I’ve heard my friend Jim Fitzgerald talk several times about seeing a carbon transfer print for the first time and what a profound impact it had on his photography from that moment going forward.  It changed his artistic life … the ah ha moment! For Jim it was the discovery that he only wanted to be a carbon transfer printer coupled with a new and complimentary artistic vision.

I’ve had a number of ah ha moments in my life … in the field when photographing, in the darkroom and during other times while living a photographic life.  The most important occurred when I was as a teenager.  After some years of trying, for the first time I finally made a photograph as it actually appeared in my mind’s eye. The results of that fateful moment led to a rage to photograph that has sustained me for 50 years.  There were other such ah ha moments and they were all important turning points that have influenced me going forward.

Have you had ah ha moment yet? Maybe you have but haven’t realized it, and it nevertheless has influenced your photography. If you have not, keep working, live a rich photographic life and it will most certainly happen!  And when it does, all the effort will be worth it!

Stay safe,

Michael