If you were to tell me 10 years ago that i'd be living in a small remote rural town doing a self funded project with no intention of making a dime on said project. I'd would have probably thought you were crazy, but then secretly steal your idea and shelve it for a long long time.
I can't quite remember when i first started taking pictures, but i do know i've had a camera with me since i was 7 or 8 years old. I started with those little disposable cameras and eventually started playing with my parents old Polaroid SX-70( i wish i knew what happened to that camera). As soon as the digital age of photography became more affordable, I jumped right into a point and shoot. Then there was camera phones which i think is one of the most revolutionary advancements in photography. Making cameras available for the masses is right up there next to the invention of pizza. At some point everyone that likes taking pictures starts to think about buying a DLSR and so i did. I went through G.A.S. (Gear acquisition syndrome) for quite a few years. i bought a giant pro body, lenses, flashes and modifiers and so much more. I kind of got lost in the gear and forgot about making photographs for awhile.
So lets get back to what i did when i was just starting to get serious about photography, I started reading everything i could about the technical aspects of photography. I couldn't even begin to count how many blogs,vlogs, online tutorials i went through in the first few years. I will tell you that it was well worth the time. When i think back on it now, all the hours spent on learning the exposure triangle like the back of my hand gives you a ton of confidence when faced with difficult lighting situations. Although this step in becoming a good photographer is VERY important, it wasn't the most difficult part for me. So off i went armed with way more knowledge than i started with. I made photographs of everything! I started photographing My pets, family, friends, the food i was about to eat. you name it i probably have a photograph of it. This is where it started to get hard as is with anything that is done in a repetition. I ran out of stuff to photograph, I lost inspiration for it for awhile. So i started reading again and looking at gear as well. I came across a lot of blogs. I watched more online classes from pros in the business. One thing that hit me and sort of just clicked in my head was about finding your "Voice" so to speak. Going back to how accessible photography has become, It is a very much a double edged sword. There are a plethora of people who bought a DSLR, found some pretty girls or guys and made some portraits of them. I mean check out Instagram, Facebook, Flickr. (insert popular social media platform here). It's in every corner of the interwebs. I'm not saying this in any disrespect, Heck I've done it myself. I just wanted to point out how over saturated photography has become in the last few years.
So i started to think and read about a different aspect of photography. What could possibly separate me from the ocean of photographers? One thing that came up the most from other photographers is a sense of style or personal voice. This can come in many different variations. It could be a certain way you make your photographs or a certain way of processing/post editing your photos. I on the other hand wanted to take a deeper look at how i made photographs or more so what my photographs told me about myself. It took me maybe over a year to really figure it out and honestly i don't know if I've completely figured it out yet, but after going through tens of thousands of photos that I've made over the years i started to notice a few things. There were certain patterns in the images i liked the best. Out of the series of photos i went through i found a lot of myself in the images. I don't know how to better explain it other than all of my favorite images were very personal. I know there might be a lot of people out there that don't like the photographs i make and thats okay. This might sound pretentious but I only want to make something that makes me happy. I have to come to terms that i'm not out to satisfy other people, but on the flip side if my images intrigue or inspire even one person it makes it all even more worth it.
Now that I have the technical knowledge and what i consider my signature style, What next? Well after dabbling in so many different types of photography. I really wanted to do something important to me, something that i can hopefully leave behind for future generations. My grandparents have owned apple orchards out in northern Washington state for as long as i can remember. I've spent plenty of summers out there sometimes helping with work they did, but mostly it was just a summer get away with my uncles, aunts and cousins. I have so many fond memories of our time spent swimming in the lake or playing tag on ATV's in the orchards. So this brings me to today, I officially am back in Ellisford at my grandparents house. Why am i here you ask? Well its pretty straight forward. I wish i spent more time photographing my time here as a kid. I wish i kept whatever photos i did take when i was here as a kid. I wish i had something to share with the next generation of Del rosario's about our time here as kids. So i left my comfy life in the northern suburbs of chicago to live out here for at least a year. I bet you've heard someone say "get out of your comfort zone" once in a while. Thats exactly what i am doing. Anytime i've considered a job i go into it with the mind set of telling a story. Whether its photographing a wedding to the photographing the streets of Chicago. So i thought to my self, what is the best way to really capture my grandparents orchards? Well I have to immerse myself in the entirety of the experience. I decided that i need to be here day in day out for a full season. I need to see the apples trees bloom, experience harvests, Work and follow my grandfather around, even work with the other employees on the orchard and capture every day life out here.
I wish i could say i know exactly how this is going to go or I have an exact plan of the outcome, but i don't. Thats how it usually goes with anything i photograph. I usually like to work organically. I let images unfold before me and try to be at the right place at the right time. So this is what i'll be doing for the next 12 months. For everyone that would like to follow along with the story or see a few previews into my progress, I'll be posted up a blog post 1-2 times a week. I'll also be posting up images here and on instagram.
If you don't already follow me on social media i'd love it did.
Snapchat : @Chriiiissss
IG : @Chriiiissss