Unrestricted Negetives

But the one thing that has eluded me all these years was depicting a sense of nostalgia or memory. Adding more emotional resonance to the final image, as opposed to a calender shot. My emotional response truly conveyed. 

In my dark room days I experimented with so many things... Polaroid transfers, cyanotype... various alternative process that would attempt to portray, at least for me, a more intuitive interpretation of my observations. But these approaches are not practical for me, a family guy, a father, work and life commitments. They are too time consuming for me now. 

If my intent on a final image was a surreal pinhole of an abandoned building, when I was ready to shoot I found my subject and final vision would be better captured as a 35mm or perhaps a 2 1/4. My solution to this dilemma, digital. 

Even as a child I have always been drawn to things that could catapult me back to a time, postcards of my Grandfather's from France, paintings of rural California from the early 1900's, a memory or feeling of timelessness. 

Some years ago I worked for a large format digital printer manufacturer and was fortunate to have resources available that were shall we say, affordable to a non-professional family guy - I experimented with scans of my images appreciating the value of not having to completely prepare for a final image, not having to set up for a limited amount of time I had available for darkroom work. But I didn't always feel the quality was equal to a "true" printed image.

My love for the outdoors, nature, scenery has always been a part of me. Hiking, backpacking, mountain biking have always been a part of my life style. I got into ultralight backpacking long ago (before it was called ultra-light, we just wanted to go as far as we could with the very lightest load we were willing to carry) all have been a life long passion. 

I determined years ago I am a minimalist by nature. Digital photographs have become the way for me to achieve my final vision. I create "negatives" with every shot, no longer burdened with preparation of final processing. Sure I see ahead and envision what the final result will be, but I am no longer confined to the choice if I decide to change my mind. No more return trips just to get that one elusive shot in a different medium. The choice is now at the end. The final vision is sometimes like opening a treasure chest, you never know what you may find! 

The Dance