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Past, Present and Future

July 17th, 2012

Past, Present and Future

It seems that as soon as I shoot a photograph - the moment has past. I'm looking at my image and thinking what else can I do to create a real future for it.
In the past I would press the shutter with the hope and prayer that I got it right - or, at least, close. Much of what I've posted on Fine Arts America was from past moments where I relied on others to process and pass it on to me for my approve/disapproval. At times it was disappointment followed by foul language and cursing myself for being "stupid" or not having the right equipment.

As I learned, photography became work - enjoyable work - but work none the less. I could develop my own film. BW, slides, became almost, almost instant gratification. After struggling to get the film aligned on the reel, in the dark, chemicals mixed and ready. Timer set, temperatures taken, pour in the canister and wait for the timer to go off, pour out the developer and go to the next stage.... Then you got to print it - dodge, shade, expose and back to the chemicals, temperature, timer and whala! A print -- which you had to evaluate and see what you could/should have done and return to the dark room to try once more to “get it right.”

But today, with digital photography it’s near "immediate gratification". Now it’s go to the computer and see what you can do to make your photo "pop". Crop, enhance, adjust color, exposure, layers, etc. While I greatly appreciate the technology that has brought us to this point I still miss that - past (shoot), present (waiting for processing or doing it myself) and the future (surprise! when I look at the first slide or print). Oh the “good old days!”