Having come to digital photography following a three-decade relationship with film, black and white imagery will always be my first love. It was a fascination with the black and white "pictorial" work of the great William Mortensen (who was repeatedly attacked by Ansel Adams as "the anti-Christ") that drew me to photography, and it was in my black and white darkroom that I first learned the craft of creating a picture.

Today, at the comfort of my desk-- and profoundly disinclined to return to the days of toxic fumes, dim light, and paper safes-- producing a perfect color print is an almost effortless procedure. Yet today, as in the past, there are still images that best reveal their strengths when brought to life in non-distracting monochromatic shades of gray, and it is still a challenge to successfully create these pictures. Meeting that challenge remains one of the digital darkroom's most satisfying experiences.