Sale Water Park.

When people look at this picture there will be many thoughts about it, it will invoke memories not only of the location but also the conditions. It was Winter, it was cold and fresh, it was earlier in the day than it looks, some will think it's not nice, some will love it for their own reasons, for me this picture says a lot about my love of Photography and my inbuilt knowledge of my favourite thing, being myself with myself but onlookers will have no idea or even care why I took it and what it means to me.

See my footprints, you could walk across this as I did, also I've been here when it was almost completely dark, there were no artificial lighting, only the eerie cheese glow of my dreams but what does that say about the picture on the left. The print is old and needs a clean and it was extremley difficult to print with my level of interest I was at, at the time, if I can find my notes I'll post them, hand written and test priints with all the different exposure times for each part of the print, which makes me think of....

Platt Fields Park....

This will invoke similar thoughts and visions of past days with friends or drifting in the boats to the side to pick mates up, this was after all the local Parks Boating Lake, we were so lucky but didn't even know it, today kids nust be bored shitless....Riding into it on our bikes from the top of the hill, splash, you knew it was safe as you could stand up in it mostly and deep enough to swim in, but frowned upon by the men with important hats....Let's not talk about the Pets Corner, fucking hell, what was normal then would cost you £30 each now to see some pampered pets in disguise.

The picture was years later as I don't even remember when I took it, possibly late 1970s or 80s as I did have a Camera when I was 15. This was another hard print to make but most wouldn't know or care, I feel a theme appearing.

My First Print.

This is my niece, many years ago by a sunny window, I love this picture, technically it's not very good but I don't look at the details, for somethings they mean nothing, in fact, sometimes they get in the way. This is when I knew it was serious, only me though, which is a shame but not for me to worry about, I only care about being me when I take pics or am learning about my first love.

SO what does this mean, really, it's just me at the end of the day just ranting about when people don't take you seriously, they either have not listened or ever listened and don't know you at all, which is a shame for them.

If you ever actually explained what you've learned and knew to be able to take the picture, composition, light etc....Then develop the film yourself, now you're a chemist, then use the Darkroom, to produce the print, exposure times, silver halide manipulation, hand puppets to achieve form....Back to Chemistry, the appearance of the image, even in the semi darkness you can see the magic.

Photography

For now, some test shots, mostly phone, one or two lr from archives.

Why am I a Photographer?

I'm not 100% sure to be perfectly honest, I just like it, it makes me happy, I also like mechanical things, I like to know how things work, so my first Camera (Zenith E) certainly made you think and learn, whilst sneered at by many, it never stopped working, once you learned how to use it, you never need have to trouble your brain about it not working, leaving space to learn and create. To be honest, it could have fell apart the day after it left, I didn't have it long and in between then and now is a blur, which is the current state of my eyeballs, thanks for having decent AF Mr Nikon.

I don't really talk philosophy about what, when, why etc as for me that part is personal and partly secret, if you become more interested in Photography you develop your own methods over time, which may be unique to you, imagine the first person who cross processed Ektachrome, what a buzz that must have been, I used to know a lot about cameras, darkroom techniques, colour technology, light, the most important, in the 90's I was using Mamiya 645's for live music, hand held, as an example of my own level of interest in photography.

It's a mix of things, personal, technical, educational, challenging, and can lead to interesting opportunities but that is a branch of your journey, if you get to a certain level of interest, it's hard work, you need to learn new skills, be physically fit if busy, be confident in your abilities but not be a bore, I never talked to a lot of other photographers about equipment, if you look there's always talk of, are Camera's etc just tools?

tool

noun

noun: tool;

plural noun: tools

1. a device or implement, especially one held in the hand, used to carry out a particular function.

A dull null question really, it is bleeding obvious in the detail, but photography isn't just about the tools, they are a part of the whole, so you need to know your tools, technical shit, how to look after it, even basic regular cleaning with gentle products will make your gear more reliable, so you see even learning about cleaning is part of being serious about photography long term.

I love my gear also, not in the weird way but I have to look after it, store it safely, it can become part of ones regular routine so like your car or bike or most things, you have to 'care' for them, so your head plays tricks to make it easier to spend hours cleaning and checking batteries, got enough, blah blah...as you get more gear there's more cleaning, yeah, my cameras are always clean and ready to use, or used to be but that's for another chapter, let's move on.

These days it seems all about numbers, boring and I've forgotten a lot, as if not doing, then forgetting, thankfully the reason always stays. sometimes on top of a changing industry or distracted by personal projects, but at the heart of wherever one is, it's fun and makes me, feel like me.

Photography is a complex and fluid medium, and its many factors are not applied in simple sequence. Rather, the process may be likened to the art of the juggler in keeping many balls in the air at one time! --- Ansel Adams, from the introduction to The Negative.