Recent content by jp498

I like all the Abe Lincoln portrait (Gardner probably) memes with internet/contemporary advice. And the women at dinner disagreeing with the cat. We know cats look down on people, and have some misunderstood knowledge, and guys don't understand women, but the cat does. It celebrates different...

I would collect the memes and enjoy what creativity people can impart to the image. Maybe make a collage of the memes if the suit my taste. Probably looking to sue someone would be an uphill fight, in the winter both ways against a windmill. I love memes... Haters don't understand the richness...

Big automat mx fan here. Light weight, round aperture at all f-stops, not-collectible prices but still not cheap compared to a few years ago. Bay 1 filters. Rugged. Mine has seen all weather (rain, snow, fog, desert sun, etc..) and still works as well as when I got it ten years ago and thousands...

I don't see any reason to photograph a random unconnected stranger just because it's a good composition. Some story telling and connection could help it be a better photo. In Seattle a couple years ago (a place with an above average amount of "down and out") I made a connection that led to a...

105 DC lens is very nice for portraits, infrared work, slight tele use. All around well behaved bokeh, etc... for ancient lenses, my 55/3.5 macro AI-converted always does well.

Back in the 90's I was photographing college football from the sidelines, and action chasing/tackling went off the field a tiny bit and I got knocked on my back while the players landed around me. I held the camera and 300mm lens up and was fine and equipment was fine. My parents watched it live...

3.5 tessar fan here. (Automat). Lightweight, rugged. Lots of aperture blades, so nice bokeh at any aperture. I also have a 2.8 tessar but it's quite a bit heavier and nose heavy, but otherwise nice. I'm sufficiently pleased with the TLRs (but not smug) that I have not sought to see if the...

"Learning" means ruining film loading it on a reel, making darkroom chemistry mistakes like fixing before developing, finger prints on the film. Bad compositions, getting used to using a manual camera, back opening the camera loaded before rewinding, etc.. A high school for example will have all...

It's worth getting a wooden contact printing frame if you want sharp prints... Probably find a 4x5 one for next to nothing, 8x10 and larger start at about $50 used and $100 new. They have springs clamps on the back to make a nice tight sandwich so every part of the negative is tight on the...

Of course expensive digi cameras are mature now... The other human-interest, non-review articles seemed like low quality filler. Petapixel is barely better.

I use the traditional cyanotype. You can also use tween20 with that if needed. I'm not a chemist and people tell me the dichromate in New Cyanotype can be safely neutralized, but I don't have the chemistry knowledge to be personally assured of that. (I use a well and septic system rather than a...

Simple and small: Olympus om10 ; aperture priority (or flash sync speed) only. Exposure comp with the film speed dial. Something to grow with: Nikon F4s.

I used some last year in the Nevada desert, and it was awesome. Otherwise, I've used it in the Maine summer. Thin depth of field because you need a wide aperture for slow film, rich color. I thought it was easier to use than the current Ektar 100. I wish they still made it. Mine had some minor...

Nothing reliable or comprehensive. The most skilled photographers are making photos with a film or small number of films and not trying everything under the sun. If your budget is good, you can not go wrong with the normal Kodak and Ilford options. It's worth something to have a reliable film...

For 35mm or even mixed use of 120 film, it's nice to understand that you'll have a certain amount of compensation in the highlights (or not) and midtones the way you like them and shadows the way you like them (or not). Not to create a need to change films or bodies, but to make the most of...