Ororaro
Well-known
From Tom Selleck to Sydney Greenstreet. At least the transition went smooth, hair and stache.
boojum
Ignoble Miscreant
Noodles, pork and Bok Choy? Move over. ;o)
Early in 1962 I was a third-year math student shocked by the departure of a girlfriend so I dropped out and enlisted in the Air Force. At the time there was a draft to support our efforts in Vietnam. That led to weather school and deployment to a NATO airbase near Izmir on the central west coast of Turkey. My mother ordered me to buy a camera and use it. I got a Kodak Super 27, brick-shaped using 127 film. I learned that opening the flash door gave a longer shutter speed, and that the 43mm lens had two Waterhouse stops. I studied the Kodak Photo Guide to learn about exposure and those reciprocal settings. And followed my mama's orders!
I made friends with a guy who also worked in Base Operations and who was an experienced amateur photographer. Soon I bought a German 35mm camera, perhaps a Regula, scale focusing and fixed lens. My friend had access to the base photo lab after hours so we could develop B&W film in a tray by inspection under a safelight. Amazed that the results weren't bad, and we'd go back the next evening to collect our dried films.
I don't recall the fate of those two cameras. But within the year I paid a visit to the Base Exchange and purchased a Petriflex V SLR with 55mm lens. An early outing had me taking pictures at the Bob Hope Show as he stopped at our base on his USO tour. Bitten by GAS I also picked up a tiny Minolta 16-II and then a little half-frame Petri Half-7.
That Spring I was very busy using those cameras as my 18-months time in Turkey was coming to an end. A couple of car trips south along the coast to see Greek Ionian ruins, and a flight to Crete, and finally a day-pass layover in Istanbul on the way West, and two weeks in Paris and a stop in Brussels on the way to USAF duty in Rapid City South Dakota.
I kept very busy with photography in Rapid as there was plenty of interest to see around the area. I got a part time off-base job at the only camera store, and experienced shooting a wedding. The boss had an arrangement with the highway patrol to document serious accidents nearby, so that was interesting too. In this time I loaned my Petri half-frame to one of my co-workers at the weather station for him to use on a temporary duty to the Philippines where it was stolen. Not a big loss as it cost IIRC $28 new at the base store. I sold the Petriflex and bought my first Pentax, an H3v, and I've been big on Pentaxes ever since. But I also had opportunities to try a variety of used cameras from the store. The Nikon S2 I borrowed gave pretty spotted patterns on the film, due to holes in the shutter as it had been on display in the west-facing store window.
After 20 months I stayed in Rapid for a few more months after discharge from the USAF to help the camera store get started on the tourist season, but Boeing was getting the 747 ready for market and was hiring. I needed to move on. But at the last I ordered a Beseler 23C enlarger with Leitz Focotar 50mm lens at store discount to be shipped to me in Seattle.
I happily wandered the Seattle downtown and waterfront with my Pentax but lusted after a Leica. I was under the impression that at this time in 1967 SLRs ruled and RFs were passé. So at a downtown camera store I got a used button-rewind M2 body for $150 and a new 8-element Summicron 35mm for $164. A good choice and I still have that gear. I joined the Seattle Volvo Car Club and became the newsletter editor, publishing Pentax and Leica images of club events. I set up my darkroom in a walk-in closet in my studio apartment with a heavy tarp blocking the opening for the fold-down Murphy bed. Running water in the bath across the entry hall. What luxury!
These years were intensely photographic, as I was shooting all over Seattle and especially in Pike Place Market, up in the Cascade range, Mt Rainier... And a long motorcycle trip through British Columbia, turn right in Manitoba, visit Rapid City, Salt Lake, Sacramento, and home. 5300 miles in 10 days with an Olympus 35RC, on a Honda 750.
I lost my darkroom in a move from Capitol Hill to a rental house in north Seattle to be closer to a new work assignment at the 747 plant in Everett. I started shooting more color rather than black & white film. I found a store near the Everett plant, not a camera store, but the entrepreneur stocked Pentax 67 gear! I couldn't resist that blatant temptation. And by this time I was using Pentax Spotmatic and ES along with the Leica.
After a couple of years Boeing moved me to an aerodynamics group in Renton, a south suburb of Seattle and living in the north end was inconvenient. I bought an apartment building with 9 units in Burien, a south-west suburb, still no darkroom facilities. But that was to change after another couple of years.
I quit Boeing after 9 years and decided to become a professional landlord. I worked out a real estate transaction that involved selling the Burien apartments for a 50% profit and getting a good deal on a 25-unit building. The hitch was the location of the new building 100 miles east over the mountains into a very rural community. A cultural change too. It's 1976 now. But I had room for a darkroom and got it set up very nice in a second bath.
Meanwhile my Burien buyer, an airline pilot, was hoping his purchase would be his retirement asset, but he had bitten off more than he could chew comfortably and didn't want to put up with the troubles and demands of apartment operations. So he essentially abandoned the place to squatters. And then the county stepped in with code enforcement and the whole thing must have been very expensive for him.
Back to photography... My new location included a state university within walking distance, and it had a photo program in the Art Department, plus a journalism program. I had some fun with photo classes, helping in the gallery, and eventually had my own two-man show in the city's downtown art gallery. That was a learning experience for sure as I prepared my photos for display; selection, printing, matting, framing. The college art department had an effect on my approach and subject matter, becoming more academic. I put in some time on the city's Arts Commission and 9 years in the police reserves.
By this time I was married, and my wife showed an interest in photography as well. Have to say she was very hard on the gear. Over time she destroyed a Ricoh SLR and two Pentax LX bodies. But she enjoyed her photography of live drama productions and Girl Scouting. After 47 years of marriage she has dementia now and no longer does photography. And recently I haven't been doing any either. But I used to take a walk in the afternoon going 2-3 miles with one or another camera over my shoulder, photographing whatever caught my attention. Also on vacation trips in the western states, Hawaii, Spain. I sold the 25-unit building a few years ago so I'm once again without a darkroom, and I've fully switched to digital cameras. Still Leicas and Pentaxes!
I made friends with a guy who also worked in Base Operations and who was an experienced amateur photographer. Soon I bought a German 35mm camera, perhaps a Regula, scale focusing and fixed lens. My friend had access to the base photo lab after hours so we could develop B&W film in a tray by inspection under a safelight. Amazed that the results weren't bad, and we'd go back the next evening to collect our dried films.
I don't recall the fate of those two cameras. But within the year I paid a visit to the Base Exchange and purchased a Petriflex V SLR with 55mm lens. An early outing had me taking pictures at the Bob Hope Show as he stopped at our base on his USO tour. Bitten by GAS I also picked up a tiny Minolta 16-II and then a little half-frame Petri Half-7.
That Spring I was very busy using those cameras as my 18-months time in Turkey was coming to an end. A couple of car trips south along the coast to see Greek Ionian ruins, and a flight to Crete, and finally a day-pass layover in Istanbul on the way West, and two weeks in Paris and a stop in Brussels on the way to USAF duty in Rapid City South Dakota.
I kept very busy with photography in Rapid as there was plenty of interest to see around the area. I got a part time off-base job at the only camera store, and experienced shooting a wedding. The boss had an arrangement with the highway patrol to document serious accidents nearby, so that was interesting too. In this time I loaned my Petri half-frame to one of my co-workers at the weather station for him to use on a temporary duty to the Philippines where it was stolen. Not a big loss as it cost IIRC $28 new at the base store. I sold the Petriflex and bought my first Pentax, an H3v, and I've been big on Pentaxes ever since. But I also had opportunities to try a variety of used cameras from the store. The Nikon S2 I borrowed gave pretty spotted patterns on the film, due to holes in the shutter as it had been on display in the west-facing store window.
After 20 months I stayed in Rapid for a few more months after discharge from the USAF to help the camera store get started on the tourist season, but Boeing was getting the 747 ready for market and was hiring. I needed to move on. But at the last I ordered a Beseler 23C enlarger with Leitz Focotar 50mm lens at store discount to be shipped to me in Seattle.
I happily wandered the Seattle downtown and waterfront with my Pentax but lusted after a Leica. I was under the impression that at this time in 1967 SLRs ruled and RFs were passé. So at a downtown camera store I got a used button-rewind M2 body for $150 and a new 8-element Summicron 35mm for $164. A good choice and I still have that gear. I joined the Seattle Volvo Car Club and became the newsletter editor, publishing Pentax and Leica images of club events. I set up my darkroom in a walk-in closet in my studio apartment with a heavy tarp blocking the opening for the fold-down Murphy bed. Running water in the bath across the entry hall. What luxury!
These years were intensely photographic, as I was shooting all over Seattle and especially in Pike Place Market, up in the Cascade range, Mt Rainier... And a long motorcycle trip through British Columbia, turn right in Manitoba, visit Rapid City, Salt Lake, Sacramento, and home. 5300 miles in 10 days with an Olympus 35RC, on a Honda 750.
I lost my darkroom in a move from Capitol Hill to a rental house in north Seattle to be closer to a new work assignment at the 747 plant in Everett. I started shooting more color rather than black & white film. I found a store near the Everett plant, not a camera store, but the entrepreneur stocked Pentax 67 gear! I couldn't resist that blatant temptation. And by this time I was using Pentax Spotmatic and ES along with the Leica.
After a couple of years Boeing moved me to an aerodynamics group in Renton, a south suburb of Seattle and living in the north end was inconvenient. I bought an apartment building with 9 units in Burien, a south-west suburb, still no darkroom facilities. But that was to change after another couple of years.
I quit Boeing after 9 years and decided to become a professional landlord. I worked out a real estate transaction that involved selling the Burien apartments for a 50% profit and getting a good deal on a 25-unit building. The hitch was the location of the new building 100 miles east over the mountains into a very rural community. A cultural change too. It's 1976 now. But I had room for a darkroom and got it set up very nice in a second bath.
Meanwhile my Burien buyer, an airline pilot, was hoping his purchase would be his retirement asset, but he had bitten off more than he could chew comfortably and didn't want to put up with the troubles and demands of apartment operations. So he essentially abandoned the place to squatters. And then the county stepped in with code enforcement and the whole thing must have been very expensive for him.
Back to photography... My new location included a state university within walking distance, and it had a photo program in the Art Department, plus a journalism program. I had some fun with photo classes, helping in the gallery, and eventually had my own two-man show in the city's downtown art gallery. That was a learning experience for sure as I prepared my photos for display; selection, printing, matting, framing. The college art department had an effect on my approach and subject matter, becoming more academic. I put in some time on the city's Arts Commission and 9 years in the police reserves.
By this time I was married, and my wife showed an interest in photography as well. Have to say she was very hard on the gear. Over time she destroyed a Ricoh SLR and two Pentax LX bodies. But she enjoyed her photography of live drama productions and Girl Scouting. After 47 years of marriage she has dementia now and no longer does photography. And recently I haven't been doing any either. But I used to take a walk in the afternoon going 2-3 miles with one or another camera over my shoulder, photographing whatever caught my attention. Also on vacation trips in the western states, Hawaii, Spain. I sold the 25-unit building a few years ago so I'm once again without a darkroom, and I've fully switched to digital cameras. Still Leicas and Pentaxes!
DownUnder
Nikon Nomad
Jackie G, Sydney G and me, we all LIKE.
For some of us, to look at it is (almost) as good as tucking a fork and spoon into it. The word of the day here being d-i-e-t. (in a way, sort of relation to another close word, d-i-e).
Otherwise, summed up in one word, yum!!
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Richard G
Veteran
This is a wonderful thread. A camera or photographic forum, but you guys can write. My proof reading skills have gone off a bit lately and I have to be more careful with my reports at work. But still I can’t find grammatical or even spelling errors on RFF. I have really enjoyed the very short contributions to the thread too, from the poets maybe.
Retro-Grouch
Veteran
You can rite prety good, two.
ChrisPlatt
Thread Killer
Like others my interest and involvement with photography has waxed and waned over the years.
Working nights 11 PM - 7:30 AM for the last 20 years has not been good for my photography.
I hope when I retire in a couple years I will have more time, energy and ambition to pursue it.
Chris
Working nights 11 PM - 7:30 AM for the last 20 years has not been good for my photography.
I hope when I retire in a couple years I will have more time, energy and ambition to pursue it.
Chris
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Bill Clark
Veteran
Each stage of my life reveals different photographs.
At this stage of my life I photograph family and places
I visit.
Film for all black and white.
Digital I use my iPhone. It goes wherever I go.
At this stage of my life I photograph family and places
I visit.
Film for all black and white.
Digital I use my iPhone. It goes wherever I go.
JohnWolf
Well-known
I think mine is changing now. After years in the street/documentary genre, my interest has waned. Permanently, I suspect. Not sure where I’m headed. Maybe the so-called Zen or contemplative approach, which is where I began some fifty years ago. Still not sure, but it definitely feels like a creative crossroad.
John
John
JeffS7444
Well-known
Vagueness and ambiguity interest me a lot more these days, as I attempt to convey a mood, but wish to leave it's meaning up to the viewer. Lately, I've been striving to do this with even with perfectly focused, state of the art imaging equipment, and it's been challenging but never boring.
Richard G
Veteran
Good thought: pictures can still have emotional content while being sharp.
Out to Lunch
Ventor
During my studies and working life, I always planned and stayed ahead of the curve. In my photographic journey, the constant is serendipity: an aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident. I hope it stays that way. Cheers, OtL
Archiver
Veteran
Of course. Impressionism vs photorealism. Two styles that can aim toward the same goal.
What interests me is how I have the tendency to think of how some imperfect photos are aesthetically acceptable and even desirable, whereas others are just bad photos. The recent thread started by @Hayli looking for ways to make photos that appear dreamy, my old thread about focal lengths that feel like memories, and this thread, they all have example which I consider perfectly acceptable aesthetically, but aren't simply 'bad photos'. What are the general criteria by which we judge a photo to be 'good' even if it is technically imperfect, vs one which doesn't make the cut?
boojum
Ignoble Miscreant
I cannot judge which photo is good and which photo is bad. Mine or others. But I can judge the ones which please me, good, bad or otherwise. Hopefully now and again one or some of them will please others.
Out to Lunch
Ventor
Made me think of Supreme Court Judge, Potter Stewart's concurring opinion in the Jacobellis v. Ohio case, in which the Court ruled on what constitutes 'hard-core pornography': "I know it when I see it".
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Freakscene
Obscure member
It was a comment on the threshold for obscenity, not what constitutes hard-core porn, but indeed. I know it when I see it.
Out to Lunch
Ventor
Indirectly, yes. However, Potter Stewart's line specifically refers to the detection of ''hard-core pornography''.
" I have reached the conclusion . . . that under the First and Fourteenth Amendments criminal laws in this area are constitutionally limited to hard-core pornography. I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description; and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it (...)."
Richard G
Veteran
Should he have said “would know it if I saw it…”? Or either Potter Stewart’s wife was very tolerant, or never read his judgments. Or the papers.
DownUnder
Nikon Nomad
I started this thread a few months ago, and then somehow mislaid it. Finally! located it today. Hidden away somewhere.
(Note to self to make written notes in future about projects I want to keep going. Done.)
It generated some greatly interesting comments, and I intend to keep it going.
Somewhere in one of my four laptops I have first draft notes of two additional posts, covering my photography, life and travels in the periods 1965-1970 and 1971-1980. When I had matured a bit (especially after 1970, with my time as a PR grunt at Expo '67, the loss of two newspaper reporting jobs I grew into, enjoyed and learned from, and my life-changing decision in 1972 to relocate from Canada to the USA to do my B.Ed. degree). So it will be about my cameras but also about other things that have influenced and shaped my life.
My choice of cameras changed abruptly during that time, as did the scope of my photography, notably in the area of new interests and new styles of seeing and recording on film. I also discovered the joys of Ektachrome and Kodachrome, both now sadly past history.
This thread is an unfinished project for me, one I was especially keen to do when I started it. And got sidetracked by life events.
Many of my early memories I have long wanted to put down in writing for my own self-progress.
Others please join in. How have you progressed over the decades, in terms of your cameras and your photography, and especially how did all this affect and change your life?
Still of interest to many of us, I reckon.
(Note to self to make written notes in future about projects I want to keep going. Done.)
It generated some greatly interesting comments, and I intend to keep it going.
Somewhere in one of my four laptops I have first draft notes of two additional posts, covering my photography, life and travels in the periods 1965-1970 and 1971-1980. When I had matured a bit (especially after 1970, with my time as a PR grunt at Expo '67, the loss of two newspaper reporting jobs I grew into, enjoyed and learned from, and my life-changing decision in 1972 to relocate from Canada to the USA to do my B.Ed. degree). So it will be about my cameras but also about other things that have influenced and shaped my life.
My choice of cameras changed abruptly during that time, as did the scope of my photography, notably in the area of new interests and new styles of seeing and recording on film. I also discovered the joys of Ektachrome and Kodachrome, both now sadly past history.
This thread is an unfinished project for me, one I was especially keen to do when I started it. And got sidetracked by life events.
Many of my early memories I have long wanted to put down in writing for my own self-progress.
Others please join in. How have you progressed over the decades, in terms of your cameras and your photography, and especially how did all this affect and change your life?
Still of interest to many of us, I reckon.
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Dogman
Veteran
Well, to summarize, I was always pretty good at photography because I was totally consumed by it early on and I studied it constantly. By working for a daily newspaper, I learned a lot of tricks, shortcuts and techniques but I also became disillusioned and burned out. By quitting that job and not depending on photography for my income, I learned more about photography in general. I began to really love it. In terms of progressing, I believe my pictures have gotten better and I'm proud to find other people like them as well. Unfortunately, as time moves on I no longer have the mobility to pursue photography very efficiently. Arthritis and a nasty condition called spinal stenosis messes with my ability to ambulate more than very short distances (and those distances keep getting shorter). My eyesight is fading and I have macular degeneration that, thankfully, is not progressing very fast at present. Lets just say my future looks pretty dim.
Cameras I've used? Started with a pair of Nikon F bodies and Nikkor lenses 24, 35, 50 and 85. Added a 300/4.5 when I went to work for the news paper and then added a 180/2.8 Nikkor. I switched to Nikon F2 and lost both Nikon F bodies and the 50/1.4 in a burglary. Replaced it with a 55mm Micro-Nikkor. By the time I quit the newspaper job I had started using a Nikkor 80-200/4 and the Series E Nikon 36-72mm/3.5. During this period I also used (for short periods) Leica M4-P with 28, 35 and 90 lenses, Olympus XA, Mamiya C330 TLR and Wista 45SP. None of these cameras really had much of a lasting impression on me because I was daily shooting with Nikons and I just didn't adapt very well to others.
After I became a "civilian" I felt the need to change. AF was fairly new at the time and I found my ability to use my old Nikon F2 bodies was pretty limited when shooting a playful new puppy. Canon's AF was reported best so I jumped in. A pair of EOS A2E (EOS 5) bodies and three zooms, 20-35, 28-105 and 100-300, got me started. Later I added an EOS 1n and a Rebel (I forget the model) and several Canon lenses including my standard 24, 35, 50 and 85 primes. I also had the 17-40/4L, 80-200/2.8L and 400/5.6L. A nice setup that came in handy when digital came along. I started with a Canon 30D, then a 50D and finally a 7D with a Rebel T2i as a backup. Between the film Canons and the digital Canons, I also started shooting with a pair of Leica M6's using 21, 35, 50 and 90 lenses. I loved using the Leicas to the extent that I stopped using the Canon film bodies and just used the digital Canons for color.
Eventually, I tired of the heavy Canon gear and sold most of it. The Leicas were great and I loved them but I no longer loved shooting with film and printing in the darkroom so the Leicas went too. I started using Olympus 4/3 gear and the early Olympus Micro 4/3 EP-1 and EP-2. Lovely gear but Olympus abandoned the original 4/3 concept in favor of the Micro 4/3 and I was not particularly happy with the newer Olympus cameras. That's when I bought a pair of Fuji X-Pro1 bodies and a few lenses. The Fuji replaced the Olympus as the small camera outfit. Before long I found myself wishing for a full frame camera. While I still had some Canon lenses and Canon was the logical choice to go to, instead I decided to try out Nikon again. Before long I had accumulated several Nikon bodies and lenses and I found the gear was a perfect fit. The Fuji X-Pro2 came along and it fit me as well. That's where I am today, camera wise. I'm very happy with the X-Pro system as my digital (and AF) Leica replacement and I've recently bought a Nikon Z5 to dip my toes in the new Nikon system.
I've left out a few cameras here and there. I used and loved the Pentax 645, for instance, but medium format and larger is just not my interest. I realized I like small gear but with easy to grip handles, prime lenses of moderate maximum aperture. But who knows what's to come.
.................
Cameras I've used? Started with a pair of Nikon F bodies and Nikkor lenses 24, 35, 50 and 85. Added a 300/4.5 when I went to work for the news paper and then added a 180/2.8 Nikkor. I switched to Nikon F2 and lost both Nikon F bodies and the 50/1.4 in a burglary. Replaced it with a 55mm Micro-Nikkor. By the time I quit the newspaper job I had started using a Nikkor 80-200/4 and the Series E Nikon 36-72mm/3.5. During this period I also used (for short periods) Leica M4-P with 28, 35 and 90 lenses, Olympus XA, Mamiya C330 TLR and Wista 45SP. None of these cameras really had much of a lasting impression on me because I was daily shooting with Nikons and I just didn't adapt very well to others.
After I became a "civilian" I felt the need to change. AF was fairly new at the time and I found my ability to use my old Nikon F2 bodies was pretty limited when shooting a playful new puppy. Canon's AF was reported best so I jumped in. A pair of EOS A2E (EOS 5) bodies and three zooms, 20-35, 28-105 and 100-300, got me started. Later I added an EOS 1n and a Rebel (I forget the model) and several Canon lenses including my standard 24, 35, 50 and 85 primes. I also had the 17-40/4L, 80-200/2.8L and 400/5.6L. A nice setup that came in handy when digital came along. I started with a Canon 30D, then a 50D and finally a 7D with a Rebel T2i as a backup. Between the film Canons and the digital Canons, I also started shooting with a pair of Leica M6's using 21, 35, 50 and 90 lenses. I loved using the Leicas to the extent that I stopped using the Canon film bodies and just used the digital Canons for color.
Eventually, I tired of the heavy Canon gear and sold most of it. The Leicas were great and I loved them but I no longer loved shooting with film and printing in the darkroom so the Leicas went too. I started using Olympus 4/3 gear and the early Olympus Micro 4/3 EP-1 and EP-2. Lovely gear but Olympus abandoned the original 4/3 concept in favor of the Micro 4/3 and I was not particularly happy with the newer Olympus cameras. That's when I bought a pair of Fuji X-Pro1 bodies and a few lenses. The Fuji replaced the Olympus as the small camera outfit. Before long I found myself wishing for a full frame camera. While I still had some Canon lenses and Canon was the logical choice to go to, instead I decided to try out Nikon again. Before long I had accumulated several Nikon bodies and lenses and I found the gear was a perfect fit. The Fuji X-Pro2 came along and it fit me as well. That's where I am today, camera wise. I'm very happy with the X-Pro system as my digital (and AF) Leica replacement and I've recently bought a Nikon Z5 to dip my toes in the new Nikon system.
I've left out a few cameras here and there. I used and loved the Pentax 645, for instance, but medium format and larger is just not my interest. I realized I like small gear but with easy to grip handles, prime lenses of moderate maximum aperture. But who knows what's to come.
.................
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