Today, just about everyone is taking photographs and plenty of them. The digital era has allowed us to capture anything and everything whenever the mood strikes us and that is exactly what we do.
It has been said, many times, that a photographer's pictures are a VISUAL DIARY of their life and times.We find it difficult, in the moment, to comprehend this concept because our immediate world seems so static and unchanging. Often it takes a number of years for us to appreciate our past ventures and experiences with a camera; but eventually most of us do. However; many times we discard or delete pictures that we feel are meaningless or mundane but could they be a future testament to the era in which they were taken? The answer is yes and I will try to explain.
I have been a photographer for many years and never, ever, gave a thought to what may lie ahead in the art. We were shocked with the advent of electronic metering, resin-coated photo paper and auto focus lenses but who ever dreamed of digital. We always thought within the realm we knew and in many ways it cost us dearly. The slides and negatives that we once thought were unprintable because they were too dense, color shifted or damaged were relegated to the waste basket and gone forever. Today; with the computer, most of those old images could have been salvaged and beautiful prints made from them. How were we to know!
In the mid nineties I shot about fifteen exposures on an old Nikon F of then president Bill Clinton. I was certain that I had captured some great shots but when I developed the film I became aware that the old camera's metering system was off by a mile. The shots were all too dark to work with so I tossed them in the trash but if I had saved them I am quite confident that I could have made outstanding prints from them today. I think about this often. I am, by no means, suggesting you keep every exposure you make but by being discerning you can avoid a future regret. Hard drive space is inexpensive and possibly one of your present day shots could be a memorable part of history.
The prints that I have posted today are all from film. I scanned them on an Epson 2450 scanner and manipulated them with Silver Efex Pro software by Nik. I hope you enjoy them and please leave a comment on my blog. You can also contact me at  studio90@wowway.com