Do you ever deliberately flip a print from the way it appeared in real life, because you thought it looked better? Do you think this is ok to do?
I read about a guy shooting in-camera Illfochromes and they always came out flipped, and he rarely did anything about it unless there was a giveaway in the image, because it really looks fine, to those who were not present at the original scene.
Do you ever deliberately flip a print from the way it appeared in real life, because you thought it looked better? Do you think this is ok to do?
I read about a guy shooting in-camera Illfochromes and they always came out flipped, and he rarely did anything about it unless there was a giveaway in the image, because it really looks fine, to those who were not present at the original scene.
Yep. I do it if it helps the image meet my artistic objectives. I stress to anyone who will listen that my images are not documentary -- they are art. They aren't intended to replicate the scene in anyway. That includes flipping. Artist's prerogative.
A few times I have composed a scene on ground glass and then preferred to print it flipped... probably because it fit my memory better.
I have noticed that quite a few scenes look equally good to me when printed either way, while some seem to be strongly 'polarized' - tending to look much better one way than the other.
Anyway, sure, I think it's okay to do as long as it doesn't fundamentally misrepresent something e.g architecture and such. It'd certainly not be appropriate in photojournalism.
Photo editors for publications have been doing it since pictures could be flipped. It usually involved flipping a persons picture so it would face into the page for aesthetic balance.
Not on purpose, but about 15 years ago I reverse-printed a few dozen Agfa Super Pan Press negs from the thirties & forties. I guess I had enjoyed a bit too much "Tonal enhancer" and thought that the "SSERPNAPREPUSAFGA," as it appeared on the print, must be wrong. So I flipped the negative, and all that followed.
It wasn't until the next day that I noticed the Richfield Betholine sign, as well as all of the signs and license plates, in all of my prints, were backwards.
I think I read a thread recently highlighting the comical mistakes we all make in the darkroom. This is my contribution to that list.
Last edited by Thomas Wilson; 05-29-2009 at 09:19 PM. Click to view previous post history.
I guess it all depends on the subject and photographer. I'm against "flipping" in my personal work and would never do it. Now if other photographers do, that's fine, doesn't bother me. It's just one of those things I guess, like do you print full frame or crop?
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Originally Posted by BetterSense
