Making the Prints

All of Aaron's prints are made in the darkroom by hand in the traditional way using Ilfochrome Classic (formerly Cibachrome) materials. There is absolutely no digital manipulation or enhancement, and in fact no color-adding filters or computers are used at all in the making of these prints. Except for some of the nighttime and starwheel photographs (Lord of the Starfields, Space Travellers, and Night Song) where a red headlamp was used to illuminate the foreground, only natural light is used in the making of these images.

"I have chosen to keep my photographs as pure as possible. There is something about following the traditional ways that I find appealing. In this age of technology and digital manipulation, anything, just about, is possible with photography. Photoshop is quite amazing and images can be greatly enhanced and manipulated. Even though I realize that digital manipulation and enhancement is an art and a skill in its own right, with digital photography you never know if what you're seeing is real. I prefer to be patient and let Nature's light paint magic onto the landscape rather than capture a mundane image and then try to make it more appealing with a computer. One day in the near future, unfortunately, the materials for traditional darkroom printmaking will no longer be available as demand for them diminishes. With the shift toward the convenience of digital media, this is almost sure to happen sooner than later."