along the creek

last month my husband finally felt well enough to travel, so we hit the road for a quick trip back to Michigan.  along the way we stopped to visit my husband's brother and family in Lawrence Park, PA, a suburb of Erie.  we stayed at a lovely roadside motel, The Lighthouse Inn and Restaurant, that has maintained its 1960's style and charm.  the breakfasts and lunches served next door aren't half bad either.  the motel is located next to Four Mile Creek, which winds its way through a pretty little golf course to Lake Erie.  it is a popular spot with fishermen, as it is stocked with bass, perch and other game fish.

every morning of our stay, i'd rise early and photograph along the creek.  the hard winter of health travails and heavy snow had kept me from photographing for many months, so i was full of pent up energy and excitement.  the creek was magical.  everywhere i looked i saw beauty, as spring began to make its mark on the earth.  i could barely contain myself, shooting picture, after picture, after picture.  i shot so much i had to make a trip to a local camera store, Van Tuil, to restock my black and white film.

last week, when i finally had the opportunity to develop some of the film i shot, and to print a few images, the magic continued.  i spent a marathon day in the darkroom, printing image after image after image.  my feet barely touched the floor as i pulled each print from the fix and headed out into natural light to examine what i had.  my heart beat faster as i looked at a succession of small images taken during my mornings spent exploring the creek.  i was in love with what i was seeing.  and not with just one image... image after image spoke to me.  i truly do not believe i have ever experienced a happier, more fulfilling, more magical day in the darkroom.  i was afraid to stop working because i wanted the magic to last forever.

this is why i love photography.  photography allows me to approach that which is essentially and ultimately unsayable and present it to you.

hello again

i'm back, after a long hiatus... back behind the camera, back in the darkroom and back to writing just a bit.  i hope to post here more regularly.  but, quite honestly, shooting and darkroom work will always take precedence over writing.

i have been shooting with my 4x5 camera, using photographic paper for my negatives.  here's a recent shot taken at Colonial Park in Franklin Township, NJ.

by the way, everything looks miraculous on the ground glass screen of a large format camera.