I just posted on another page about what it was like before computers and the internet.... but I remember how different it was as a photographer... when I started shooting, I didnt know any other photographers, I had never seen a photoshoot... had no idea of how i was going to make a living with it, I had to trial and error and find what I could in books. But most of the books were intentionally vague..it was expensive to learn.. you had to pay for every roll of film you shot and processed... . not to mention you had to wait until you got your images back or processed them yourself to find out if you nailed the exposure, or made any other mistakes and transparency film was unforgiving, you nailed it or it was garbage, any mistakes, red eyes, a crooked collar, anything and it was junk.... . and it required notes so you knew what to change the next time... I remember sitting in front of the television at night with my hands in a lightproof bag, winding film onto spools by feel, being careful not to fingerprint anything, loading an eight roll tank.. then processing it with chemicals, agitating. and then pulling out perfectly processed film.. nothing was more satisfying then watching a spectacular image appear in a tray in your darkroom.. I really loved the craft then.. and the only way to promote yourself was to carry a portfolio, if they were out of town you shipped your book..... there were also gatekeepers so to speak, before you could get your name out, you had to impress an agent or somebody to recommend you... that helped keep out the posers..... as a consequence not many folks had the means of sticking it out to master the craft... today its piece of cake by comparison. It amuses us old-timers to see the kids jumping on the bandwagon, calling themselves photographers... I dont see how anybody could really understand photography without a background shooting film... and that goes for motion pictures too... that was way back in 1995.... :)
Posted on: Sat, 08 Nov 2014 17:36:30 +0000
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