What is your procedure when you decide to try a new film processing lab or a new film emulsion? Can you imagine what would happen if Kodak was required by the Federal Government to clean up it’s contribution to environmental pollution by phasing out E-6 chemistry and implementing a newer, cleaner color chemistry? E-6 was that cleaner process when it replaced the previous process, E-3 (and C-41 replaced C-22). How did shooters cope?
Critical to your customer’s perception of you is that you can deliver what you’ve essentially promised when you accept a job. Will you be able to deliver properly transitioned, color neutral images, that fit the target? Are you shooting images within the capabilities of the camera? If so, how do you know that you have? Testing answers those questions. If you’ve done it once, and can do it again, you’re in a position to take any and all jobs that fit the testing model you’ve proven.
Knowing the capabilities of your camera is critical to keeping clients happy. Do not shoot something the camera is poorly suited for. That’s not limited to digital, it’s basic to professional photography with film. While you could shoot a baseball editorial illustration featuring base stealing on a medium format camera, you’d be better off using a motor driven 35, and of those cameras, you’d probably choose one that has a fixed mirror and shoots 10 frames per second rather than the more pedestrian 4 or 5 frames per second. The same holds true of the T2, you’ll want to shoot images that fit easily into it’s repertoire. How do you know the capabilities of the T2? Test for them.
Any shooting style you use with the S2 should be tested prior to selling it to your clients. You will want to avoid the embarrassment inherent whenever “the mustard falls off the hot dog”, so test to make sure you know exactly what’s going on. Difficult images are especially relevant to the process of testing. Repro’s over 20 inches square that will render on a printing press are best left to selected images using the highest craftsmanship available. Image tiling and blending strobe with long ambient exposures fall into the pretest category. The testing machinations will let you know when not to sell a style to your clients. Those processes that are difficult will be no brainers to make sure you’re covered or you won’t attempt them. And those difficult processes are much more fruitful when the long hours of practicing pay off.
Try using an inkjet printer to test your digital photography. They are cheap to buy and cheap to use. They use cmyk inks. They can help you decide the validity of your ideas.