Photography and Darkroom Testimony

Exploring Life During my late teens, I started exploring life ... largely through philosophy and science. At that time I had a strong desire to record things through art and this lead to trying out various art mediums such as sketching and oil paint. However, I ended up going with photography because it was [supposedly] quick and detailed.

Learning Basic Skills When starting out, I had just a mild interest in photography. I had learned of a local camera club and I bought a cheap little point-and-shoot camera at Kmart. I was able to take general scenic shots under good lighting conditions and that was about it (remember, these are the days of film, not digital). But I strongly pursued learning photography techniques and skills. I would read the books and magazines, I would ask questions at the camera club, I would go out and experiment with the camera itself. I realized there was a much bigger world of photography than I had previously known existed. I was a novice, and the other photographers around me were a mixture of novices, hobbyists, and one professional. At that time, I would also attend or view the local photography contests and exhibitions and learn what I could about perspective, framing, and composition. Yet, somehow, all this head knowledge did not excite me.

The Darkroom An absolutely huge change in my focus and use of photography came when I first tried using the darkroom. There had been one hobbyist in particular who seemed able to bring out great black and white images that he had personally printed and he encouraged me to try the darkroom. Well, somehow, this is when photography went from just being able to slightly record things with that point-and-shoot camera to becoming an art form. This is when I discovered that so much more could be done with the final image than is possible with the physical limitations of the camera. Different chemicals, contrast filters, grades of paper, and toners all had their effects. After this, it became a sprint to do anything and everything I could with photography and to continually reach for higher and higher quality.

At this point, I began a period of rapid growth in my photography skills - mostly due to my interaction with other photographers. I joined other camera clubs and photographic societies, entered local contests, read as many books and magazines on photography as I could. Plus, as I now had income from a job, I went out and purchased a better camera - one with interchangeable lenses and accessories such as a flash. With this camera, I was able to do detailed images of both smaller things and more distant objects. I would make many trips out just for the purpose of taking photographs and exploring life through the camera lens.

Camera Clubs Focus One of the most interesting things about the different camera clubs was that each one was different in it's goals and achievements. One camera club would focus on nature photography, another was more like a social club where they told stories and ate food, yet another was focused on competition and making images that would win in a contest, one where outside speakers (professionals) would come and share how-to instructions, while there was one for those who had a lot of money and very expensive equipment where I could not attend, and many others. I also joined a couple of art clubs where I attempted to learn things about art styles as I was using photography more has an art form ... but there I met a lot of resistance as most artists didn't seem to want to accept photography as an art form. In each of these clubs and activities, I was learning about photography and grew rapidly. The success of my learning showed in that I could enter and win local photography contests as well as show in regional / multi-state contests. Growth is always an exciting time.

Large Format Later on, another big change occurred in my work, when I moved up into large-format photography. It is hard to describe what this means to people not familiar with photography equipment, but try to think of the famous photographer Ansel Adams going around with that huge box camera with the accordion bellows. This is what I was doing. Instead of little 35mm negatives, I was now photographing with negatives that were 4 x 5 inches, rarely 8 x 10 inches, and a few scant times I made my own glass plate negatives or paper negatives measuring up to about 16 x 20 inches. What was amazing to me about this was the incredible amount of detail and the broad tonal value range I could get in a finished print from one of these large negatives. If you tried to make a large print from a little 35mm negative, it would get very grainy and not have much detail. It is much like taking a small digital image and trying to blow it up and it looks very pixelated in modern digital photography terms. But with a large-format negative, you could have a large print and it was still very finely detailed. It was clear. A larger camera also meant everything else went on a larger scale. I needed more darkroom space, more chemicals, a bigger enlarger, etc. It was, for a hobbyist, a massive and much more costly scale ... but it came with much better results.

Shows and Exhibitions I now had work hanging for sale in art galleries and some published works. I had also started picking up jobs semi-professionally to photograph artwork, weddings, architecture, and other things. Although I was attending university for a conservation biology degree, I was considering a career in photography. In fact, I managed to get my own solo exhibition at an art gallery. What an opportunity! I had to throw every photography skill I had into this and it was two years in the making. Ultimately, 36 pieces across a broad range of topics and techniques emerged. I had gained a lot of experience with a deeper appreciation of the photographic medium. More importantly, I had indirectly gained a deeper appreciation for life - as, by the end of this process, my work was not just dealing with themes of the physical, but were hinting at the spiritual as well.

Other Plans Of course, as I became an active believer [see below], another huge change came to my work in photography. It became quickly apparent that photography was not the career our Heavenly Father had for me. Furthermore, many things about my photography and the subjects I had worked with were actually a hindrance to my growth as a believer. I needed to let go and repent of what had become part of my life.

Bad Subjects of Art Was the work really that bad? Yes. As an example, I had gotten permission to photograph a ballet group. Throughout the season I photographed some very odd things including a version of Dracula done for their Halloween production. So the simple question would be: why would a believer in the Messiah as Savior went to have images depicting the living dead, zombies, and all those related topics? Even if it was technically well done and could, from an artist's perspective, be considered an interesting piece, it was a wretched thing that did not need to be promoted or included by believers.

Burning Negatives As hard as it might be to believe, this led to one day where I burned up about $10,000 worth of negatives, prints, and framed materials that were harmful in some way (depicting evil, vanity, etc). It was so refreshing! I was glad to do it and I started moving on. Afterwards, photography returned to my life as a documentary (rather than an artistic) pursuit which would be helpful in sharing Creation Science.