Think Before you Click

I studied photography at the Art Institute of Philadelphia. I may be dating myself, but it is there, in the early 2000’s, where I first learned how to develop film in a darkroom. I have unloaded rolls of film in a light proof closet. I have developed strips of negatives and hung them to dry. I have even enlarged prints through a traditional bath of chemical fixers and washes by hand.

I write all this to say, that there is not much Photoshop can do to fix a terrible picture. Everything must be in order before you click the shutter. The light, the composition, the pose, and the exposure must be correct. In the world of film there are 12-36 frames. There are limited do-overs, and each one is expensive.

Thankfully, digital photography has eliminated the cost developing film, but the concept of conserving frames has stuck with me. I don’t haphazardly click and hope to catch the moment. I await the presence of the magic moment like a nature photographer awaiting an endangered species to cross the plains. I anticipate the breeze to lift a wisp of hair, a car in the background to pass by, or a ruffle in a skirt to sway the right way.  Once I see it, I am ready to catch it like lightning in a bottle.