Going back to real photography

[seafoto]

I am on the brink of returning to my darkroom,the dark, the developers and the smell of fixer. Digital is magic and can result in stunning pictures but they are not the product of my skill. I will never forget my first print emerging in the tray, and my first good print some time later.
I am in awe of the vast knowledge of subscribers on this site and wonder why they stick to this peculiar, messy long winded method of making pictures ?

[Black Dog]

I hope it goes up to 11?

[Dian]

Ah yes the of fixer. I own and operate an accommodation business in the summer, but when things slow down in our off season I feel the pull to my darkroom and creating art. Digital certainly has its place, but for me real photography is in the darkroom. I stick to this "messy long winded method of making pictures" because it is my passion. There is always so much to learn, so much to experiment with and so much magic happens in the darkroom.

[Dian]

Haha love it!

[freddjos]

I found this page today while I was doing an inventory of my old cameras and photography equipment with the idea that I would put all the stuff on ebay.
I have not used the equipment for years, it's dusty, and it takes up space.
I wondered "Can my digital camera (the one from which the batteries are always either lost or dead, the one from which my crashed hard drive images or scratched disks are lost) do just as good as my cumbersome SLR and darkroom? Feeling philosophical I looked on-line for the value of traditional photography.

I live to tinker. I thought about an old "59 English Ford I had with a 4 cylinder flathead with bad rod bearings. and the discussion I had with a mechanic about whether or not a 1978 Pinto engine would fit. "Sure", he said, "You can make it fit - but you'll know it's the wrong engine." He said, "Find a way to fix the original."

Today I remembered my college photography classes, my old, damp basement darkroom back in the day, and the pride I got from from the final results of my K1000 and that rickety old enlarger. I still have those black and white photographs, and although they might not be masterpieces, they do have a "real" look and feel.

I found this site, read some posts, wrote this response, and got my questions answered - and besides, most of my old stuff ain't worth a whole lot of cash.

[michaelbsc]

I found this site, read some posts, wrote this response, and got my questions answered

Welcome home.

[Black Dog]

And from me too! Get plenty of good books to inspire you and you're away

[Grif]

i cant get the HD images i could with my digital i had
but i think thats more me than camera

i 500 shots and then delete the rubbish ones

with film you take more time to pick your shot and think more about what your shooting for me

Didn't we talk the same way back when about the problems with 35mm and folks just becomming "gunners" with motor drives to get one out of 36 good pic's vs the "real" photographers using sheet or 120? I guess it comes around again.

And HDR,,, Humm,,, wasn't there some old guy that could play a piano pretty well that came up with HDR for film? (I just kill me some days ;-)

[jnanian]

Didn't we talk the same way back when about the problems with 35mm and folks just becomming "gunners" with motor drives to get one out of 36 good pic's vs the "real" photographers using sheet or 120? I guess it comes around again.

And HDR,,, Humm,,, wasn't there some old guy that could play a piano pretty well that came up with HDR for film? (I just kill me some days ;-)

someone has to be the ugly-cousin ..
if it isn't one thing it's another

[tubetime]

Here's a little animation I put together about my approach to photography.

http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/7588651/

[Sirius Glass]

FOTFLMAO!!

Steve