On the first, the visual imagery, its a tough scenario because I was not there to interpret the scene as the original photographer’s eyes. My view is a conflicted view because I’m trying to make something out a raw negative which my eyes were blind to its creation. I suppose its a catch-22 but such is life and I wanted some Cuban imagery I had not seen before.

On the second point, the raw image and its data extraction, I must say I was blown away. I know its not an apples to apples comparison but the differences between formats is truly enlightening [ a fact I've always known but had not really taken it to this degree ]. Was I successful in the let us say “final print” I think so because I applied my preconceived vision to something completely not mine. Was it too much, hmm, perhaps, was it a departure as you’ve clearly notice, for sure, but that’s the beauty, its all path with trials and tribulations, moods swings, and in the end a final vision. Cheers Greg.

AA, by contrast, was trained as a musician. For many years as a young man his intent was to become a concert pianist. He learned that the notes put on paper by the composer were a starting place for a largely spiritual interpretation of the emotions those notes invoked. His photography was mostly of the natural world and he was confronted by several limitations in his materials when trying to invoke in the viewer of his images the same sense of awe and wonder and outside of man spirituality he had felt when confronting the scene live. He knew that the human eye/brain combination was much more able and subtle than his film. Thus he worked years to develop the zone system, essentially an exposure discipline in light of intended development and printing protocols, in order to facilitate his ends.

The painter HCB wanted no subsequent messing about with his original canvass which, if he was successful, caught that fleeting critical moment when something particularly human, from absurd to grandiloquent, unfolded before his viewfinder and in service of which he had applied all of his considerable compositional skills to provide an appropriate proportion and context.

AA, the musician, took the scene to be notes on paper that his images interpreted in search, not of the quintessentially human, but of a universal spirituality that transcended everyday man and called him higher. In so doing he controlled all that he could control in the hope that his image could provide to the viewer a substantial portion of the emotional response that his eye/brain combination had allowed him in the first place. Since he was photographing the natural world, he was constrained in this endeavor by the need that his image not look unnatural. Still, his was a fundamentally interpretive process.

In my view, both “methods” were entirely appropriate and effective in service of the aims of their practitioner.  

I would suggest that the pixel level “processing” currently available is several degrees beyond what AA could accomplish with careful exposure, specialized development in support of that exposure, and agonizingly precise printing. Thus the new computerized processing engines contain what can be a sirens’ song calling the would be artist to disaster on the rocks of “because I can”. As I have viewed your site, Jorge, (love it, btw) I see no other images as evidently highly processed as these three by Rey. Only you can appropriately judge why that is.

I´ve been an admirer of Helmut Newton´s job, how much of this credit could be in Mitrovic´s hands and sensibility, I guess that all part of the photography process should be take into consideration, all of them with respect.

A friend of mine is an excellent creative artist and he love photography as part of the creation process, but he didn´t know what´s going on behind the raw file, what´s the essence and how take the best of it. We can´t give tech aspect more than they deserve, but we shouldn´t get reluctant to understand it and apply.

Technology is part of the evolving process of humanity and photography is not behind the wheel, all of the aspects should be take into account.

I want to thank you once more for using some of my images to illustrated your point and created this time after the captured process ended.

But there is also a mental photography process and their emphasizes might change over time. Where Ansel Adams photographed with the finished product in mind, I think it was absolutely of no interest to HCB. For him the moment, the decisive moment, was everything in photography. And sure he knew how the finished product should look like, but he trusted his printer to do that physical part of photography. For his printer it likely wasn’t photography.

One other very important reason for me why I made the first statement too was the distinction between exposure correcting and color grading (terms from the film industry). While I think you succeeded successfully in applying a distinctive look to all images (color grading), especially the first two images needed heavy exposure correcting. And for me personally there is something with fixing images. I used to do so too, but with gaining more experience and knowledge I learned that the essence in photography is more on exposing intentionally, recognizing the moment, and composing thoughtfully. I believe the intentions in post processing should be for most in color grading and not too much in fixing a wrong exposure or bad framing.

It is all about priority I believe. A good read, Jorge, and much appreciated.

Getting in touch with your approach to photography made quite an impact in the way I look at this complex and wonderful world of images, your knowledge, own experiences, the photographers you admire and follow or lately our twitter conversations about the programs you use have opened my eyes to a new philosophical base.

I´ve been following your blog and flickr experiences, because your images, it´s treatment had always amazed me, I always wanted to know how deep you go on the creation process, how you turn the daily life in alter experience and as soon as you mention me the possibility of using some of my nef files I started wondering which of my many archives could be turn into something else by your hand.

The first image was shot in Cojimar a little fisherman town, who is close were I live. It´s the place who inspire Hemingway to writte his novel “The old man and the sea”. Looking at this old building at a summer afternoon and smelling the near sea was magical, how much history in it´s walls. Across the street Hemingway got an spot to look at the sea a find his inspiration. When Ledesma sent me back the file with his own version, I realize somehow he captures lighting magic that surrounds this spot, turning history into a big actual breeze.

The second photo was in Matanzas city, the called city of bridges, I always been enchanting by the magic of his narrow streets and the hill views, in this particular time we were travelling near “Puente de la Plaza” bridge and it was really a sunny afternoon almost 2pm, the sun strikes really hard, so I tweak my Nikon D300s to avoid missing any details of the street scene, at the background is located an small bar and this couple went out and started walking in my direction, so I started shooting at the truck behind and waits until they came into the compose scene.

Matanzas man have a reputation in Cuba to be fierce and problematic, so I dind´t measure light on his white clothe but his wife and this guy give me an strong look, so i made my shot and continue in the same spot shooting at the truck once they continued their Sunday afternoon walk. Once Ledesma gave me back the working file I was again in the scene feeling the same as this Sunday, but the most amazing is that light was the major character here, he turn the place in one of the Ledesma´s dreamed fantastic scenarios and the main characters actors from a film.