When I was a heck of a lot younger and learning photography from my dad, he showed me his “Ansel Adams Exposure Record” book.

It was old when I was a kid. When I was cleaning out my parents’ house in 2015, I packed away dad’s photography archive, and everything related to it. The decades of slides and negatives, and his meticulous record of the slides. And the Exposure Record book. For something that is now over 65 years old, it is in remarkably great condition. Even the paper does not seem to have aged. The record is one more piece of the puzzle of being able to tell the story of his photos, and his story. This is one of my on-going projects.

Rewinding a bit, when I was younger, I thought my dad was nuts by keeping all of this information. You know the shutter and f-stop of this photo of clouds over the backyard. Great, now what? I’d rather be taking photos than writing down what shutter speed I used on the photo of the snow bank in the same backyard after I shoveled the snow.

When I got to college, though, I realized he was not crazy at all. When Mr. Bulucos took me under his wing in his photography class, knowing the technical information of the photo was crucial in the darkroom. However, once I was out of his class, I stepped away from the note taking. Then, the digital age came along and the camera records all of that information. So, vindication for me! Right?

Not really. Over the past few years, I have started taking a notebook with me in the field. Writing down where I was, making notes about the conditions, what filter I was using (if any), handheld vs supported with a tripod. Any info the camera cannot record. What was that flower in the garden? That bird? What were the weather conditions?

I don’t just use the notebook, I also use a journal app on my phone. The app is great because I can drop photos from my phone into the journal. With the location services on my phone, it records exactly where I was when I took the photo.

Why is this important? It helps to tell the story of my photos. I can just say I took a photo of a tree, and here’s the tree. If I say what kind of tree it is, where I took it, what was the mood of the day, and what was the tree telling me, I can then tell the viewer all of this. Just like telling my dad’s story, I can tell the story of my photos, and my story.

Taking notes also slows me down when I’m in the field. I do not want to be a machine just snapping photos. I want to take the scene in. Look around. Look behind me. Explore the scene to determine which angles and points of view are speaking to me. I cannot do that if I’m just standing there taking photos.

Dad is still talking to me, and teaching me, 20 plus years since he left this world. I’m listening, dad.