I am constantly blown away by the power of what we do with light and the little black box that captures it. Each day, we arm ourselves with the latest and greatest cameras, lenses, speedlights, monolights, reflectors, tripods, and accessories. We create. When the gig is over we return to our computers with memory cards full of vision and inspiration. We download our creative triumphs. We back them up. We tweak them. We edit them. We retouch them. We post them. We share them. We email them to the client.

But when was the last time you printed one?

Oddly enough (or embarrassingly enough) it was actually a conversation in a movie that got me thinking about this topic recently.

“There are several quintessential moments in a man’s life– losing his virginity, getting married, becoming a father, and having the right girl smile at you.”

While we can endlessly debate what the quintessential moments in life are (as well as the philosophical merits of 1985’s “St. Elmo’s Fire), I think we can all agree that we have them. They are moments that define us. Benchmark moments along our timeline (NOT the Facebook kind) where we look back and see how something important about us or our lives took shape.

I’m always fascinated when I meet a photographer who has never shot a roll of film. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t mean it in a critical way. I’ve fully embraced and invested in digital, just like you. Couldn’t do what I do without it. It’s just interesting to me, though, how so many photographers have never used one of the most basic elements in all of photography. I can’t (and don’t) blame them. It’s timing. The history of photography in general– and the digital age in particular– has come a very long way in a very short time. Cameras get smaller. Sensors get bigger. “iPhonography” is actually a thing. And don’t even get me started on some of the insanely impressive time-lapse photography going on out there. Exciting stuff.

And yet, I miss film.