I'm wondering in which case my images are more likely to fall within the rules allowing them to be legally posted in the APUG gallery and discussed in the forums.
1) I load a roll of film into an automatic Nikon or Canon or whatever film camera which reads the DX information and makes "proper" exposures for me. I take it to the local lab to be processed by a machine, which then produces a digital print and a digital disk. I either scan the digitally produced print or resize the file from the digital disk and send the image to APUG to be posted in the gallery and discussed by my fellow analog photographers.
2) I load a roll of film or sheet of film into my manual OM 1 or view camera, determine the proper exposure with a built in or hand held meter, make the exposure based on the best data I can collect,process the film and proof it in my darkroom. Review the images and determine how I want to produce my final print. I decide it might look best as a cyanotype. I scan the negative and make an enlarged negative to contact print as a cyanotype. My chemistry is mixed and coated onto the paper based on past experience of what works for making this type of print. I set up my processing line and no, it isn't just water. When the paper is dry I make the exposure in the UV light box I've make for doing my alt process exposures, process the print, air dry it and then flatten it. Spot it with a little Prussian Blue water color in much the same way I've used Spotone for decades and then I scan it to be presented to a group for discusssion. It might also be framed and hung on the wall.
The answer is obvious. In this case the lab digitally produced image is OK and the cyanotype image is not. That was the easy question.
The more telling question might be, "In which case will the members of this organization learn more about analog photography in a discussion about the image and the processes used to produce it?" The answer to this one is also rather obvious.
As one who has spent 40 plus years owning businesses, I learned long ago the most expensive words in any business are, "Because we have always done it that way." Although sometimes painful, change will occur as any organization grows and matures.
Bill Barber
