Hi everyone it’s your self proclaimed Photo Nerd, Ross Emerson here to share with you a bit more about me and how I got here, so here is my short biography:
I grew up in a small town in the Niagara region of Ontario Canada where I spent most of my youth outdoors exploring the Niagara Escarpment, wandering the woods and taking in the surroundings of nature and the wildlife hidden within. later in the years of high school I took up the chance to take a photography course and was gifted my father’s old Canon FTb and the spark of interest in the field was set!
Even though aviation is my main focus in life, my passion for photography never left, even when I took a course in Sault Ste. Marie Ontario at Sault College taking Aircraft Structural Repair I had my trusty Canon FTb with me. I now reside in London Ontario where I make a living in aviation repair but the love of photography has expanded even more.
As mentioned above, I began my photography journey in high school taking a course on photography. That course gave me a foundation of the historical, technical and basic sides of the art. I was also very fortunate to have gained friendship with a local artist Rick Manners who specialized in wildlife paintings and photographs.
Although taking the high school course gave me a foundation of my photographic knowledge, Rick was able to build upon that base and introduce much more aspects of the art. Being a photographer himself, Rick was able to exchange his knowledge with me. He taught me more about the creative sides such as composition and the understanding of lighting, both natural and artificial and to shoot, shoot some more, and keep on shooting!
Even with the knowledge I gained back in high school and with Rick I continue to better myself by taking courses and workshops to refresh and learn new skills. I’ve taken many courses offered by Henry’s school of imaging leading me to gain the cover image of Photo Ed Magazine winter edition 2012, along with two other images within the edition. More recently I’ve taken on-line courses and also taken workshops with Ethan Meleg on landscape photography in Ontario. To further my knowledge of the history of photography I also took a course on Tintype Collodion Wet Plate photography held at the Eastman Kodak museum in Rochester New York USA taught by expert Mark Osterman.
Currently I work with digital 35mm cameras along with 35mm, medium and large format film cameras. The choice of format and media that I use depends on my vision of what I am looking for as an end result of an idea. I would like to say that I am one of the few that still loves to challenge myself and shoot with film even in our day and age of digital. History is a big fascination with me and I would like to build upon that with my analog photography as well.
My goal is here is to share the story of the photographic journey that has lead up to this point in time. The analog craze that has been increasing despite the digital world is a testament to how some of us still love to have a tactile experience through film.