My photography journey began way back in 1972. I was around ten years old when my grandfather placed a Kodak Box Brownie in my hands—whether he gave it to me or loaned it, I honestly can’t remember now. But I vividly remember the thrill of pressing that shutter and the long, impatient wait for the developed prints to come back. Grainy, soft, black-and-white photos… and yet, absolutely magical. The smell of fresh film and newly printed images is something that’s never left me.
Falling Deeper Into the Craft
As I got older, the obsession grew. Once I started working, I saved up and bought what felt like a technical marvel at the time: the Pentax ME Super. I still relied on third-party labs for prints, but the camera felt like a leap into the future.
Around 1983 everything changed again. I built a small darkroom in a spare bedroom and began developing and printing my own black-and-white film. Sitting here writing this, I can almost smell the developer and fixer. I never quite made the jump into colour film developing—time was tight, money even tighter, with two young daughters and all the responsibilities that come with family life.
Digital Awakening
Fast-forward to the late 1990s and the arrival of digital photography. That revolution re-ignited everything. I was already spending lots of time with computers, and suddenly being able to manipulate images digitally felt incredible. My first digital camera—an Olympus Camedia with a mighty 0.75 megapixels—opened the door, and over the years I went through several brands and models.
But printing? That lagged behind. Quality printers were expensive, and the results rarely matched traditional photographic prints. Even when I was working at Xerox as an engineer and later had access to high-end colour lasers and full-colour digital presses, the results still couldn’t quite replicate the old magic.
Photography stayed with me, but only as pixels on a screen. And part of me always felt something was missing.
2025 – Closing the Loop
Now jump forward to 2025. After a lot of thought (and many hours watching videos), I decided to buy a Canon Pro310—a 10-ink, high-quality inkjet printer. Funny enough, my first inkjet ever was the Canon BJ-10, a black-only machine that felt insanely advanced compared to dot-matrix printers of the time. Things have come a long way.
By the time the Pro310 arrived, I’d already absorbed countless tutorials. Between 1998 and 2003 I worked in the pre-press proofing world for Xerox and later Indigo as a sales and technical support analyst, so colour theory, profiles, and workflow weren’t new to me. That made the setup surprisingly smooth.
Even so, my expectations for that first print were modest.
The printer fed the sheet in… slowly… carefully. A few minutes later, the print emerged. I took it into natural light almost expecting disappointment.
Instead, I was blown away.
The colours matched the screen almost perfectly (no small achievement), the detail was flawless, and the whole thing just looked right. The image itself wasn’t even one of my best—but the print quality stopped me in my tracks.
For the first time in decades, I felt truly connected to the photographic process again.
Full Circle
Standing there holding that print, I realised something: I had come full circle. From the early days in my homemade darkroom—mixing chemicals, watching images come to life in trays of developer—to now, once again taking full control of the journey from capture to final print.
If you’re a photographer and you’re able to do it, I can’t recommend enough the experience of printing your own work. It completes the creative loop in a way nothing else does.
A Thank-You
A big influence on my decision to invest in the Canon Pro310 was Adam Karnacz from First Man Photography. His passion for printing and storytelling is inspiring.
You can find his work here: https://youtube.com/@firstmanphotography
Thank you, Adam.