Our new year's photo resolutions...

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DownUnder

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We all make them. Don't we??

Mine for '22 have to do with having reached a certain, well 'cross road' in my photography. At my age, I'm now starting to slow down ("finally!!" sighs my weary partner from across the room) and having to make some new resolutions and plans for the coming year. All to do with the passing of time.

The first "will do" is to use up the film I have left in my darkroom fridge and the house freezer - about 200-250 rolls, quite a lot of old 35mm but more 120. Far too much Panatomic-X I bought in the '80s after Kodak discontinued this wonderful film, also several dozen 120 rolls I bought earlier this year from the deceased estate of an old friend who like me was too much into hoarding. I don't want it to rot in the cold or eventually be thrown into the dumpster after I fall off my perch, so used it will be. My Rolleiflexes, Voigtlander Perkeo and Zeiss Nettar will be taken out of mothballs, dusted off and cleaned, and returned to a new life. So win-win.

The other is to use up my darkroom supplies. Far too much chemistry, mostly basics (I mix my own developers), several bottles of selenium toner I bought long ago but have never really made much use of, and of course all the paper I've religiously hoarded for the last 20 years - mostly FB and quality stuff, so still probably good, though a bit of testing will be in order to see if any fog has crept into those emulsions.

A few hundred old B&W negatives will be printed after decades of hiding in archival sheets. All the Ilford Galerie 8x10, 11x14 and 16x20 packs I lucked into, again from a late friend's estate, in 2000 or 2001 will be cut up and made use of.

Finally, when my film has been used up (or some of it given to friends who still "do analog" as the saying goes) I may sell off the film cameras. Reluctantly. I still love my Contax G1 kits. Ditto my Nikkormats. Or my first Rollei TLR which I bought in 1966, but many (or even most) of the others. Still too many gathering dust on their thrones as my shelf queens at home.

Then more photography, I hope in southeast Asia, when a few countries I've enjoyed visiting in the past have fully reopened and it's safer to travel again. This will be most likely from midyear. Indonesia was my old base for many decades, but its idiotic visa and quarantine (= expensive) new rules make it unlikely that I will be going back there in the near future. Singapore, Malaysia, maybe Laos and Cambodia, surely Vietnam. While I still can.

So what are your photography plans and resolutions for 2022? The way things are these days, planning has to be most if not all of the fun...
 
Well, every year i promise my wife that i will not buy any new cameras and every year i fail spectacularly.
I will try to shoot more - i only shot 8 rolls this year. I'll also try to rotate the cameras more - some of them have not seen a film for almost two years now.
 
Every year at this time I commit to shooting color. It never lasts.

But this could be the year.

Every year I say that, too, but it never is.

John
 
This is the year that I develop and print film. I have about 3 dozen rolls sitting around undeveloped for the past several years and all of the equipment to set up a darkroom that I bought at least 7 years ago.

Seriously..........this is the year.
 
My resolution for 2021 was One Camera, One Lens all year. That lasted until early April. (Leica M5, Konika Hexanon 50mm/2) Sometimes, "the one" is not the right tool for the job. This *was* a good year for me for darkroom work.

I have two unopened 25 sheet boxes of 4x5 HP5+. My resolution for this year is to shoot all 50 of those sheets. That's only 1 4x5 sheet per week. I can do that... I'm taking a solo trip to Hawaii next year, covid allowing, and I resolve to take the 4x5 camera on that trip. And get my 5x7 camera fixed (front standard lock) so I can shoot some of that also.
 
ozmoose said:
We all make them. Don't we??

Mine for '22 have to do with having reached a certain, well 'cross road' in my photography. At my age, I'm now starting to slow down ("finally!!" sighs my weary partner from across the room) and having to make some new resolutions and plans for the coming year. All to do with the passing of time.

The first "will do" is to use up the film I have left in my darkroom fridge and the house freezer - about 200-250 rolls, quite a lot of old 35mm but more 120. Far too much Panatomic-X I bought in the '80s after Kodak discontinued this wonderful film, also several dozen 120 rolls I bought earlier this year from the deceased estate of an old friend who like me was too much into hoarding. I don't want it to rot in the cold or eventually be thrown into the dumpster after I fall off my perch, so used it will be. My Rolleiflexes, Voigtlander Perkeo and Zeiss Nettar will be taken out of mothballs, dusted off and cleaned, and returned to a new life. So win-win.

The other is to use up my darkroom supplies. Far too much chemistry, mostly basics (I mix my own developers), several bottles of selenium toner I bought long ago but have never really made much use of, and of course all the paper I've religiously hoarded for the last 20 years - mostly FB and quality stuff, so still probably good, though a bit of testing will be in order to see if any fog has crept into those emulsions.

A few hundred old B&W negatives will be printed after decades of hiding in archival sheets. All the Ilford Galerie 8x10, 11x14 and 16x20 packs I lucked into, again from a late friend's estate, in 2000 or 2001 will be cut up and made use of.

Finally, when my film has been used up (or some of it given to friends who still "do analog" as the saying goes) I may sell off the film cameras. Reluctantly. I still love my Contax G1 kits. Ditto my Nikkormats. Or my first Rollei TLR which I bought in 1966, but many (or even most) of the others. Still too many gathering dust on their thrones as my shelf queens at home.

Then more photography, I hope in southeast Asia, when a few countries I've enjoyed visiting in the past have fully reopened and it's safer to travel again. This will be most likely from midyear. Indonesia was my old base for many decades, but its idiotic visa and quarantine (= expensive) new rules make it unlikely that I will be going back there in the near future. Singapore, Malaysia, maybe Laos and Cambodia, surely Vietnam. While I still can.

So what are your photography plans and resolutions for 2022? The way things are these days, planning has to be most if not all of the fun...
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These do not sound like the plans of someone who is "starting to slow down"! Just reading all this makes me want to take a nap.
 
Retro-Grouch said:
These do not sound like the plans of someone who is "starting to slow down"! Just reading all this makes me want to take a nap.
Click to expand...

I am well known in my household for spectacularly failing most if not all of my spectacular NY's resolutions...

At my age motion, steady as she goes if no longer perpetual, is the way to go to keep age and arthritis at bay. Carrying bags of cameras and lenses is starting to take its toll, though.

More naps is as good as any a personal resolution as I could have thought of. Thanks for mentioning it, I will put it on my personal list!!

Oh. I didn't mention all my archival images (dating to 1961) waiting for a little TLC from me. Which may have to be delayed until '23, but it's a good reason to hang in for another 12 months.
 
In 2021 I said I was going to jump into digital medium format and start using a tripod for my landscape/seascape photography. I said I was going to up my game and start taking fewer but better photographs. I also said I was going to get much more selective with the images I shared with others.

For 2022 I’m going to continue on the same path as 2021. I’m doing the DMF/Tripod thing and having a lot of fun with it. So far I’m “not” taking fewer pictures but I am getting much better at deleting the clunkers. I think my main goal for 2022 will be improving the quality of my pictures which should also mean sharing fewer but better photographs with others.

All the best,
Mike
 
Finally find my perfect 50mm lens for my M3. Also get my M3 back from the camera repair shop, sent it in July 2020 for CLA. Probably should call them.
 
For me: many cameras, many lenses. Shouldn't be a problem :)

2022 is the year of abundance!
 
Organize the last 5-10 years into a coherent body of work that I can discuss without sounding like a half-conscious soliloquy...and print some of that.
 
AlexBG said:
Finally find my perfect 50mm lens for my M3. Also get my M3 back from the camera repair shop, sent it in July 2020 for CLA. Probably should call them.
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Whoa! A year and a half for a CLA. And counting.

May I suggest you resolve to never again use that vendor?
 
This last year, 2021, I’ve scanned almost 700 images from negatives that I haven’t viewed in over 45 years. What a time-traveling experience this has been. 200 more images to go. I’ve printed about 5% of these so far.
 
Sell the gear I don't use. Sell some of the gear I don't use much. Pay down some debts...or buy something else.
 
Pál_K said:
This last year, 2021, I’ve scanned almost 700 images from negatives that I haven’t viewed in over 45 years. What a time-traveling experience this has been. 200 more images to go. I’ve printed about 5% of these so far.
Click to expand...

Me too. Retrieving, inspecting, checking for quality/deterioration, scanning or snipping with the scissors. It all takes so much time. By my (wet finger) calculation, i've done +/-6,000 images in '21 - so at least 64,000 more to go. At the rate I'm getting all this done, I will be around and busy until I'm 106, unless my partner has other ideas. With my track record, I try to avoid eating anything at home tasting of almonds...
 
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