I thought it was about time I sent in a "who and what am I", so here goes...
My first experience of using a camera was with a borrowed box camera. I took only one photo, but I was the only one in the family to manage to get a level horizon. A one-off fluke, as it turned out... I was then given a camera as a present that used the 828 film, as I think it was - unperforated 35mm. This was around 1955, when I was 6.
I began processing with contact prints around 1959, and got my first enlarger in 1961. My first "real" camera was a 35mm in the early 1960s, with an Exa IIB in 1965 and an Exakta in 1967. On the Exakta wearing out, I got an OM1 in 1974, OM2 in 1977, and OM4 in 1984. No new 35mm equipment since.
Medium format eventually beckoned, and 5x4 after that. I now shoot mainly 5x4, with 6x7 (Mamiya RZ) when I feel too weak to carry the 5x4. That said, my 5x4 weighs less than the RZ with a shift lens...
On going to university (chemistry degree) I lost touch with black and white processing due mainly to loss of my darkroom at home, and I switched to colour slides, home processed. The joys of the reversal exposure by waving photofloods around in the days before chemical reversal!
My return to B&W has only been in the last few years, and I am amazed at the changes! No more HP3, which I used alongside PanF (not the plus version). Adox KB14 gone (I liked that film - I have just bought some Efke 25). The worst shock was finding that Unitol developer had gone. I always was extremely conservative in films and processing.
For those interested in the hardware: I use a Durst 805 for 6x7 and an LPL for 5x4; Combi tanks for 5x4 and Paterson tanks for anything smaller (I have a few of the original Major II tanks and the System 4 tanks that replaced them, in all sizes). My developer is now Rodinal, as I feel that it will continue to be available and if not, there are published formulae (no comments on this please - I have seen too many discussions on the one true Rodinal).
My overall technical knowledge is more theoretical than practical, as I have never been greatly interested in chopping and changing - as my equipment list shows. I have always found something I got on with, for one reason or another, and stuck with it. I did investigate practically the different films available on returning to B&W, and am saddened that some I really liked are no more (Agfa 25). I admit to a preference for slow films, even though I cheerfully admit that I never regarded a shutter speed longer that 1/250 hand holdable by me. I use a tripod for everything these days, so leaves moving in the wind as the main problem.
One the rather more interesting side, I photograph mainly landscapes and
architecture, although I include close ups of trees etc under landscapes.
On the more personal level, and with regard to some of the recent APUG
discussions; I am an ex patriot Yorkshireman living in Hove, East Sussex; my
linguistic ability is limited, having studied French, German, Latin and NT
Greek. My Hebrew only got as far as being able to vocalise a text (i.e the
alphabet and vowel points) without actually learning any syntax or vocabulary.
Summary: unadventurous and able to write a lot without saying anything.
I enjoy APUG - what little I have seen so far - and the amazing technical
knowledge that you all seem to have.
My first experience of using a camera was with a borrowed box camera. I took only one photo, but I was the only one in the family to manage to get a level horizon. A one-off fluke, as it turned out... I was then given a camera as a present that used the 828 film, as I think it was - unperforated 35mm. This was around 1955, when I was 6.
I began processing with contact prints around 1959, and got my first enlarger in 1961. My first "real" camera was a 35mm in the early 1960s, with an Exa IIB in 1965 and an Exakta in 1967. On the Exakta wearing out, I got an OM1 in 1974, OM2 in 1977, and OM4 in 1984. No new 35mm equipment since.
Medium format eventually beckoned, and 5x4 after that. I now shoot mainly 5x4, with 6x7 (Mamiya RZ) when I feel too weak to carry the 5x4. That said, my 5x4 weighs less than the RZ with a shift lens...
On going to university (chemistry degree) I lost touch with black and white processing due mainly to loss of my darkroom at home, and I switched to colour slides, home processed. The joys of the reversal exposure by waving photofloods around in the days before chemical reversal!
My return to B&W has only been in the last few years, and I am amazed at the changes! No more HP3, which I used alongside PanF (not the plus version). Adox KB14 gone (I liked that film - I have just bought some Efke 25). The worst shock was finding that Unitol developer had gone. I always was extremely conservative in films and processing.
For those interested in the hardware: I use a Durst 805 for 6x7 and an LPL for 5x4; Combi tanks for 5x4 and Paterson tanks for anything smaller (I have a few of the original Major II tanks and the System 4 tanks that replaced them, in all sizes). My developer is now Rodinal, as I feel that it will continue to be available and if not, there are published formulae (no comments on this please - I have seen too many discussions on the one true Rodinal).
My overall technical knowledge is more theoretical than practical, as I have never been greatly interested in chopping and changing - as my equipment list shows. I have always found something I got on with, for one reason or another, and stuck with it. I did investigate practically the different films available on returning to B&W, and am saddened that some I really liked are no more (Agfa 25). I admit to a preference for slow films, even though I cheerfully admit that I never regarded a shutter speed longer that 1/250 hand holdable by me. I use a tripod for everything these days, so leaves moving in the wind as the main problem.
One the rather more interesting side, I photograph mainly landscapes and
architecture, although I include close ups of trees etc under landscapes.
On the more personal level, and with regard to some of the recent APUG
discussions; I am an ex patriot Yorkshireman living in Hove, East Sussex; my
linguistic ability is limited, having studied French, German, Latin and NT
Greek. My Hebrew only got as far as being able to vocalise a text (i.e the
alphabet and vowel points) without actually learning any syntax or vocabulary.
Summary: unadventurous and able to write a lot without saying anything.
I enjoy APUG - what little I have seen so far - and the amazing technical
knowledge that you all seem to have.
