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Hello everyone my name is Kelly.   I'm an aspiring photographer whose passion lies in wildlife and b&w photography, but I find enjoyment from all subjects and medium.   I also am a commercial artist who is continually amazed with what can be done in Photoshop.  

I'm torn because I love the darkroom, which in these 'digital days' seems to be disappearing at a rapid pace.   At the same time I can't get enough of the new possibilities digital has brought to a photographer's creative table.  

However I do believe that digital does have its downfalls. By that I mean the technology of digital SLRs has made leaps and bounds in the past few years, and the price of consumer models is always dropping.   Because some of these cameras are so good and because the person taking the photo can have instant feedback now everyone thinks they're a photographer, but give that same person a manual medium format film camera and they'd be lost.   Photography isn't just about taking a whole bunch of shots hoping you'll get one that works.  

The Encyclopedia Britannica states, "The word photography comes from two ancient Greek words: photo, for “light,” and graph, for “drawing.” “Drawing with light” is a way of describing photography. When a photograph is made, light or some other form of radiant energy, such as X rays, is used to record a picture of an object or scene on a light-sensitive surface."  

I believe it is crucial for photographer to truly understand this, and I do not believe this can be achieved by learning photography digitally.   That is one reason I love b & w film.   The amount of knowledge and understanding of the photographic process one can achieve from an all manual 35mm camera, a couple rolls of true b&w film (not c-41 processed), and utilization of the zone system, processing their own film, and printing in the darkroom to me is an essential part to the foundation of any great photographer.  

What some people fail to realize is it's not the ability of the equipment that makes great images.   It's the photographer's ability to 'see' and their understanding of how to use their tools that makes great images.   I've produced much better images by learning from great photographers of the past such as Ansel Adams who probably the most anal and technically precise person that has stepped foot on this planet, but he learned to use his tools through trial and error.   Believe me that you learn pretty quickly when you’re shooting with film.

Imagine scoping out the perfect location for days watching the way the light falls on your subject waiting for the time when it matches what you visualize.   Then you go to the location long before sunrise, set up your equipment and you're up just under your shoulders in swamp water. While waiting for the precise moment the light's just right you're trying not to think about what may be lurking right below the murky water and trying hard to drown out the defining sound mosquitoes which are stinging you on every inch of skin not under water.  

Then once your image is captured and you've bracketed your exposures just to be safe you hurry back to the lab (in this case my bathroom) to process your film.   After about an hour you now have your processed film and to your horror the roll is grossly under exposed. Next step is to find out what you did wrong.   Turns out you weren't metering correctly and now you have to do it all over again tomorrow.  

In the mean time you learn about your mistake and I'll guarantee you that you'll never make that same mistake again.   That's how Ansel Adams learned to create magic with every click of the shutter.