What a trip going down memory lane. I have just moved from Alaska to Oregon and came across a huge waterproof tote of 35mm film negatives. This was 15 years ago when I first started doing photography. I was a teacher's assistant at the University of Utah, in the journalism/communication department. I spent endless hours in the dark room with students and my own personal work. For almost two years I fear I could have easily turned into a vampire. I would get to the darkroom at dawn and leave at 10 pm ( in the dark.) I am pretty sure the boyfriend at the time thought I was having an affair; and I was. I was having an affair with photography in a dark place. I loved burning my images into photo paper and then letting it slowly revel itself in a bath of chemical. It took so much time to just print one picture. Every print became something special. This process taught me patience.
It also taught me to take my time taking pictures. There was no little LCD screen to let me view if my settings and lighting was right. You had to understand your equipment and trust your instinct. A lot of people think being a photographer is just a quick click of a button but there is so much more to it. Understanding the math and art. The calculations of aperture, shutter speed, ISO, depth of field, understanding the shades of grey, brightness and contrast, etc.. I believe that even though a 35mm film camera slowed things down quite a bit, I learned so much faster with it. Once you have spent endless hours taking rolls of film, then developing that film (which takes hours in the dark), then having to make contact sheets, then printing a picture to discover that all the settings were wrong or they were not focused properly. It was devastating and you never made that mistake again.
Now as appreciative as I am 12 years later to take my colorful digital photos and edit them in the daylight with a cup of coffee in my hand, I felt like reminiscing a bit so I went on craigslist and found a Canon 9000F photo scanner for $50 and poof I am swimming in nostalgia. I am shocked at how great the quality is of the photos are and I have realized that I have always had a love of photography. I have always been this passionate taking pictures. All that I understand about photography today comes literally from a dark place. I don't know how others do it today by just picking up a digital camera and going for it. Maybe they are just lucky and have the talent to just see. I for one know I would not be a photographer today if it wasn't for those frustrating, painstaking days in the dark room.
