I will add this admission. Back in "the day," (late 70s - early 80s) when I was young and thought I knew everything, I really didn't spend much time worrying about contrast. I realized that darkroom work would have some impact, but didn't spend much time fretting about it (or trying to change things). I just took it as it came, for the most part.
Over the last four years or so, as I have come to know about a half-dozen flavors of PP software pretty well, I realize that now, we have vastly superior control of contrast (and a host of other variables too) as compared to the old (film) days. This awareness has also made me stop and think about the missed opportunities in the film days. I probably could have done almost as much image manipulation in the darkroom, had I worked at it. Now, all I have to do is carefully move a couple of sliders in my PP software. Gee, in twenty years, I suppose all I'll need to do is attach a wireless monitor to my temple, and think carefully about how the image should look, and CS-15 will make it make it happen automatically with no further effort on my part. . .
Yes, I have thought of returning to film -- briefly -- and then quickly rejected the idea. Photographic film was an inspired idea when there were no better ways to capture, preserve, and publish images. Let's not forget, in the grand scheme of things, we are still in the absolute infancy of the digital age (notwithstanding how well my new Win-7U machine works...). When digital imaging (and digital everything for that matter) is all grown up, film will be "quaint" beyond belief.
