Cowan is the owner of Safelight Labs. He lives in San Diego.

I am constantly surprised how many times someone will say to me, “They still make film for that camera?” when I am out and about in public with one of my cameras. I understand that comment because we live in a society that is dominated by technology. Just in the last 25 years, technology has grown by leaps and bounds. I have watched as cameras have evolved and are now able to do things I never thought possible: facial recognition technology, the lightning fast autofocus systems, a million possible settings inside the camera. This has sped up everything from wedding photography and commercial photography to family photos and everything in between. Everything is moving so fast. But is it moving too fast?

As a 41-year-old, I was one of the last generations to grow up in a darkroom in my high school lab. Digital cameras existed, but they weren’t affordable and available on the mass market like they are today. Kids today have only known life with Google, high speed internet access and cellphones that completely blow the original digital cameras out of the water.

I think what appeals to this younger generation is the idea of anticipation. You take a photo on film while you’re with your friends hanging out, getting coffee, on vacation, but you don’t get that instant feedback. You have to wait to get photos developed. But when you do get them back from labs like the one I own, you get a chance to relive that moment. You’ve captured a moment in time that you might have forgotten about entirely. And it’s special.

That feeling brings me the most joy because that’s what I’ve been able to experience for the last 25 years, and now a new generation gets to experience that.

My relationship with photography all started because of my mother. She was the photographer in the family, always capturing photos of my sister and I growing up in Northern California; going to the beach, Disneyland, Yosemite, skiing with family, anniversaries, etc. The physical photos we had printed out all got placed in photo albums. I loved sitting down and flipping through them, getting a chance to relive each and every one of those moments. We can try and do the same thing now with our phones or computers, scrolling through countless photos, but there is something special and magical about the dedicated photo album.

With our phones and digital cameras, we can snap away and accumulate 3,000 photos in a matter of seconds. Why, though? I don’t want that many images of the same thing. I want one, and I want it to count. When I know I have only 36 photos, I’m going to try and make each and every shot count.

I am extremely grateful to be in the industry I am in. One of my biggest joys is helping people find their first camera and starting them on their film journey. There are so many options out there, and to be honest, the internet is an extremely overwhelming place sometimes to do research, especially about cameras.

A question I constantly get asked is, “What is the best camera?” I love this question because there is no answer to it. There is only my opinion. What works best for me might not work best for you. And there is a beauty in that. The person wielding the camera makes all the difference. I use this analogy a lot with customers: If you hand a $25,000 camera to someone who has no idea how to work it and does not understand lighting, composition, ISO, shutter speed, aperture or depth of field, chances are they’re not going to provide you with an award-winning photo. But if you put a cheap camera into the hands of someone who knows what they’re doing, chances are they’re going to give you something that will be worth viewing. Cameras are just tools. And through the lens, it can unlock new worlds someone never thought even existed. Photography is truly magical.

We have lots of big plans for Camera Exposure and Safelight Labs in North Park. Without my business partner, Caitie Boreliz, we wouldn’t be able to do any of them. This summer, we are going to start construction on a new photography studio, a DIY development lab and a community darkroom, providing the San Diego photography community with a place to learn, grow and create.

We love this community and we love how ever-changing it is.