"My Darkroom Is Filled With Light"

Excitement stirred in my chest as I opened up an old dusty box to reveal a camera of old. The more I looked around me the more I found. Dusty hardcover books were grouped with torn softcover books among fabrics that didn't seem to belong together. The sunlight seems to reveal a decay that had begun long ago from heat and time among other things. Mixed in among the weathered old photographs, the single baby shoe, disintegrating newspaper articles, and dilapidated dolls there they were. It was like opening a treasure chest. Only these treasures were better because they belonged to my ancestors. I could not find the significance of some of those treasures, but I recognized the value in others. Another one of the treasures I recognized among the items was a brilliant baby blue typewriter.

My grandfather had passed away and it was time to go through the storage space which my grandparents had spent so many years paying for. Were these cameras my great grandfather's? Maybe they were my great-great grandfather's. Thoughts of many things swirled in my mind like a flock of birds looking for a place to land while flying over a body of water. I collected all of the cameras that I found and put them together to the side. How I longed for them all to be mine. I wished I had a darkroom. I wished secrets of old had been secured inside those cameras. Maybe they had. I knew better than to open them up, lest the film inside still be viable but ruined by the light. I had to wonder if the heat hadn't ruined any possible glimpse into the past that they may have held. I put them in a broken wooden chest and brought them to my father's house. Unfortunately, I never brought them to someone who could develop them or open them. To this day they sit in my father's house waiting, with possible mysteries to be shared. But where could I find someone with an actual darkroom? Today's darkroom is filled with light. It's digital. I have always longed to experience that moment; the moment of taking a photo like a precious gem and bringing it into a place to be brought out into the light. I saw it in the movies and heard about my mother's experiences in school.

Creativity seems to run in my family as though it is part of our genes. Many forms of artistry line my family's DNA like an intrinsically necessary code of life.

I never took photography classes, but I would like to learn more and become better at the art of photography. Thus, here we stand looking into a digital darkroom that by word choice seems to be an oxymoron. My digital darkroom these days has consisted merely of my smartphone. Currently, I have a Samsung Note 9™ that I use to take pictures and edit with. Sometimes different editing software pops up on my phone and while I'm editing I have more options at times and fewer options at other times. I don't know what programs they are and have trouble finding the other program while using whichever chooses to pop up. Although I am not big on social media I do sometimes use Snapchat™ to edit some of my photos. Recently, my phone's storage has been depleted. I have resorted to taking photos on Snapchat™. It is the only way I can currently take photos without a message popping up telling me that there is not enough storage available.

To be honest, the other day I was frustrated and trying not to be upset. I had an amazing story; at least that is how I felt. But, alas my computer did an update while I was away from it and my work was deleted. I feel like photography is like life. Sometimes we lose data or pixelation. I'm trying not to cry. In life, we lose things and in photos, we can do the same, but to our advantage. Do you want to lose those pimples? No problem. Are you not wearing makeup? That can be fixed. Would you like your hair to be a different color? We can make that happen. I used photoshop a long time ago. But, honestly, I don't remember much of how to use it. I enjoy photography, but I am not a professional with a fancy camera, nor do I own any amazing lenses. At least not yet. Now I take photos with my phone. When I take my photos I try to take them in a way that will require the least amount of editing possible.

For me, capturing the right moment in just the right way and acquiring that image is first. For, without the acquisition of an image what would one have to process? After I acquire the image I look to see if there is something that editing can accomplish. I try to edit the images only when necessary. Computers make things easy, but I still hold that doing things the old-fashioned traditional analog image editing way would be more physically engaging, to say the least. My idea of editing a photo looks like clicking the little pencil icon on my phone that pops up or the crop button. I find that cropping photos aids in putting a stronger focus on where I want it. Generally speaking, recently I haven't been messing with the camera controls. I have just kept the standard aperture and shutter speeds set. Storing the images on my phone seemed like a great idea, especially when Google Photos™ would group them for me. Unfortunately, I had an update on my phone and not much space. I suppose I need to update everything. My phone has become both my hardware and software for the editing process.

Honestly, I like to keep things as natural as possible. Also, I don't have a laptop that has space to do much. I couldn't even upload my images and videos from my phone to my laptop because there wasn't enough storage space. I need to either purchase an external hard drive or buy a computer more compatible with what I want to use it for. But all of that requires funding. I'm believing thought that things will work out for me if I put in the effort.

I like photoshop. It may have been a while since I last used it because the last time I used it I was starting an internship with the media department in another state.

Pictures hold power and perfecting that power is an art. So, what is a picture worth? For it can transport you back in time allowing you to live in a moment that would otherwise not normally be possible. It can take you to a new perspective. It can change verdicts, set people free, chain, or even imprison them. It can bring happiness, sadness, anger, frustration, excitement, and many other emotions in any combination.

I can take a still photograph and turn it into a painting or a sketch. Multiple types of cameras are available ranging from actual cameras to cameras on phones. How we choose to express this art then is purely up to us.