My photography includes Alpine and other landscapes, European, Canadian, and American cityscapes, including night scenes, railroad and aviation subjects, people, pets, the passing scene. In other words, I am easily inspired when a camera is at hand.
In exhibiting my work, whether in galleries, on-line, or in photo cards, I derive special pleasure in sharing with others the fruits of those otherwise private moments of looking through the viewfinder.
I continue to shoot film alongside of digital. I have loved film for decades, having begun my photography when film was the only means of capturing an image. I've never stopped loving film for its unique attributes and continue to shoot with it regularly. I like to say it “keeps me honest” – that is, it forces me to be more deliberate in my shooting, also to remember all the relationships of f/stops, shutter speeds, depth of field, etc that I have endeavored to learn over the years…and the fact that a roll of film represents a finite number of chances to “get it right.”
This does not mean digital photography does not depend on the same factors coming together, or that one can not be “deliberate” when shooting digital. It’s simply that good results on film demand it.
But, to me, shooting film is also a sort of “comfort food” experience that reminds me of the less hurried, less technically “cold” times during which I was learning my craft. And I admit to loving the anticipation of waiting for one’s negatives or slides to come back from the lab – Often, that, in its own “archaic” way, is as pleasurable to me as digital’s (still amazing!) instant confirmation that I got it right (well, most of the time!).
All of this is not to leave out something I so love about film - its textures and character. Passé? I don’t think so, not when one considers all the editing programs out there designed to emulate film down to the specific types. Me, I rather like getting that done in the camera.
One of the utter joys of having retired from my "day job" has been the chance to revisit years and years of film shooting – and all the enriching experiences, travel and otherwise – that went along with them. What a joyful time machine it has been for me to re-discover countless, often forgotten, sleeves of negatives and boxes of slides, including the venerable Kodachrome-25, Panatomic-X, Agfa APX-25, trusty Tri-X, iconic Ilford Pan-F and so many more. Moments captured on film which there seemed never enough time to do justice to, while engaged in full time employment…all emerging from my Nikon scanner onto my monitor.
I hope you will find many such motifs as timeless as I consider them to be.
Actually, this ongoing voyage is also true of the results of ten years with the D-SLR, many of which I’m now re-discovering, now that the time is there, and greatly enjoying sharing these as well as my current images.
The experience reminds me daily of what a wonderful life I have enjoyed since my parents gave me my first camera, a Kodak Brownie Hawkeye, for my tenth birthday, and as I went on to acquire all the (by definition!) more advanced cameras that have allowed me to advance my skills and which have accompanied me on trips and other enjoyable experiences.
I don’t mean for any of this to be purely backward looking. I am ALWAYS looking forward to the next shoot and the cameras, both film and digital, prime lenses, zooms, filters, and other paraphernalia that I’ll be packing into my overstuffed equipment bags!
As a writer and voice actor, I have also enjoyed writing about certain travel and photographic experiences for my blog, as well as creating audio podcasts through which I'd enjoy having you along for the shoot. You may find some of these productions here:
https://soundcloud.com/steve-ember
And any time I publish an image with a related podcast, I'll provide a link to the audio at the bottom of the narrative. So, if you like an image, please do scroll down. There may just be an entertaining adventure lurking...
I hope you will enjoy sampling my work, and I welcome your comments if a photo should inspire you. You can also reach me by email:
[email protected]
