Alma Lux Photographia

Technique

Most of the photos at Alma Lux Photographia result from digitally scanning professional slide film. Where loss in quality and resolution are not sacrificed, good digital photos from pro DSLRs may be included. With common digital-dark-room processing, these are not digitally changed, except for simple colour, contrast and sharpness adjustments. These are applied to compensate for the digital recording (it being from film or from a digital sensor). If there are cases of unnatural post-processing, it is both intentional and is clearly stated.

What Alma Lux presents, as well as the photographs sold, or in the projects at hand, results faithful to the photographed object. To show that, you can have a look at the original slides on a light box; it makes part of the work of the photographer to find the time and place for the best light, as well as later choosing the best photos; the situations that the photographer seeks, in terms of light, time, place and occasion are, in fact, rare and little known to whom doesn't "write with light"; even film grain may bring up content, detail and volume, so important in bringing up the real in each photo. We try to follow, as much as possible, the concept of straight photography - whatever burns the film is what was there, in that moment! I am then left with only choosing the best photos for people to see. This, sometimes, is not easy at all. Since one of the missions of Alma Lux is bringing up a reality to another place, at work or in a waiting room, one should then follow and respect that way.

I preferably use Fuji slide films (Velvia 50 or 100F, or Provia 100), or Kodak's (GS or VS), Nikon D700, D200 and F80 bodies, the Hasselblad XPAN, the Mamiya M7 (medium format), with Nikon, Sigma, Hasselblad and Mamiya lenses. I scan film with the Minolta Dimage Scan Elite 5400 and Nikon Super Coolscan 9000, using Ed Hamrick's excellent Vuescan. The Epson Stylus PRO 7800 printer does a great job in detail, sharpness and colour, with original Epson Ultracrome K3 pigment ink, on several photographic media (photographic paper, canvas or PhotoTex/WallTex).