As I have become more and more immersed in photography I have become more and more interested in the creative process and less interested in the mechanical aspects. I do understand that the equipment is essential to the creation of most anything, but it is not all there is to creativity. I know I talk a lot about the hardware. I have thought long and hard about how to get away from the hardware and more into the art, so I have decided to do something different.
I have always kept records of my serious photography. I have a 3×5 card file of my early 35mm work that goes all the way back to my first darkroom in the mid 1970’s. When I began working with large format film I took even more detailed notes. I settled on using a microcassette recorder to record my field notes, which are transcribed to a notebook. Later, after wearing out the little cassette recorder, it was replaced with a digital recorder. Susan and I have detailed records of most every LF and ULF negative we have made over the years. We record the basics, like f-stop, shutter speed, film size, film holder number, filter and such. We also have notes on location, time of day, type of light, temperature and wind. We also keep detailed printing notes as we work toward a finished print in the darkroom.
What we are going to attempt to do in this area is recreate the making of some of our favorite images. Each installment will be a recounting of the WHERE, WHEN & HOW involved in the creation of a finished photographic interpretation. We will include technical, as well as creative descriptions for each image. There will not be an attempt to translate any meaning or explanation of the finished photo, since that is something that cannot be put into words.
Hope that everyone will find something of interest in each story.
JB Harlin
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