As it turns out, there's a lot more to photography than your average point-and-shoot will lead you to believe. Real photography involves so much control.  You really have to know what you're doing.

My first two assignments had to be film. Shooting film isn't too bad. It's exciting to not know what's going on or how the pictures will look.

      The real pain  comes in the processing. You lock yourself in a small room. Once you arrange your tools, the lights go out. They don't come back on until the film is wound on a small stainless steel spool, and the spool goes into a lightproof container. That's the worst part. If the film isn't wound just right, some of the negatives won't turn out. You won't know until you process the film, which involves all the fun bits of chemistry class.

      Developing is fun, too. The the red lights in the darkroom make the world go black-and-white. It's a fun experiment with light. It's a lovely process.

Digital is fun, too. It allows for more control, but printing isn't as fun. I don't have any of the prints I've turned in back yet, but I've posted the first two digital prints that I'm turning in tomorrow.