Photography is all about passion. When I first started out I would dream about it, read about it, talk endlessly about it, and practice it. There were moments when it frustrated me, annoyed me, made me feel that I wasn't getting anywhere with it, and several times over the years it left me teetering on the edge of packing it all in.
Photography, like any other discipline, needs consistency, perseverance and passion. If we had the same stamina of those early photographers then we would just get on and do it, creating the same remarkable images that they created.
One of the arguments we tend to use a lot these days revolves around the subject of weight. It seems that the weight of our gear has become a bit of an issue. But hey, no excuses, I'm just as bad as the next one when it comes to that little cherry. When you stop and think about it though, had we become photographers during those pioneering days of the 19th century, we would have had something reasonable to moan about on that score. It is possible that if weight was going to be an issue for us, then we would have given up on photography long before we had even made one Collodion wet or dry glass plate image. Had we decided to go along with it and persevered, we may have succeeded, as indeed those who did persevere had done. It would have been pointless crying about the weight in those days however, at least until the invention of the 35mm format. In those days we would have had to transport our camera to a particular location by horse and cart, set it up on a large, heavy, wooden tripod, and had our assistant in place, ready to hand us our glass plates as and when we required them. But that wouldn't be all! There would have been chests full of pre-coated glass plates to transport along with us, and of course our portable darkroom with all the necessary chemicals would have come along with us too. Remember that each plate had to be processed within 15 or 20 minute after exposure, so the pressure was on big time to get the job done.
I often wonder what those early photographers would have thought about today's cameras. And I wonder what they would have made of the modern photographer? Perhaps they would have shaken their heads in dismay. We just don't realise how lucky we are do we? And that's what they would have thought too I'm thinking.
Photography, like any other discipline, needs consistency, perseverance and passion. If we had the same stamina of those early photographers then we would just get on and do it, creating the same remarkable images that they created.
One of the arguments we tend to use a lot these days revolves around the subject of weight. It seems that the weight of our gear has become a bit of an issue. But hey, no excuses, I'm just as bad as the next one when it comes to that little cherry. When you stop and think about it though, had we become photographers during those pioneering days of the 19th century, we would have had something reasonable to moan about on that score. It is possible that if weight was going to be an issue for us, then we would have given up on photography long before we had even made one Collodion wet or dry glass plate image. Had we decided to go along with it and persevered, we may have succeeded, as indeed those who did persevere had done. It would have been pointless crying about the weight in those days however, at least until the invention of the 35mm format. In those days we would have had to transport our camera to a particular location by horse and cart, set it up on a large, heavy, wooden tripod, and had our assistant in place, ready to hand us our glass plates as and when we required them. But that wouldn't be all! There would have been chests full of pre-coated glass plates to transport along with us, and of course our portable darkroom with all the necessary chemicals would have come along with us too. Remember that each plate had to be processed within 15 or 20 minute after exposure, so the pressure was on big time to get the job done.
I often wonder what those early photographers would have thought about today's cameras. And I wonder what they would have made of the modern photographer? Perhaps they would have shaken their heads in dismay. We just don't realise how lucky we are do we? And that's what they would have thought too I'm thinking.