It's pretty incredible, that wet plate collodion process. And it's wild to think that our digital cameras, which are capable of so much, came from the very basic, yet complex, medium format cameras from the turn of the century. After I converted my bathroom into a super janky darkroom so I could develop photographic paper shots out of the pinhole camera I made, I have a supreme respect for early photographers. Especially ones that were out in the wild, trying to capture bits of these undiscovered lands for themselves and others enjoyment. Do you know how hard it is to light tight shit? I mean, I had the help of aluminum foil - these guys had to carry around entire booths where they could prepare the camera, and then develop the shot immediately. Mad, mad, mad respect.
As a quick semi related sidenote, I am also an internet junkie. One of my favorite things to do is read YouTube comments, which if you've ever taken the time to actually read them, you know they're just...not really worth reading. But sometimes I get amused by various forums and message boards online where people feel the need to discuss things, so occasionally I will read the comments on Instagram.
A quick scan of the comments for this particular picture left me very irritated, so naturally I went digging for more. Amidst the praise and the awe most people had, a few comments stood out to me, so I've compiled them in one file. I've even been super nice and blurred out their names! Look at me being so diplomatic!
First off! Good for you and your point and shoot! Do you know how many people can sit at the scenic outlooks and snap a quick pic of it when it's erupting and it's going to look similar to that? Shut up.
Cool story bro? Seriously? Even if this guy didn't mean to sound douchy, and even if he legitimately thought it was a cool story (cause to be fair, it is!), those are three words that just drip with sarcasm no matter what when posted online. Shut up.
Take it with a real camera?!?!? WOMAN! He took it with an ORIGINAL TYPE OF CAMERA!!! WHERE DO YOU THINK MODERN PHOTOGRAPHY CAME FROM!??! Your opinions and your crappy bandana are bullshit, not this mans picture. Zip it.
I don't really understand how someone can be blase about our national parks. I really don't. Like, even the Grand Canyon, which is just a big hole in the ground, is fucking beautiful! And Old Faithful is unique, and is on a natural timer, and how can that not be as great as you thought?! It shoots out like 30 feet straight into the air! It's ridiculously cool! Are you upset that it doesn't sing Justin Beiber?! Is that why it wasn't as great as you thought?
And finally, yes. It would have been faster and easier to just use a digital camera. But half the fun of photography is working with your camera, and interacting with your surroundings, and waiting for the perfect moment to actually take a picture. I still like to shoot with film on a regular basis, just because there's something really awesome about not getting the instant gratification of knowing what your picture looks like right that second. And when you only have a fixed number of exposures (in this guys case, 1!), you're more thoughtful, you plan and frame things out, you pause more. It's a completely different experience than shooting digitally.
As Shepherd Book, from Firefly, so eloquently puts it, "...cause how you get there is the worthier part." That's what this picture ultimately is. Peter Essick could have used his ridiculously awesome DSLR to take this shot, and it would've been beautiful and an overall great picture. Instead, he chose to actually work for it, to make something completely unique and out of the ordinary, and have a far more memorable experience.
The TL;DR of this post:
Don't read comments on Instagram because they are, for the most part, idiotic and just will make me rage.
Photography is awesome.
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