Fresh art

I've recently committed to doing at least one hour of art every day. I try to give myself a list of the projects I'm working on and my next actions so I can just start when it's time. One of my projects is putting together a collection of 100 digital prints. The goal is to print the digital images and have them in a physical collection ready to show when necessary. This has forced me to troll through my Lightroom catalog to look for images that go together or that I want to manipulate in Photoshop.

Here is an example of some sort of tree seed/pod that I photographed a while back. I made some preliminary adjustments in Lightroom and then moved to Photoshop and played around with a variety of plug-in filters I have. I'm pretty pleased, though I think I'd like to see some sort of texture over the top of the image.

Autumn showers bring mushrooms

Some teens - digital & film

Here are some photos I took of my neighbor's kids. All but one were shot with the Mamiya C220. I under-exposed them awfully, but was able to get decent prints from them (though I wouldn't want to blow them up).

Katie

Katie 2

Sam & Ben

Sam

The last shot is the digital image. A very recognizable look to anyone who works with teenagers.

Giving up on film?

I love my film cameras. When I say cameras, I'm not just talking about two or three. I own at least ten film cameras of different makes and models. Unfortunately, I find myself only shooting color film these days. There are a couple reasons for that: a) I find I can express myself better in color at this point in my life, and b) I've become darkroom averse (I could say "lazy" but I think there's more to it than that).

I used to adore spending hours in the darkroom and could completely lose myself in the process. Now, I find it confining, frustrating (perhaps because I'm so out of practice) and irritating to my senses (I can feel my nose hairs curling when I think of stop bath and fixer). I can count number of times I have been in the darkroom in the past year (uh...twice...maybe). Don't get me wrong. Every time I look at a Walker Evans, or a Diane Arbus or a Ralph Eugene Meatyard, I get the hankering to shoot B&W again and immerse myself in the dark, dank space between chemistry and creation. But, if I'm honest with myself, I can say that I'd much rather spend that time shooting pictures and poking pixels on my computer.

I don't expect to get rid of my film cameras any time soon (well, maybe I'll sell a couple of them - I should be able to get, what, $25 for my Nikon FE2...sigh). I can continue shooting color and working from digital copies of the negs. We might actually sell the darkroom equipment, as well, since it never gets used.

Change is hard, especially when it involves something you love and are committed to. I still have a few rolls of B&W film and lots of chemistry that I could have a final hurrah with. Plus, my friend lent me this bad-boy to try out:

Maybe one more year before I let go completely...