A Digital Contact Sheet?
Why make a contact sheet in the era of digital?
What Is a digital contact sheet?
A contact sheet made in the darkroom provided a positive image for each negative shot on a single print. A grease pencil could be used to select images for print, add notes, or provide instruction for the printer.
Photoshop has an automated process to create a digital version of the contact sheet. It is found in the File menu under automate and it is called contact sheet 2. Unlike Lightroom, Photoshop makes writing on each image simple. See my digital contact sheets below from an exploratory trip to Warabi Staton.
Why make a digital contact sheet?
The contact sheet allows me to see the day’s images objectively, free of the emotion tied to the experience of taking them. Furthermore, it helps to visualize trains of thought, images to be culled, mistakes made, and how to fix them.
The act of writing on each image brings a tactile experience to this visual process. In that, crucial decisions are made in the service of the image and not the ego. A definitive plan of action has been put in place, which can be followed presently or in a future editing session.
Finally, it commits your current process to paper, if you will. A document that may prove valuable in the future. Aside from the nostalgic value, the contact sheet will share insights into the creative path taken.
Where: Warabi Station, Saitama.
Final Thoughts On Canotact Sheets
In truth, a digital contact sheet is entirely unnecessary for most. However, I find it an important tool in organizing my images and thoughts from the day’s shoot. Given that my current shooting schedule encompasses 20 days per month, creating this document is vital to keeping my mind fresh for the next day out.
