I’ve just shot my last frame on the Kodak H35 camera using Ilford HP5+ BW film this morning. Now I am looking for a local developing lab. I want to have the roll developed, receive the negatives and a contact sheet and also to have them digitally scanned for the archives. Not an easy request in a smaller city and the demise of print labs everywhere. Up next, is the Lomochrome Metropolis 35mm film using the Pentax K1000 camera. Stay tuned…
I don’t like overpaying for film rolls. Film photography is not a niche market anymore. It is resurgent. Time for the prices to come down.
I don’t like the fact that I lose one roll due to loading issues inside the camera when the spool rejects the film.
I don’t like wasting frames due to over/under exposure, composition, blur or, or, or…
I don’t like waiting for images to come back from the lab.
I don’t like working out how to store all the prints and negatives.
I don’t like the fact that I do not have a darkroom to develop and make prints at home.
I don’t like film photography snobs and how they look down on digital photography.
I don’t like checking various websites for a good deal on film rolls and being disappointed.
I don’t like explaining to people that film photography is a thing and not a fad.
I don’t like film photography. I LOVE it.
I like the science of film developing with the smell of chemicals in a darkroom.
I like the magic of film developing when your image appears like an apparition after being immersed in those chemicals.
I like the fact there are no storage cards, no cables, or complicated touch screen menus on your film camera.
I like the manufacturer’s branding on film packs the same way I enjoyed the VHS, cassettes and album covers.
I like the email notification that tells me “your prints are ready to view!”
I like the way I feel when I breathlessly open up that envelope containing my prints for the big reveal.
I like hearing the shutter click. I like feeling the tension in the spool when advancing to the next frame. I like feeling the tension release when I’ve re-wound the spool to secure the roll.
I like the way that each frame on the roll can have its own unique exposure or grain or grit.
I like seeing the negative strip when held against the light. It is ethereal.
I like having a physical, tactile piece of chemical paper in my hand that has preserved a memory.
For the past fifteen years, I’ve maintained a website dedicated to my photography. I have been an active photographer for thirty years. In those fifteen years my website has endured, it has seen a lot of changes in server hosting, domain name changes, design and now a new name- MojoChrome. Formerly known as “Photo Mojo” and “PhotoDenbow”, the new brand “MojoChrome” moniker is an homage to a brilliant film emulsion process from Kodak called Kodachrome that has since been discontinued. It also serves as an intention to get back into analog film photography over digital. I’ll still be a hybrid shooter of course, and even the digital work will be post-processed using a different technique I call “mojochrome.”
I had first published this guide in early 2019 in an effort to simplify my post-process photography workflow using the 2018 iPad. After decades of desktop and laptop processing, I wondered if the iPad was a solution for me.
Previous year articles from 2021 and 2019
Can the iPad replace the laptop for my photography post-process?
So much has changed since then that I have continued the series and decided to write a new post about it. The evolution in gear, software, and process has been a fun process to look back on and wonder how we managed to get anything done at all. But where there is a will, there are many ways. I will cover what my photography workflow looks like, but ultimately, everyone needs to choose what’s right for them. Workflows are personal and modified as needed. This topic seems to be a crowd favorite because each year these posts receive a lot of traffic and attention (thank you!)
A few months after that last post, I upgraded to the 12.9” Apple iPad M1 (5th Gen) and fine-tuned my workflow. Now, I also upgraded the laptop to the 2021 MacBook Pro M1, and it is no slouch. However, the photo workflow is different, limiting and feels almost antiquated. For now, the MacBook is a tool for me to curate my digital photo archives using AdobeLightroom and that’s it. Here are some of the ways an iPad is more beneficial to me:
Multi-input workflow
Photography is a hands-on experience, and it is a joy to continue this on the iPad. Much like using your hands to develop your film negatives, so too are your fingers, the keyboard, and the Apple Pencil for finer control. Using a mouse to manipulate images is too impersonal for me now.
Storage
Thanks to the iPad and cloud services, there is an easier, more secure way to store images you’ve taken. This allows me to focus more on what I want to do (photography), rather than moving files around. I have 2 TB of iCloud storage waiting to receive my image uploads from either my Nikon D90 camera or the iPhone. There is another 1 TB of storage in the Adobe cloud. Current images I am shooting are uploaded, stored and easily accessible on any of my devices.
My data transfer and storage needs to be effortless, to the point I don’t have to think about it. I mentioned the MacBook and my archives previously- that’s the only time I want to think about storage. I do organize images on the hard drive and then migrate them into the Archives stored on the 10 TB external hard drive.
Performance
The iPad has been granted a full-time job from me. It is the most powerful, fastest, and most interactive device I own. The ability to handle images in RAW format while asking for more work to do is remarkable to me. Battery life is spectacular, although it has a massive screen. Speaking of that massive screen, nothing makes me happier than reviewing my photos on such a beautiful screen. Much like the analog contact sheets, I can sort through quickly and determine which are the keepers and which get tossed into the digital bin. That M1 chip really knows how to process faster and distribute power evenly.
Mobile
Sure, the 12.9” iPad is large, and the magic keyboard that it magnetically attaches to adds weight. But it is still smaller and lighter than lugging a laptop with all the dongles, charger and cables around. Something else I am enjoying is the 5G connectivity. The ability to travel, make images, load them up into the cloud instantly is nothing short of brilliant. Want to check the forecast for the next day’s shooting? Care to watch that video tutorial of local street photographers while you travel? Start post-processing your images and have them secured until you get back home? Publish your work while on the go? It is all possible with that iPad.
Hardware & Software
Below is what I minimally use to produce a maximum photography workflow.
Apple 12.9” iPad Pro (5th gen) – My mobile photo lab.
Apple Pencil – Precision editing tool
CharJen Mini stick- A USB-C adapter with SD card port, charging port
Apple Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro – All in one keyboard & cover
Apple Photos – Store, review, edit.
Adobe Lightroom – for photo post-processing, organization
iCloud – for backup and syncing across devices using Photos app
Adobe Creative Cloud – for backup and syncing across devices in Lightroom
Extra Tools In The Darkroom
Capture tools include Nikon D90, iPhone, iPad Pro and a collection of analog film cameras. Post-processing labs include Adobe Lightroom, Pixelmator Pro, VSCO and Hipstamatic. Portfolio and galleries that host the final images can be viewed here or on Flickr.
Conclusion
The iPad is a great workspace for editing your photos. It is my personal, mobile photo lab. I can process my images in bed or on a plane, or even in between photo shoots when I am out and about. This makes the iPad the perfect tool for my photography.
Leaving behind something that worked for awhile to pursue something different takes courage. It isn’t quitting. It is a pivot to something more beneficial.
I have been an active user of the internet since 1995 and have left massive breadcrumbs to trace back to me this entire time. But what if I wanted to start over? How would I go about doing that?
If I decide to had to do it all over again, I’d absolutely be more self-restrictive and private. Can we make use of the online world and remain a casual observer? No idea, but I’m taking a few steps to do just that. I purchased a new web domain and email address that does not have my name attached to it. Nice and generic. I switched my Apple ID to this new email address as phase one. After that, and over time, I will slowly start redirecting all of my online transactions to this new address.
But it doesn’t stop there. With the help of Apple’s Cloud+ services, I am even more private and secure. I already use “Hide My Email”, a tool that generates a generic email address that can be stopped/started at any time I choose. So if I am forced to sign up for something, they don’t see my personal email address. They see the generic one that gets routed to my personal. Example:
Fake email is generated, now I can use Apple’s Password generator tool. Not only does it create a multi 256-bit miltary encrypted password, it will remember and auto-fill for me everytime I log in.
I just started my fifth decade recently and realized I may have more years behind me than ahead of me. Do I need or want to continue to maintain a public presence? I am leaning toward no. Is this an identity or maybe mid-life crisis? Nah.
I don’t need or seek approval from anyone online. I also don’t feel a need to share with anyone online. I’ll journal my thoughts onto my private database and store my photography inside the gallery on my SSD.
Websites and social media platforms are getting aggressive in the monetizing of their services because- who knew that providing a platform for free is not sustainable? No one wants online advertising either and we all live with it because these web developers have to have money to buy shoes too, right?
The truth is, the WWW will never get better. It’s too far gone to think we’ll get it back. The netizens have lost the war to the platforms. I am very close to tucking my head into my shell and shut down all interest in the whole thing. I’ll use my current tech toys for more creative and less consuming matters. After the tech toys have outlived their usefulness? Analog everything. That’s how fed up I am.
I don’t know what’s going to come out of those moments but I do know there will be bright spots out there. It’ll be more difficult to find underneath the search engine optimized BS, the invasive advertising and the algorithmic feeds forced on us. But they are out there.
For now, we still have the capability to set up our own homestead on the WWW, do our own thing and choose to connect with whoever you want. The orginal web 1.0 tools are still around because they are the foundation of the internet- and still the best. E-mail, text, RSS, blogs, forums, etc. You are in control. Stop sharecropping on social media to make them rich and start building on your own land.
It has been a little over a month since stepping away from my website- I needed the break. Before dusting off the HTML code though, I’ve had some time to reflect on a few things including my participation on the WWW. More on that later.
For now, I need to make opportunities to make the most of what little time I have when not working. I haven’t been on a road trip in a year (Memphis 07/22.) and once again, the urge to go rambling on has kicked in. Two years ago I was in Wichita (see above image)
Having come off a 4-day weekend of relaxation and recovery, it felt wasted. Therapuetic but wasted. The next opportunity will be better.
Like the Greek philosopher Aristotle says about friendship:
1. There is the one friend who you can hang out with.
2. The one you call friend because you want that person to do something for you.
3. The friend who helps you become the best you can be.
Number 3 is the friend we need the most.
Most of us need fewer friends and more intellectual sparring partners. Friends can be easy to come by.
Intellectual sparring partners are harder to find. They will call you on your BS, question your assumptions, and push you to think bigger.
Find your intellectual sparring partner and hold on to them.
The Hoover Dam hides an intriguing secret connecting sky to ground and past to present, using a similar “as above, so below” system of measuring time displayed at the Giza Pyramid of Egypt.
Located on the Nevada side of the Hoover Dam is an monument dedicated to over 100 workers who lost their lives to the construction of the Hoover Dam.
Greeting visitors are two huge sculptures of winged celestial beings and the base with inscriptions, but not many people notice that the monument sits on top of a celestial map.
This celestial map is embedded around the monument. It is a beautifully executed representation of the night sky for a specific day and time and it includes many decorative features, astronomical markings and curious labels.
Back in 1930s, when this was designed, only an astronomer could have made sense of this information; but today, thanks to computers and applications like Stellarium, this knowledge is available to the average person. Aligning structures to constellations or fixed points was common in the past.
What is unique about the Hoover Dam sky map is the beauty of the design and precision employed by its creator, Oskar Hansen.
According to Hansen, the reason for this monument and star map is –
“to preserve for future generations the date on which President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated the dam and the power plant.”
Hansen encoded information in his masterpiece that relates to and preserves a very specific place and moment in time:
PLACE (Hoover Dam)
YEAR (1935)
MONTH (September)
DAY (30th)
TIME (21:30)
But how did he do it?
The phenomenon results from the wobbling of the Earth’s axis, mostly to the mass of the Moon. An observer on the surface of the spinning Earth looking east at sunrise would see different stars rising at different times, the result being that over 25,920 years, the entire circle of the 12 constellations of the Zodiac will successively appear on the horizon at very predictable intervals. Approximately every 2,150 years (25,920 /12), a new constellation will rise.
The second place to look is north, to see the Pole Star, a different face on our clock. If you attached a laser to the axis of the Earth’s rotation, it would trace a giant circle on the celestial sphere. Stars which are on or near this circle successively become “pole stars” over a period of approximately 26,000 years. Currently, in the Northern Hemisphere, Polaris is the north star, but in 12,000 years, the axis will point to Vega. Neat.
“Man’s control over natural forces has grown in proportion to his increasing knowledge of the true nature of the Universe of which we are a part…Time, the intangible governor of all our acts, is measured to us by the external relations of our Earth to other worlds. Therefore, I thought it fitting to have the base of the monument rise from a finely wrought, marble terrazzo star map of the northern regions of the sky.
“The designer of the star chart…placed the bodies of our solar system in the terrazzo, correct to the minutest fraction of an inch in scale of the design. One versed in the abstruse mathematics of astronomy may calculate the precession of the Pole Star for the next 14,000 years by studying the design of the star chart. Conversely, future generations may look upon this monument and determine – if no other means are available – the exact date on which engineers and craftsmen of our generation completed this giant structure”.
I think it is fascinating that this piece of archeological history resides in the United States. It is a shame that there are not more structures, symbols and memorials that will stand the test of time for future generations to look back on.
I’ve been thinking a lot about what I do, what I want to do and understanding my motivations. Not sure if this is because I just turned 50 and may be having some kind of crisis. Doesn’t feel like it. I am learning how to prioritize activities and being more intentional with my time.
I enjoy writing, not just for my website, but also for my personal knowledge database. Whether it be manual scribbles or typing on a keyboard, I love writing. And for the past twenty-two years, there has always been a nagging question: “Why are you doing this?” The question always exists of “what is it for”. I wrote about this recently in fact.
Sure, Chris, you write because you enjoy writing. True.
I don’t do this for attention, money, clicks or internet fame. I’ve had all of that in the past but no longer need them.
No, my interest and motivation is solely internal. If I wanted to write to an audience, I am going to have to step up my game with relevant content and frequency. If you are still reading or have stayed with me through the years, bless you.
These thoughts give reason behind simply enjoying the process of writing instead of the results. I love writing out my thoughts and that is enough motivation to do it. Although enough of it takes place in private that hitting publish barely seems worth it at all, the process could be enough. Although it is a joy to hit “PUBLISH” and send out to the WWW.
Besides, haven’t you ever done something just for the hell of it?
