Every time I hike into Hocking Hills with a camera, I’m reminded how much this place thrives on subtlety. It’s not just the waterfalls — though Upper Falls and Cedar Falls are always stunning — it’s the quiet textures: wet stone, layered bark, filtered light through hemlocks. And when I shoot in black and white, those subtleties come alive.

Proficiency in photography is paramount. There is much said about developing your technical skills and creative vision in photography. And certainly one must conquer the basic tools of photography such as the relationships of ISO, shutter speeds, and exposure times, controlling depth of field and more. And let’s not forget the often overwhelming learning curve to operate today’s DSLRs. Navigating a camera’s multilayered function menu can be huge challenge at first.

Years ago, in the mid 70’s, I began my journey in photography.  It all started with a Petri 35mm SLR that I purchased from a friend while serving in the Air Force.  One of the on-base hobby shops was a fully equipped darkroom for developing and printing black and white film.  I knew truly little about the technical aspects of photography at the time.  However, the first time I saw the magic of the image slowly emerging in the developer I realized that I was hooked.