2009.07.08: Some thoughts

Dong and I shot a wedding over the weekend. The act of shooting a wedding isn't particularly out of the ordinary for us but the nature of this wedding was. I may have more details posted about this wedding later but as a result of this wedding I now have three new rolls of HP5+ shot at ISO 3200 that I am afraid to process. I am not afraid that they are out of focus or improproperly exposed; I just don't feel ready to look at these photos. We shoot numerous weddings a year even though we don't advertise ourselves as wedding photographers and while all weddings are special and, speaking for myself, I still feel that I develop some sort of emotional connection with our couples and their friends and family. However, through this wedding I experienced something else. I think that I saw love and emotion that I have never seen before.

Dylan and Whitney just left with the Epson 9800. The printer served me almost flawlessly for almost two years and when I saw it for what could be the last time in Dylan's van, I wasn't expecting it but I did feel a bit sad to see the printer go. I know that it'll be cared for as well as Dylan and Whitney know how to and I hope that it will serve them as well as it has served me. I am looking forward to seeing some breathtaking prints that they may be making with this little printer.

Over the past few months I have shot a fair bit of large format film on a variety of cameras. Over the past several months I have also shot an innumerable number of rolls of 35mm film through the Zeiss Ikon and Leanna's father's Nikon F-301. During these past few months I have created some of my favourite images of my career as a photographer and I wanted to share the experience with as many other photographers as I can. However, I am finding that after having gotten used to the reassuring instant-confirmation capabilities and conveniences of digital capture, many photographers shy away from an opportunity to shoot film even though they know that it could have a profound impact on their work and, in the case of working pros, for their businesses. I am starting to think that my purpose is not merely to educate and to share but to help dispell other photographers' fear of certain pieces of equipment and workflow. One day I will be shooting formats even larger than 4x5 and one day I would like to try to make my own wet plate photographs but because that I have successfully shot 4x5 film as part of some of my commercial workflows in a world that expects digital capture and because I am not afraid to purchase and carry whatever equipment it takes to achieve a certain look, I feel that I can now say that I now live without fear of any medium or any piece of equipment related to photographic imaging.