MattKing
Moderator
After lurking here for a while, and posting where it seemed appropriate, and after one semi-milestone (more about this later) it seems time that I introduce myself. This is a bit long, so I apologize for that beforehand.
I live near Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and have lived in this area for over 40 years. I am a lawyer by profession, and I enjoy my work, but I love photography, and have been involved with photography, both as hobby and as a vocation, since I was very young.
As anyone who has read many of my posts probably knows already, I was brought up on a diet of film. My father started working for Canadian Kodak (as it was then known) in or about 1948, and retired after 36 years in 1984. I was born in 1956, so to a great extent, I was fed, clothed, sheltered and educated through the benefits bestowed by the Great Yellow Father.
Cameras and film were always around during my early youth, and I expect I must have taken pictures (with my fathers help) earlier, but my parents bought me my first camera of my very own (a Brownie) as a present for my 8th birthday. By the time I was 11, my Dad and I had set up my first darkroom in the downstairs bathroom and we were contact printing from 116 (or possibly 616) negatives I had produced using the old Kodak folder my Dad had the technicians at the Kodak Lab he worked at restore for that purpose.
By my mid teens, I had my own 35mm camera (initially, a rehabilitated Kodak 35) and my Dad and I had adapted a passageway in our home into a semi-permanent darkroom, which permitted me to have an enlarger, and a workplace that didnt require the darkroom be taken down at the end of each session (although I have never had a darkroom of my own where the running water was in the same room as the work area where the enlarger and the trays of developer, stop and fixer were).
By the end of highschool, I was working in school darkrooms, taking courses, taking photographs for the yearbook and other publications, and generally immersing myself in as much photography as possible. Although I loved black and white and darkroom work in general, I was also shooting a fair bit of Kodachrome, and even had my own Ektagraphic projector (Kodaks sales to employees and their families used to be wonderful things). At the same time, I had the opportunity to take courses in graphic arts, and became fairly proficient at operating the schools offset presses, including preparing half-tones for printing purposes.
I spent some of my earnings from my printing job during the summer after highschool to buy my first modern 35mm camera - an Olympus OM1 with 28mm, 50mm and 135mm lenses, and Vivitar 283 flash.
After high school, I started studies in the science faculty at the University of British Columbia, eventually graduating with a B.Sc. with a major in Physics. During my years at UBC, however, I probably spent more time working as a (volunteer) staff photographer at the University newspaper, which at that time published three times per week. During much of this time, I essentially managed the photo department, making sure that the darkroom facilities were maintained and equipped, and that photographers (including myself) were scheduled and available to answer editors requirements, and supply publishable work of their own invention.
While at UBC, I also did a fair amount of freelance photography, including my first of many weddings. This was supported by the fact that, in addition to my full course load and my work on the newspaper, I was also working part-time and during the summers in a number of camera stores. That gave me a chance to borrow some equipment, and to buy my first modern MF camera - a Mamiya C330 with 80mm lens, that had been a demonstrator camera at one of the stores I worked at. I still have that camera, and used it at a wedding earlier this month.
Other photographic employment followed, including working as a darkroom technician at one of the major newspapers here, and working as a colour printer for another photographer, who also ran a small lab that supplied proofs to (primarily) wedding photographers. I also worked (over the years) at other camera stores, and at a department store that had a camera department. That led to a couple of years as a commission salesman, and the combination of the money and boredom that arose from that work, as well as the experiences of some of my other friends, led me to law school and eventually the practise of law.
Throughout my further years of employment and school, my photography continued. Unfortunately, by the mid 1980s, I no longer had the ability to maintain a regular darkroom. My darkroom equipment was put into storage, and I have mostly had to depend on either borrowed darkroom facilities, courses I have taken so that I could have darkroom access, or the odd rental in order to satisfy my longing for darkroom time. Other than those opportunities, I have mostly had to rely on commercial processing for my work.
Despite my lack of a darkroom, (surprise, surprise) my collection of equipment has increased over the years. By the late 1990s, I had 4 lenses for my Mamiya C330, a Gossen Profisix meter with Profiflash attachment, two sets of Metz handle flashes, a Bowens Monolight location kit, various Olympus Zuiko lenses, at least two Olympus OM bodies, and Olympus and other smaller flashes. In the last 2 - 3 years, with the advent of eBay, I have expanded my Olympus camera and lens collection, added a Mamiya C220 body (a gift from my wife) and acquired a fairly complete Mamiya M645 kit, with M645 Super and M645 Pro bodies, and 45mm, 55mm, 70mm, 80mm and 150mm lenses, plus lots of yummy accessories. Not surprisingly, it is getting harder and harder to convince my wife that she is wrong when she says that I now have enough camera equipment.
The recent acquisitions have had a number of benefits. The chance to try out new equipment, including equipment that I have wanted to try and use for years, has rekindled my interest in experimentation. My obvious joy in the experience, has led my wife to become interested in learning and trying more of my equipment (and with 6 Olympus bodies, I can certainly afford to share), and the chance to share and teach at the same time is also inspiring.
In addition, the radical changes that the photographic world is undergoing due to the digital onslaught are intriguing to me - I have both interest in and some facility with electronics and computer technology - but the changes have served to highlight to me the incredible value and quality of the analog processes and materials that I am much more familiar with, and to encourage me to take more photographs. I wouldnt mind the opportunity to play with some of the new technology, and I am trying to both obtain the technology and learn the skills necessary to properly scan my negatives/slides/prints for internet sharing, but I intend to continue to focus on improving my analog photography, because for me that is where the joy is.
I was very glad to find APUG, because for a very long time I havent had the opportunity that I would like to share my experiences and learn from others interested in photography. I say thank you to Sean for starting this site, and thank you to all those here who participate.
I started this (too long) description by referring to a semi-milestone. That event was that, inspired by my participation on this site, I entered into negotiations with my wife, which resulted in the reservation of a corner of one cupboard for photographic processing materials. I then retrieved some of my equipment and supplies from storage, bought some new supplies and equipment and on Sunday night, for the first time in too long a time, I again developed a roll of film at home. It was old TMax 100 in 120 format, shot in my C220, exposed at 100 ASA and developed in TMax developer, at 70 degrees F at the dilution and for the time recommended by Kodak. I used a mixture of old and new film, chemistry and equipment - the old film, my old Kodacraft developing apron for 120 film, in a more modern tank, the new TMax developer, decades old Ektaflo indicator stop, new Kodak fix, new Kodak hypo clearing agent, and decades old Kodak Photoflo.
The negatives look pretty good, and I have been smiling ever since.
I live near Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and have lived in this area for over 40 years. I am a lawyer by profession, and I enjoy my work, but I love photography, and have been involved with photography, both as hobby and as a vocation, since I was very young.
As anyone who has read many of my posts probably knows already, I was brought up on a diet of film. My father started working for Canadian Kodak (as it was then known) in or about 1948, and retired after 36 years in 1984. I was born in 1956, so to a great extent, I was fed, clothed, sheltered and educated through the benefits bestowed by the Great Yellow Father.
Cameras and film were always around during my early youth, and I expect I must have taken pictures (with my fathers help) earlier, but my parents bought me my first camera of my very own (a Brownie) as a present for my 8th birthday. By the time I was 11, my Dad and I had set up my first darkroom in the downstairs bathroom and we were contact printing from 116 (or possibly 616) negatives I had produced using the old Kodak folder my Dad had the technicians at the Kodak Lab he worked at restore for that purpose.
By my mid teens, I had my own 35mm camera (initially, a rehabilitated Kodak 35) and my Dad and I had adapted a passageway in our home into a semi-permanent darkroom, which permitted me to have an enlarger, and a workplace that didnt require the darkroom be taken down at the end of each session (although I have never had a darkroom of my own where the running water was in the same room as the work area where the enlarger and the trays of developer, stop and fixer were).
By the end of highschool, I was working in school darkrooms, taking courses, taking photographs for the yearbook and other publications, and generally immersing myself in as much photography as possible. Although I loved black and white and darkroom work in general, I was also shooting a fair bit of Kodachrome, and even had my own Ektagraphic projector (Kodaks sales to employees and their families used to be wonderful things). At the same time, I had the opportunity to take courses in graphic arts, and became fairly proficient at operating the schools offset presses, including preparing half-tones for printing purposes.
I spent some of my earnings from my printing job during the summer after highschool to buy my first modern 35mm camera - an Olympus OM1 with 28mm, 50mm and 135mm lenses, and Vivitar 283 flash.
After high school, I started studies in the science faculty at the University of British Columbia, eventually graduating with a B.Sc. with a major in Physics. During my years at UBC, however, I probably spent more time working as a (volunteer) staff photographer at the University newspaper, which at that time published three times per week. During much of this time, I essentially managed the photo department, making sure that the darkroom facilities were maintained and equipped, and that photographers (including myself) were scheduled and available to answer editors requirements, and supply publishable work of their own invention.
While at UBC, I also did a fair amount of freelance photography, including my first of many weddings. This was supported by the fact that, in addition to my full course load and my work on the newspaper, I was also working part-time and during the summers in a number of camera stores. That gave me a chance to borrow some equipment, and to buy my first modern MF camera - a Mamiya C330 with 80mm lens, that had been a demonstrator camera at one of the stores I worked at. I still have that camera, and used it at a wedding earlier this month.
Other photographic employment followed, including working as a darkroom technician at one of the major newspapers here, and working as a colour printer for another photographer, who also ran a small lab that supplied proofs to (primarily) wedding photographers. I also worked (over the years) at other camera stores, and at a department store that had a camera department. That led to a couple of years as a commission salesman, and the combination of the money and boredom that arose from that work, as well as the experiences of some of my other friends, led me to law school and eventually the practise of law.
Throughout my further years of employment and school, my photography continued. Unfortunately, by the mid 1980s, I no longer had the ability to maintain a regular darkroom. My darkroom equipment was put into storage, and I have mostly had to depend on either borrowed darkroom facilities, courses I have taken so that I could have darkroom access, or the odd rental in order to satisfy my longing for darkroom time. Other than those opportunities, I have mostly had to rely on commercial processing for my work.
Despite my lack of a darkroom, (surprise, surprise) my collection of equipment has increased over the years. By the late 1990s, I had 4 lenses for my Mamiya C330, a Gossen Profisix meter with Profiflash attachment, two sets of Metz handle flashes, a Bowens Monolight location kit, various Olympus Zuiko lenses, at least two Olympus OM bodies, and Olympus and other smaller flashes. In the last 2 - 3 years, with the advent of eBay, I have expanded my Olympus camera and lens collection, added a Mamiya C220 body (a gift from my wife) and acquired a fairly complete Mamiya M645 kit, with M645 Super and M645 Pro bodies, and 45mm, 55mm, 70mm, 80mm and 150mm lenses, plus lots of yummy accessories. Not surprisingly, it is getting harder and harder to convince my wife that she is wrong when she says that I now have enough camera equipment.
The recent acquisitions have had a number of benefits. The chance to try out new equipment, including equipment that I have wanted to try and use for years, has rekindled my interest in experimentation. My obvious joy in the experience, has led my wife to become interested in learning and trying more of my equipment (and with 6 Olympus bodies, I can certainly afford to share), and the chance to share and teach at the same time is also inspiring.
In addition, the radical changes that the photographic world is undergoing due to the digital onslaught are intriguing to me - I have both interest in and some facility with electronics and computer technology - but the changes have served to highlight to me the incredible value and quality of the analog processes and materials that I am much more familiar with, and to encourage me to take more photographs. I wouldnt mind the opportunity to play with some of the new technology, and I am trying to both obtain the technology and learn the skills necessary to properly scan my negatives/slides/prints for internet sharing, but I intend to continue to focus on improving my analog photography, because for me that is where the joy is.
I was very glad to find APUG, because for a very long time I havent had the opportunity that I would like to share my experiences and learn from others interested in photography. I say thank you to Sean for starting this site, and thank you to all those here who participate.
I started this (too long) description by referring to a semi-milestone. That event was that, inspired by my participation on this site, I entered into negotiations with my wife, which resulted in the reservation of a corner of one cupboard for photographic processing materials. I then retrieved some of my equipment and supplies from storage, bought some new supplies and equipment and on Sunday night, for the first time in too long a time, I again developed a roll of film at home. It was old TMax 100 in 120 format, shot in my C220, exposed at 100 ASA and developed in TMax developer, at 70 degrees F at the dilution and for the time recommended by Kodak. I used a mixture of old and new film, chemistry and equipment - the old film, my old Kodacraft developing apron for 120 film, in a more modern tank, the new TMax developer, decades old Ektaflo indicator stop, new Kodak fix, new Kodak hypo clearing agent, and decades old Kodak Photoflo.
The negatives look pretty good, and I have been smiling ever since.
