A Fine How-Do-You- Do

[ravenheadphoto]

Greetings fellow lovers of film! My name is Ken and I live in north Texas. Or, rather, North Texas, which is to say in the vicinity of Dallas/Fort Worth.

I started shooting seriously at about 14 or 15 when I "inherited" (read: found in the closet and ststarted using) my father's Minolta XG-7 outfit back in the mid-1980s. I've been a photo-bug ever since.

Between then and now I've shot using several diffferent makers: Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Hasselblad, Rollei, Voigtlander, Mamiya, Pentax. I've gone back and forth between rangefinders and SLRs.

Right now I'm back to SLRs and am wanting to build a small system around a Spotmatic body or two.

I really enjoy shooting people, though any subject that appeals to me visually is fair game. I love shooting in black and white, though space constraints and wanting to keep darkroom chemicals out of a house with small children have so far kept me from setting up my own processing and printing equipment. When they get a little older I will take that stuff out of mothballs.

I look forward to connecting with those of like mind and similar interests!

 

[Mike Wilde]

I'm in the same place playing with cameras since a teen, many years ago.

Glad you found us. My kids are a bit older, but I bit the bullet and built a 'room for dad only, unless you are invited' darkroom in the basement when they were 3 and 5.
It allows me to enjoy photo processing efforts in fits and starts without the need to taer down things mid stream as setting up in a laundry, etc. might.

Now the guys are 8 and 11, and have no interest in my doings in the darkroom.

 

[Jeff Kubach]

Hello Ken! Welcome to APUG. I hope you enjoy being here.

 

[Mustafa Umut Sarac]

Hello Ken , You have every camera a photographer can own. But there is larger format cameras and if you invest good time to this forum , it can open a hole in your wallet.

Welcome to APUG ,

Umut
Istanbul

 

[M.A.Longmore]

.
Welcome Home Ken !

Ron
.

 

[M.A.Longmore]

Hello Ken , You have every camera a photographer can own. But there is larger format cameras and if you invest good time to this forum , it can open a hole in your wallet.

Welcome to APUG ,

Umut
Istanbul

.
Umut, SSSSsssshhhh !!!

You'll scare him away ... We need more suckers using film.
You're going to ruin it for us.

Ron
.

 

[ravenheadphoto]

Thanks for the warm welcomes, everyone!

My darkroom-to-be won't just be for me, but for my wife also. She began shooting about the same age as me and eventually earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography from the University of North Texas. Her big thing is alternative processes.

.
Umut, SSSSsssshhhh !!!

You'll scare him away ... We need more suckers using film.
You're going to ruin it for us.

Ron
.

Hahahaha! Don't worry, Ron. I'm already well aware of how photography - film photography in particular - can quickly bleed one dry of "mad money." When I worked in camera stores, I told people that I did so to support my habit. Er, "hobby."

And, Umut, you don't have to get me bitten by the large format bug; a 4x5 camera has been on the "wish list" for both me and my wife for some years now.

 

[Rick A]

A hale and hearty howdy to you. My wife is a Texan,we moved from there eight years ago and the wife wants to go back. we both miss Austin, a whole bunch. When you are ready for a reasonably priced 4x5 let me know, I'll make a good deal on one for you.

 

[David Brown]

Right now I'm back to SLRs and am wanting to build a small system around a Spotmatic body or two.

I can help you out with that!

Welcome.

 

[mooseontheloose]

Hi Ken, welcome to APUG!

 

[Sirius Glass]

I started shooting seriously at about ...

Siriusly shooting is important. It is better if you spell it correctly.

Welcome to APUG!

Steve aka Sirius Glass

 

[Mustafa Umut Sarac]

Hey , Sorry for my poor english. I feel like a sucker. I wanted say that You have every camera any photographer could dream. Sorry Ken , I did not want to piss you off. You have Rollei and Hasselblad and you are not a beginner. I worked 15 hours a day , 6 , 7 days a week for 3 years at prepress for my love to rotogravure and national geographic magazine. I am not stranger to this and I applaud you for your effort.
We are a big family and We welcomes not piss off.

Ron , This was the one of the funniest post I have ever seen.

Rick , David , Thank you for supporting him.

I saw Austin at National Geographic and I fallen in love there , really excellent place , with architecture , nature and happy people , women old fashion was excellent.

Umut

 

[LudditeJay]

Welcome to APUG. Enjoy your stay.

 

[M.A.Longmore]

Hey , Sorry for my poor english. I feel like a sucker. I wanted say that You have every camera any photographer could dream. Sorry Ken , I did not want to piss you off. You have Rollei and Hasselblad and you are not a beginner. I worked 15 hours a day , 6 , 7 days a week for 3 years at prepress for my love to rotogravure and national geographic magazine. I am not stranger to this and I applaud you for your effort.
We are a big family and We welcomes not piss off.

Ron , This was the one of the funniest post I have ever seen.

Rick , David , Thank you for supporting him.

I saw Austin at National Geographic and I fallen in love there , really excellent place , with architecture , nature and happy people , women old fashion was excellent.

Umut

.
Hi Umut,

You can apologize for your poor English, when I start apologizing for my
poor use of the Turkish language. We all have our little imperfections,
some of us just seem to forget it sometimes ...

Now I have to apologize to Steve Smith for my poor spelling.

Ron
.

 

[papagene]

Hello and welcome to APUG.

 

[ravenheadphoto]

A hale and hearty howdy to you. My wife is a Texan,we moved from there eight years ago and the wife wants to go back. we both miss Austin, a whole bunch. When you are ready for a reasonably priced 4x5 let me know, I'll make a good deal on one for you.

Thanks for the welcome, Rick! Always a pleasure to meet a fellow Texan, though I have to say that I'm Texan by assimilation rather than by birth. Austin is in a great part of the state and I always enjoy visiting there, particularly since I have relatives with a ranch in the area. I will definitely keep you in mind when my wife decides to finally cave in and invest in large format.

 

[ravenheadphoto]

I can help you out with that!

Welcome.

Thank you, David. We will definitely talk more about my Spotmatic wish-list. First I have to get rid of some of the other equipment. It has been mandated that there must be a photographic equilibrium, so that no new cameras and lenses may enter the house without and equal number of cameras and lenses (or equivalent "stuff") going out.

 

[ravenheadphoto]

Hey , Sorry for my poor english. I feel like a sucker. I wanted say that You have every camera any photographer could dream. Sorry Ken , I did not want to piss you off. You have Rollei and Hasselblad and you are not a beginner. I worked 15 hours a day , 6 , 7 days a week for 3 years at prepress for my love to rotogravure and national geographic magazine. I am not stranger to this and I applaud you for your effort.
We are a big family and We welcomes not piss off.

Umut

Umut,

I did not take anything you said as offensive, I promise you. I understand there is a language barrier and I knew what you were trying to say. I should tell you, though, that I do not still have all of those cameras I mentioned. Most were sold or traded for other equipment. I do still have the Hasselblad system (it's my wife's, to be honest, but in the last few years I have been using it more than her), and I still have a Nikkormat FT2 that I use occasionally. I just recently sold my Voigtlanders, and all the other equipment left my camera closet ages ago.

I hope one day you get to visit Austin in person; it's really a lovely place.

 

[ravenheadphoto]

Siriusly shooting is important. It is better if you spell it correctly.

Welcome to APUG!

Steve aka Sirius Glass

Thanks, Sirius. I'll be more mindful in the future when I speak of my sirius love of manual cameras and analog photography. Seriously.