I have been a photographer since forever.  I started taking photos, developing film, and making prints in my elementary school days. I was dragged kicking and screaming into the digital age. I have participated in the transformation that photography has undergone over the past 40 years.

I grew up with the smell of developer, stop bath, and fixer, and understood the importance of proper agitation, time, and temperature control.  I know words like reticulation, burning, dodging and resin coated (which has nothing to do with current law changes in CO).  I have spent thousands of hours of my life in dark rooms, creating moments in time that I captured for the ages — moments that slowly appeared on blank canvases of white and materialized into tangible images that you could hold in your hand . . . and show to others.  I was comfortable in small rooms illuminated in soft hues of red, yellow, and green.  Yes, this was my realm and I lived it, loved it, and now miss it.

Fast forward.  My darkroom isn’t dark.  My enlarger is a computer screen and the chemicals I once used are now called Photoshop.  I have tremendous control over my images.  I can adjust color balance with the click of a mouse.  I can lighten or darken an image at will, create soft focus backgrounds, and add or remove objects.  The romance of the darkroom has been replaced with the clinical precision of a computer station.  My images can be sent soaring to their destination within seconds of capture, or they come out of a printer and are dry to the touch.  I don’t have to worry about time and temperature, mixing or re-bottling chemicals, rinsing trays, or hosing down sinks.  I just press a button and my darkroom appears or disappears.

For years, my customers, friends, and family have admired my work, and urged me to seek a bigger stage. My Dad, a photographer, too, often told me I was the best kept secret in photography. Some of my loyal clients, many of whom have been with me for over 25 years, have echoed that thought. But I am arriving here kicking and screaming a bit, too. I have always been more comfortable outside of the limelight, behind the lens – not in front of it – as comfortable there as I was in the darkroom during my early career. Times they are a’changin’. While I won’t be joining the glitterati, you’ll be hearing from me. Hence this blog.  I will write about my images, and the experiences I have capturing people and the lives they lead, the products and companies they build, and the families, friends, pets, and places they love. I will offer insight into the art and profession I’ve come to know since first holding a camera when I was 5 years old.

So come along for the ride and the shoot. We have things to set our sights on, people to meet, and images to capture and polish. We are now in the digital age, and although I came in kicking and screaming, I have learned to embrace it and call it friend.  Thanks for reading. – Chuck