Well, last week’s entry concluded several years of occasional entries concerning all the steps in My Photographic Production Process.  I hope you found them helpful.  I know I enjoyed writing them!

When I talk to digital people, look at their technically perfect but lifeless prints and find out how little time it took them to produce their work I often think about how hard it can be to unlock the secrets of a negative in the darkroom. For me the hidden rewards and mysteries of the analog process are part of what make all the hard work worth it. I’ll admit the process of developing film can be mechanical and often tedious but the anticipation and excitement I get when I pull the developed film off the reel and hold it up to the light always amazes me!

Here’s the thing … in my 66 years on this planet I have discovered that nothing really worth doing is all that easy. In fact whether it has been in my professional or photographic life, most things worth doing or doing well have been hard … plenty hard. In the case of my photographic approach it doesn’t mean that I haven’t looked for ways to make a certain step more efficient or more pleasant to do. For example, I have used Zone VI compensating enlarger and development timers and a Jobo film processor for years.  If you have the extra scratch, I think they are worthwhile investments … especially the Zone VI timers.  Look, my approach works for me; maybe yours might be different. It doesn’t matter along as long as what you do enables you to get to the finish line with work you can be proud of that fully realizes your vision. What is important is that you take the time and put in the effort … and be consistent.

So is it all worth the bother? You bet it is! Do these things and you will be rewarded in ways that go well beyond the final result you will hold in your hand and hang on a wall!

Stay well,

Michael