, take a closer look. Can you discern any differences? Do you prefer one to the other? Study these photographs and send me feedback as our long-resisted changeover takes place before your eyes.

But beleaguered traditionalists need not fear. We won't abandon film. Granted, mainstream digital images have surpassed 35 mm film and are gaining on medium-format film. However, digital still can't touch large-format film for the full-page reproductions that have made Arizona Highways famous. Digital images will supplant only the photographs that were once the province of smaller film formats. This initial step toward film's ultimate demise offers benefits to magazine publishing. But in our expanding use of digital images, we will hold to the same exacting standards we have for film. Raising the rafters of modern technology in the house photography built is nothing new. Although steeped in tradition, Arizona Highways has always kept up with advancements in the printing arts. Over the years, the magazine's caretakers exercised wise stewardship in upholding its legacy. Now new technologies present advantages that will keep Arizona Highways on the cutting edge. And once again, we must exercise that wise stewardship.

Our fondness for 4x5 film stems from Arizona Highways' demand for photographs of the highest quality. The 4x5 view camera remains unsurpassed for landscape photography, in part due to the size of the image. When it comes to print reproduction, size matters. The larger the original image, the better the reproduction. Typical digital capture still cannot match the amount of information contained on a sheet of 4x5 film.

But the greatest advantage of the view camera lies in its ability to control perspective. Viewcamera movements allow adjustments to the film plane to maintain sharp focus from foreground to background while keeping the lines in a scene perfectly straight and square. This is not possible using cameras with fixed film (or image sensor) planes such as single-lens reflex cameras.

The forced-perspective landscapes that have dazzled Arizona Highways readers for decades are the products of view-camera photography. Look at our front cover and notice how the forced perspective keeps both the foreground sunflowers and distant mountains in sharp focus and proper perspective. Likewise, the spread on pages 8 and 9 provides extraordinary depth of field without distorting the vertical tree trunks as a wide-angle lens on a 35 mm camera would do. Of course, I'm proud that Arizona Highways remains one of the last magazines to offer readers the unique qualities of 4x5 film. As other magazines tout their switch to digital photography, Arizona Highways quietly maintains traditions wrought by 80 years of consistent quality and style. But then, who knows what lies ahead in the next 80 years? By then, Arizona Highways may be boasting of its digital traditions.

Now, what's your verdict on the two photographs at left? The image at top is from film, the one below from digital capture. Surprised?