hey you should always link to the pictures you talk about in your blog. just a suggestion. :)

That is for sure... I've been too busy lately to do the clicking. 

5:39:54 PM    

Dave - I think I've been taking pictures for all the wrong reasons. It needs to be a labor of love, born of pure passion for the seventh art. But even though i'm compelled to go out on the street whenever i have an opportunity, if I had the slightest reason to believe what was being produced wasn't somehow "important," (and not simply fun) i wouldn't be out there. what do you make of this attitude? it's completely absurd, sounding, isn't it. Robert Altman said in an interview once that the day directing stops being fun for him, he'll stop directing. But I only feel the passion out there if i lead myself to believe that the resulting images will somehow have an impact beyond my own immediate reaction. In other words, I'm not sure I'm doing this ONLY for myself but to bring some kind of pleasure to others. R.D.

Dear R.D.

I photograph for myself.  What the great masses of people will think, or how they will feel is beyond my comprehension.  The paradox is that the greater your ability to tune out what others may feel - the more you can connect with "them."  In other words, at some level, we are all the same.  Be true to yourself -- and you will be true with others. 

5:37:42 PM    

Back in the darkroom this morning, and probably for most of the day.  I tried yesterday to do an 8 x 12 of Flat Iron Tilted with the inkjet process but for some reason, the blacks at that size tend to look dull compared to the darkroom print.  I've noticed this before.  The 5 x 7's which I do with a slightly warm curve -- they look just fine in their own right.  But they just don't have the depth or the same look at 8 x 12.  So the Zone VI stays.  The chemicals stay.  And for now, that's just the way it is - unfortunately.

I will continue to do the small prints with the inkjet / MIS setup - but anything larger than that I'll continue to do the old-fangled way until someone can show me something better.

10:25:17 AM