A hello from North West England

[Brian Jeffery]

Hi all,

I thought it would be a good idea to introduce myself to the group. I started out taking pictures in my early teens; I was taught by my Dad who had been a keen photographer through the 60's and 70's. My first camera was a Fujica STX-1, which was closely followed by a Fujica AX-5. These provided many years service until the AX-5 developed a fault and I decided it was time for a change. Enter the faithful Canon A1 and AE-1 Program.

After a break, I decided to get back into photography back in 2001. However, as I no longer had access to a darkroom I decided to develop my own films and then scan the negatives before printing them on a printer. However, after a day staring at the computer screen at work the last thing I wanted to do was spend my evening doing the same. Needless to say my enthusiam soon lapsed.

Fast forward to June this year. Went to the British Grand Prix and I decided to take a Film camera (Nikon F80) as my D70 just wasn't fast enough. After developing the film I thought it would be good to print them out properly. A few successful ebay purchases later I had myself and LPL 7700 with a Rodagon lense and all the necessary bits and bobs to to set up my own darkroom. I've switched back to the Canon's as I've got a range of prime lenses for these. Something I've yet to afford for the F80's.

Needless to say I've thoroughly enjoyed myself these past months. Thanks to APUG I've found the Analyser Pro and Ilford's Postcards which are just great. I really love sending people personalised postcards as a thank you or for a special occasion.

Arhg, better stop now as I've gone on too long already.


I'll be supporting Ilford,


Brian

 

[roteague]

Hi Brian, welcome from Hawaii. I'm sure you will enjoy our little community.

 

[clogz]

Hello Brian. Welcome from this side of the herring ditch.

Hans

 

[thebanana]

Hey Brian, welcome from the prairie province of Manitoba. Good to hear from you. I'm sure you'll learn a lot from members on this site!

 

[David Lingham]

Hi Brian
Welcome, and congratulation on re-discovering a wonderful medium.

 

[Dave Miller]

Welcome back Brian, from nearer the middle.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Dear Brian,

Welcome back to real photography!

I hope you read Amateur Photograher...

Cheers,

Roger (www.rogerandfrances.com)

 

[leeturner]

Hi Brian, welcome from a fellow North Westerner. There's a strange bright light in the sky today which hasn't been seen for around a month or so.

 

[Steve Smith]

Hello from the Isle of Wight.

Like you, I was also taught photography by my father (who was a part time wedding photographer) when I was in my early teenage years.


Steve.

 

[FrankB]

Greetings from another NWUKer, another F80 user, another LPL7700 user and another RH Designs client! (No, there aren't four of us! Just me!)

Welcome to APUG!

 

[ghart]

And another home darkroom enthusiast from the NW! I sold my LPL enlarger some years ago in favour of a Durst with a 250 watt bulb. I print from 6x9, 6x6 and most recently 35 mm (an unlikely return to small format after 10 years exclusively with MF and LF).

 

[RH Designs]

Welcome from the other side of the Pennines!

 

[Brian Jeffery]

Dear Brian,
I hope you read Amateur Photograher...

Roger,

I must admit I haven't bought a copy for a few years. Perhaps I'll pick one up this weekend


Brian

 

[Brian Jeffery]

Hello from the Isle of Wight.

Like you, I was also taught photography by my father (who was a part time wedding photographer) when I was in my early teenage years.


Steve.

My Dad was regailing me with stories of developing roll film at the night in the garden using trays. He would hold the film by the ends and slowly pass it through the developer. I for one am grateful for developing tanks.


Brian

 

[Brian Jeffery]

Greetings from another NWUKer, another F80 user, another LPL7700 user and another RH Designs client! (No, there aren't four of us! Just me!)

Welcome to APUG!

Someone else with good taste

 

[Brian Jeffery]

Hi Brian, welcome from a fellow North Westerner. There's a strange bright light in the sky today which hasn't been seen for around a month or so.

After the weather we had in August you can be I'll be out with my camera this weekend.

Brian

 

[Roger Hicks]

I must admit I haven't bought a copy for a few years. Perhaps I'll pick one up this weekend

It's got a LOT better since Garry Coward-Williams took over six or eight years ago. But then, I'm biased...

Cheers,

R.

 

[Peter Black]

Roger,

I must admit I haven't bought a copy for a few years. Perhaps I'll pick one up this weekend


Brian

Hi Jeff, you'll find Roger's thoughts inside the back page of AP every week (in case you hadn't guessed!) and they are ALWAYS worth reading, even if you only do it in WH Smith or Borders!

 

[Simon R Galley]

Dear Brian,

And I will be supporting you.....

Simon ILFORD Photo / HARMAN technology Limited

 

[roteague]

I hope you read Amateur Photograher...

I read it myself, although it can be hard to get. I probably only get one issue every 2 or 3 months.

 

[mahou]

Another NWerner.. in Spain

Hi,
I'm from Blackburn (England) originally, but now in Spain. Joined the forum yesterday, and looking forward to learning a lot here (and I've got a lot to learn). I've only ever had one enlarger which I was loaned by my uncle about 20 years ago and haven't given back yet (sorry Uncle Brian), but at least it's been used on and off various times over the years. It's a Durst M301 with E-Rokker Minolta 50/4.5 lens, which did survive being transported to Spain, but I suspect might be leaking a bit of light. I've never tried anything much more adventurous than using Multigrade papers/filters, bog-standard chemicals, limited dodging and burning (with limited success) and alcohol-influenced guesswork. My enjoyment of long nights in the darkroom is not usually matched by the quality of the results, but hopefully that might change. At the moment I'm reading a Spanish copy of one of Roger's books which he'll be pleased to know was one of only about 6 books on photography in our village library, and also Larry Bartlett's posthumous workshop book, which is my own copy and a fabulous book.
My film camera is a Minolta Dynax 7, and I'm pleased I don't even need to mention my digicam here, because it's irrelevant !!
The supplier I use for my chemicals here in Spain is a Rollei distributor, so can anyone recommend a monochrome Rollei film for available light portraiture and urban landscapes in a hot climate ? And an Ilford equivalent ? One that will tolerate a guy who's not very good at reading a thermometer and a clock very well when it's late at night.
Are we allowed to link to personal galleries here, or is strictly off-limits for non-subscribers ? (sorry I should have read the t+c's I know)

Regards to all
Andy Fox

 

[goros]

A warm welcome to both of you

Hi,
I'm from Blackburn (England) originally, but now in Spain. Joined the forum yesterday,

Hello Brian and Andy,

As an almost newcomer as well, I would like to welcome you here, and to Andy also HERE (where are you in Spain?).

If you read the Spanish translation of Roger and Frances's La Exposición Perfecta, you will find it a bit difficult to understand (at least I did).

Cheers to everybody and, Andy, I don't know your taste about beer, but try Keller.

 

[mahou]

hi Alfonso,
thanks for the welcome. I've just been enjoying your India photos - very impressive. Did you print them yourself ? I'm not finding the translation too hard yet, but I've only just started it. With a name like Alfonso, I would have thought your Spanish would be pretty good, or is it the standard of translation that's at fault ?
We live in a small (but growing very rapidly) town called San Miguel de Salinas, in the province of Alicante (Costa Blanca). How about yourself ? Most of the time my photography is centred on our two sons (9 and 5), but I'm going to try and shoot more village scenes and macros.

All the best
Andy

 

[mahou]

PS - although my nickname here is Mahou, I actually drink cheap beer from the Mercadona supermarket chain most of the time (2.88 Euros for 12 cans, can't beat it !!) I don't remember seeing Keller, but will look out for it.

 

[Roger Hicks]

At the moment I'm reading a Spanish copy of one of Roger's books which he'll be pleased to know was one of only about 6 books on photography in our village library
Andy Fox

Dear Andy,

Thanks, that is cheering! And welcome to APUG...

Quite honestly, though, I despair of photographic publishing, because rather than do the year's first book on real photography, the publishers want to do the 423rd on digital. That's the main reason why I started the Photography School at www.rogerandfrances.com. I suppose a better name for it might be The Online Photo Book.

Mailshots will send mail-order to Spain if you want stuff your Rollei dealer can't easily source.

Cheers,

R.