I started an online Photography course today from Michigan State University. It's actually a set of five courses that cover all aspects of photography. I've been taking pictures for a long time, but I want to get better.
Both instructors are older and they talk about spending time in darkrooms developing film and pictures. I can relate.
When I first started working for the weekly newspaper in 1973, one of my jobs was to take pictures and print them for the Paper. I spent countless hours under a dark amber safelight.
I'm sure some of my weirdness comes from inhaling photographic developer and fixer for so many years.
Even after I left the paper, I bought an enlarger and built a darkroom in the barn.
Watching an image appear on a blank white sheet of photo paper has always seemed like magic to me.
I know there are millions of photographers these days who shoot remarkable photographs and they've never gotten a "fixer buzz" after midnight in a darkroom.
I'm not one to judge but this I know for sure. All those hours I spent in a darkroom fixing pictures that were shot poorly has helped me understand how to approach taking pictures in a digital world.
