I wrote a previous entry titled A Strip of Wood and Why It May Be Your Most Important Piece of Equipment. In it I discussed how most today will never see their photographs hung on the wall and that the overwhelming majority of pictures posted daily on the Internet are hopelessly boring, even if technically sound. I stated that using this wonderful tool would help you determine whether the print you are made was a statement of what you saw in your minds eye and deserving, or whether it needed more work or wasn’t very good after all.

What I didn’t discuss in that entry was how important it really is in the first place that you only print those photographs that are meaningful to you — that you believe really have something to say. In the end, if they disappoint you for some technical or other aesthetic reason, that’s what the garbage can is for! On this, John Sexton said “I find the single most valuable tool in the darkroom is my trash can – that’s where most of my prints end up.”

It takes time to make a good print. If I have never printed a particular photograph before, I find that it can take up to two hours or more to get it right, and I think I have a pretty efficient mode of operation. Maybe it will take you longer, maybe a little less, but arguably it is a significant investment in your creative time. Time that should not be wasted on a so-so picture!

As mentioned in another previous entry, Ansel Adams said, “Twelve significant photographs in any one year is a good crop.” Think about that for a moment. He made thousands of images most of us would die for, yet very few made the cut. I’m not Adams so I have to be pretty ruthless and don’t print a lot. I think many could benefit from this way of thinking.

Don’t print a picture that doesn’t satisfy all that is important to you. Don’t print what you think others want to see. In the end it is a waste of time and mental energy and looks like what everyone else is doing.

Printing an also ran is not only a terrible wasted of time, but a waste of materials. So while it may take me only around two hours to make a new print, I may go through ten or more sheets of paper before I am happy. Then once the print recipe is finalized I need to make three or four final prints in order to make sure I have extras just in case there is a screw up in toning, spotting or mounting of the print. I also want to have an extra one or two for my portfolio, or to sell. Last time I checked box of 8X10 black and white fiber paper was at least $100 and then there is the cost of chemicals, etc.

So wasting your time on a boring print that you really don’t care about that much is a waste on many levels.

Being ruthless and only printing your best pictures doesn’t mean your guilty of not doing a lot of work or under utilizing your darkroom investment. It means that you are putting a lot of creative juice into only what you truly care about. The personal rewards are so much better!

So make your proof sheets and study them carefully. Mark only the pictures on them that really speak to you. Then print only those pictures and give it your best shot when you do. After they are mounted, study them for a while (by placing them, if possible, on a strip of wood attached to the wall).

You will know, and it will be right.

1966.  Ok, I can admit being old enough to remember listening to a snappy little Simon and Garfunkel tune called The 59^th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy) when it came out. The opening lines “Slow down, you move too fast. You got to make the morning last” are as appropriate now as they were then. Perhaps even more so!

Things haven’t changed, except that our daily lives seem to move at an ever-faster pace as we become more and more drawn into the digital/mobile phone/tablet vortex.

How do you create something meaningful to you … and perhaps others … and not just more noise? I really think this question is at the heart of the film/photographic process, and the desire not to be part of the maddening crowd.

I believe there is something special about thinking as much as possible about the picture you are going to make, whether you are using a 35mm, medium or large format camera. Snapping away at blazing speed, only broken up by stopping to look at the LCD screen on the back of the camera – affectionately known as “chimping” (not a very photographically appealing word!) – does not help!

You need to think about what you are doing and then let the creative picture making process flow – whether you are on the street, where you will most certainly loose spontaneity and miss great opportunities by constantly moving your head up and down to view the LCD – or whether you are making a considered landscape.

Yes, I believe the film/photographic process is slower and more deliberative. You are committing and connecting with subjects rather than firing off hundreds or even thousands of shots per day, hoping to later find a few “keepers”.

These are my thoughts and I understand why some might disagree, but I think working at a comparatively slower pace, where we force ourselves to think about proper framing and composition, lighting and exposure can really make a difference and lead to better and more meaningful photographs.

There is something else about slowing down. It enables you to have a fighting chance to see the extraordinary that might be missed, and often is, without a more considered approach. So give yourself that chance to choose the extraordinary instead of taking the obvious and boring shot everyone else has … besides, it’s already on the Internet and can be found a million times.

Of course I suppose you could turn off or tape over the LCD so you couldn’t look at it, and that’s fine. In my opinion you will become a better photographer … but I think in the case of black and white you will miss the look that film contributes to the finished result … and that too is extraordinary!

I recently had to spend an extended period of time visiting someone in a cancer treatment facility. By accident I found out that on the premises was located a space devoted to “art therapy”. The person in charge was a professional artist who was almost spiritual in her approach to art and life.

Basically, the idea is that taking the time to make art, even if you are not very skilled, provides therapeutic benefits to the body and soul in many ways. In fact there is a growing amount of medical evidence to support this claim.

We had a very nice chat and it certainly provided a much-needed break from the many hours spent at the hospital under much less happy circumstances. I even tried my hand at painting a watercolor. It wasn’t very pretty (no surprise there!), but doing it gave me a lot of enjoyment. What I was being told and in fact was experiencing, was that this type of activity enabled you to “get into a zone”, far removed from the problems and stresses of your normal daily life. My wife, who was with me, smugly confirmed this notion based on her experience as a multi-talented quilter, crafter and paper artist.

All of a sudden, I realized something very important. I had that same feeling when being out in the world, away from the daily grind … making photographs … even if I made only a few, or none at all.

Think about it … you are away from all the junk, all the pressure; you’re not connected to your cellphone (if your smart!), or your computer. You’re out there on your own, thinking creatively and enjoying yourself, capturing images of the world that impact you and no one else. When this happens I am in “the zone” … and apparently a healthier and better one at that!