I mainly use 35mm SLR cameras, because of their flexibility and creative freedom. I am in no way saying that 35mm is superior to other formats but for my personal style it is dominate. In fact you will see other formats used in my work, if you look at my galleries.

One thing that does irritate me is a little is the concept that a 35mm SLR is inferior other formats, or sometimes stated as “why don’t you grow up to a larger format”. One of the main reason for these statements of ignorance comes from fact that there is far more automation in 35mm than other formats. True there are good point and shoot cameras but with many of these cameras you are handicapped by the fact you give up creative and sometime crucial manual overrides. 35mm is now one of the most complex systems out there yet is the simplest. Think of it this way one of the most difficult formats to master is the view camera yet it is the most simplest in design. There are no automatic controls, but there are an infinite number of tilt and shift controls. The same can be said of 35mm SLR in simplifying it they have made it that much more complex. For example: The Nikon F5 has 21 custom functions. Think all the different combinations you can have with these functions.

The another reason for this statement is feeling that 35mm negative is so inferior to larger formats. While this was true of color film 15 years ago this not the case today. There is no reason why you can not get an enlargement of 24X36 inches if you use the full frame of a 35mm negative with a 200 asa or slower film.

I think I should restate that I look at cameras as a tool to capture an image. To put it simply a camera is a paint brush and the film is the canvas. I try to pick the format that best meets the need of the photograph.

At present I use Nikon and I feel for my needs it is the best system. Does that mean I feel Canon is inferior, no. If the Nikon F5 had not come out I would most likely be using the EOS-1N RS. In terms of lenses I feel both systems are pretty much equal. I do feel that right now that the F5 is the best Pro 35mm AF camera made to date. Over all I believe that Nikon is slightly a more durable system.

I usually carry two camera bodies (the Nikon F5 and N90s) and three lenses (28-70mm f2.8, 80-200mm f2.8 and a 300mm f2.8). I also carry a 1.4x teleconverter and a SB-26 with a Quantum battery. This gear covers most of my needs for daily shoots.

Do I shoot manually or auto? To answer this honestly both but, I tend to shoot as conditions dictate. I have shot the NFL (National Football League) with AF and auto but I do shoot college and highschool volleyball manually. And there have been times I shoot The NFL completely manually. It simply depends on what my needs are.

Pick the gear that matches your needs for the work you have to do and you will not go wrong.

The color darkroom for me has been replaced by the computer darkroom. Black and White I still do traditionally darkroom for prints but I use the computer darkroom for publications. I use electronic darkroom for color because of the greater control of tones, hues and contrast than what I could get with traditional means. Also there is far less chemicals and mess this way. Black and White there is still a magic with traditional methods. One thing I really like is digital archiving that makes a nice backup to negatives. At present I use Macintosh Computers and Photoshop 4 for most of my Electronic Darkroom needs.

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