Dirty Photos
Analogue (film) photos get their fair share of dust, scratches, hair, discolourations, etc. There was, however, something cool about those annoyances. They some how weren't/aren't as annoying as they should be, especially compared to digital photos. Heck, some of these are seen as so cool now that you can retroactively ruin your digital photographs with "filters" that introduce such things.
Some of the best photos I've ever taken were ruined by dust on the sensor. Normally I'd take test photos and perhaps even try to clean the sensor before heading on holiday, or photographing important stuff. At times though, I just forgot and only found out after the fact, when it was too late, that either my lens, or sensor, was covered in dust.
In poor light, when the aperture of the lens is wide open, dust particles on censors and lenses don't usually appear in the photos. They are too out of focus to register - even though a close inspection may reveal that they're there.
However, when taken photos on a sunny day, with the aperture closed down to f11 or above, any speck of dust or hair will show up very clearly in photos. This is even more so if you're taking photos of bright, clear/plain vistas like the sky.
Some of the best photos I've ever taken, some irreplaceable, were ruined by dust on the sensor. The above photo was one of them - that is, until I decided to spend some time cleaning it p in post. The photo was taken in Venice, Italy, in the most beautiful golden hour that ever occurred in the history of the universe. In my excitement, I didn't notice the dust while taking the photos. I also have the habit of not reviewing photos in the viewfinder once I've taken them. It's a film photography thing - I don't have that "check the photo" reflex that digital natives have.
Anyway the dozens of photos I took of the Venetian skyline were all terribly ruined by the dust on the sensor. To be honest, I'm not quite sure how so much dust got into the camera. I hand't changed the lens outdoors or anything like that. I think it may have just been building up over the months. I had only used the camera in low light (in England) at wide apertures, so it's likely the dust had always been there and just I just didn't notice.
In this second photo you can see the dozens of spots all over the photo. It's worse if you view it in full rez. This wasn't the worst one either.
I went in and cleaned each one out by using the Healing tool in my photo editing software. I only did one photo so far, and I'm relatively happy with the result. When I get the time, I'm going to do more photos. I don't think I'll fix all of them because it'd take too long. Perhaps I'll just pick my top 10 and do those slowly in my spare time.
I don't know why it'd never occurred to me to do this. I think I was just too annoyed by the dust to have given it a proper thought.
After I finish with the Venice photos, I have some others from places like Rome to bring back to life. Who knows, I might even print one of them for the living room wall.
Peace & Love,
Adé
I think the photos have character. It is a captured moment in time. Even the dust on the sensor or lens will remind you of something and make you smile at your forgetfulness. Some of my favorite photos of my time in the service were taken in dirty environments and had many imperfections. It makes them all the more special.
You right. Apart from being some of my favourite photos, the dust thing made me internalise all the other events that occurred that day around taking the photo. It's been about 7 years or so, but I still remember the day like it was yesterday :)