<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; ">Gidday Blaise,<div>This shouldn't become a argument based around film versus digital. I do happen to agree with you, that film and darkrooms will be dead within the next 7 years. Chemicals and traditional products will simply not be viable for the manufacturers to maintain other than in niche modes and of course that means the $$ will skyrocket as those that maintain production will not only have a much smaller market, but pretty much no competition. There will be those desperate to hang on to traditional methods, but the companies that make the stuff will become more and more select and at some point it just won't become viable for schools to continue. It is sad, in a way - having spent quite a bit of time in the dark room and having started photography with that first magical moment of seeing my first pin-hole camera image in the school cleaners cupboard. However commercial decisions will dictate the direction and the opinion of most of the photographic community is pretty much that regardless of a nostalgic desire, film is dead. Even if you can buy the film, try buying a camera to put it in these days. As the schools venerable Pentax K1000's slowly die, you will be hard pressed to buy a camera to replace them unless you go second hand.</div><div>The market has spoken and it doesn't care too much for traditional methods.</div><div>HOWEVER</div><div>you must still trust and accept the judgement and needs of the teachers involved. It is their area, they need to teach it and if they still believe that there is merit in the darkroom then you must go along with them. (Let me guess, I bet they also demand Photoshop because it is the "industry standard"?)</div><div>You can simply offer them what you are capable of providing in terms of technology and if they can't provide an alternative arrangement or location then they miss out for the time being.</div><div>The move to digital technology has been very hard on lots of photography teachers who have seen their skills with regard to the tools of the trade depricated almost overnight. I acknowledge that many have "kept up" with the ridiculous pace of change, but it is taking it's toll and you need to be sympathetic to them.</div><div>Quite a few photography teachers have all really struggled as their skill set has not kept pace. Like all teachers, they are time-poor and you know how complicated it is to get your head around the aspects of digital imaging. Once they were experts, now they are novices again.</div><div>Don't force them. It will die, maybe not as quick as you like, but give it time. Let them make the decision as to what works for them at the moment. While it may not be what you want, you sometimes need to allow evolution, not revolution.</div><div>Some schools can make the jump, many make a transition, and some hang on for dear life to the old ways. Let those that have to use the stuff make the decision.</div><div>Cheers</div><div>Cameron</div><div><br></div><div><div>On 21/08/2009, at 1:20 PM, Northey, Blaise J wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div lang="EN-AU" link="blue" vlink="purple"><div class="Section1"><div style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; ">Hello all,<o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; "><o:p> </o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; ">I am in the process of finalising purchases for next year and I have hit a technological impasse with the art department. I see their current darkroom as being the ideal space to put in high-performing Macs. Needless to say the art department still want to keep the darkroom as the curriculum is set up for it. I did some informal research and it indicated that darkrooms are becoming more and more obsolete.<o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; "><o:p> </o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; ">I am hoping that someone out there will have experienced the shift from darkroom to digital and could enlighten me (pun not intended) of how they went about convincing the teachers to take the leap. I would also be open to persuasion if someone has any compelling opinions as to if I should keep a darkroom. I have entertained making a much smaller room as well as having a computer room.<o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; "><o:p> </o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; ">Thanking you in advance,<o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; "><o:p> </o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; ">Blaise Northey<o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; ">IT Manager / eLearning and Pedagogy<o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; ">Patterson River Secondary College<o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; ">ph 8770 6700<o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; ">fax 9786 9810<o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; "><a href="mailto:northey.blaise.j@edumail.vic.gov.au" style="color: blue; text-decoration: underline; ">northey.blaise.j@edumail.vic.gov.au</a><o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; "><o:p> </o:p></div></div><div><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><p><b>Important -<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b>This email and any attachments may be confidential. 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