Hello from KerrKid

[KerrKid]

I am getting back into film photography after a long hiatus. I've been trying to resurrect a Minolta SRT101 that I used in High School and College back in the mid to late 1970's. I live in Kerrville, TX which may not be heaven, but it's close.

 

[Sirius Glass]

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Welcome to APUG Photrio!!​

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

Wellllllllcome!

 

[mshchem]

Welcome! SRT 101! Nice. Lots of great folks here abouts!

 

[KerrKid]

Wellllllllcome!

You do beautiful work, Andrew. I really like your subject matter and compositions. I lived in Clyde Butcher country for many years. Some of your work reminds me of his.

 

[VinceInMT]

I am getting back into film photography after a long hiatus. I've been trying to resurrect a Minolta SRT101 that I used in High School and College back in the mid to late 1970's. I live in Kerrville, TX which may not be heaven, but it's close.

My SRT 100 and 201 are still my daily shooters.

 

[georgevp]

My first slr was a 201.

 

[Sirius Glass]

My first was a used SR-7 in 1966.

 

[KerrKid]

I may have to try a 201, especially if I can't get the 101's working.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

You do beautiful work, Andrew. I really like your subject matter and compositions. I lived in Clyde Butcher country for many years. Some of your work reminds me of his.

Very kind of you to say! Thank you!

 

[Valerie]

Hello KerrKid! I've passed thru Kerrville many times but never stopped. Lovely area!!
Enjoy your time here on Photrio.

 

[KerrKid]

Hello KerrKid! I've passed thru Kerrville many times but never stopped. Lovely area!!
Enjoy your time here on Photrio.

Never stopped? Well, you need to spend some time here! I moved here from Florida having never been here. Just google-earthed it, saw all the great motorcycling roads, and the rest is history. I’m enjoying Photrio already! Thanks!

 

[winger]

Welcome to Photrio!

 

[Austintatious]

Howdy there KerrKid ! Welcome to the forum.
I was born and raised in Texas and spent my adult years in Austin. I retired a few years back and moved to Colorado. It's really pretty here but I do miss Texas and family still there. Kerrville is on my short list looking for a place to return to the Lone Star State as Austin in now way too expensive to live these days.

 

[KerrKid]

Howdy there KerrKid ! Welcome to the forum.
I was born and raised in Texas and spent my adult years in Austin. I retired a few years back and moved to Colorado. It's really pretty here but I do miss Texas and family still there. Kerrville is on my short list looking for a place to return to the Lone Star State as Austin in now way too expensive to live these days.

Kerrville is a nice town. I moved here having never been here before. I chose it for the good motorcycling roads. Real estate prices are soaring as Californians bail out and bring their wads of cash here. Plenty of jobs, but few that pay well. Glad I’m retired. Gas prices are stupid expensive here now, too. C’mon back to Texas Hill Country and bring ammunition!

 

[VinceInMT]

…saw all the great motorcycling roads, and the rest is history….

That’s a good enough reason. I live an hour from the Beartooth Hwy which I rode over 5 times on my FJR last summer.

 

[KerrKid]

That’s a good enough reason. I live an hour from the Beartooth Hwy which I rode over 5 times on my FJR last summer.

Sweet. The FJR is a great bike. I ride a 2002 Honda CBR1100 XX Blackbird.

 

[VinceInMT]

Sweet. The FJR is a great bike. I ride a 2002 Honda CBR1100 XX Blackbird.

Nice. I hadn’t ridden in 37 years and picked up this 2021 FJR last April. I put over 12,000-miles on before winter arrived.

I haven’t spent much time in Texas but did visit Austin a couple times when my son as in college and had summer internships there. I like that city. We also visited Houston to tour the space center and San Antonio for the Alamo and Riverwalk. We went to Galveston because I’d never been to the Gulf.

Interestingly, I notice more Texas plates here in Montana than California ones. People are on the move.

 

[KerrKid]

Nice. I hadn’t ridden in 37 years and picked up this 2021 FJR last April. I put over 12,000-miles on before winter arrived.

I haven’t spent much time in Texas but did visit Austin a couple times when my son as in college and had summer internships there. I like that city. We also visited Houston to tour the space center and San Antonio for the Alamo and Riverwalk. We went to Galveston because I’d never been to the Gulf.

Interestingly, I notice more Texas plates here in Montana than California ones. People are on the move.

Well, that was a good re-entry bike. A fast comfy mile-eater for sure. I miss my old ST1100 for touring. That bike was so comfy and had a huge gas tank. The Blackbird is very fast and smooth but I'd hate to go long distance on it.

I didn't know Texans were moving. Montana is supposed to be incredible, though. Too cold for me, but I'd like to visit. Can you believe I've never been to Riverwalk? Lol. I would like to go to the Space Center.

 

[VinceInMT]

Too cold for me, but I'd like to visit. Can you believe I've never been to Riverwalk? Lol. I would like to go to the Space Center.

Isn’t it great that we have so many options to match us up with our preferred weather? The humid, subtropical climate is your area would keep me away. I’m a runner and when I was in Austin a few years ago I’d go out for a run at 5:30am and still be drenched in a half mile. Yes, it gets cold here, but I can layer up and go out it. I ran a couple times this winter at -5 degrees or so. Of course, the BIG downside is that we have 4 months of very little motorcycle riding although I did get the bike out at least once a month. Another upside is that we get a break from yard work for 5 months or so.

Back to the SRT, I am going to Italy in May and considering taking my SRT with me to do some street photography. I figured I’d bulk load a bunch of 35mm canisters and see what I get. Of course, I’ll shoot with my phone as well, but B&W on film would be great. I’m going on a university study abroad trip to the Vienna Bienalle, a big contemporary art show. We’ll do 5 days there and then to Florence to see all the non-contemporary art there. I may take the obligatory selfie with David but I am more interested in street scenes than the art that I can look up in a book or see online.

 

[KerrKid]

Isn’t it great that we have so many options to match us up with our preferred weather? The humid, subtropical climate is your area would keep me away. I’m a runner and when I was in Austin a few years ago I’d go out for a run at 5:30am and still be drenched in a half mile. Yes, it gets cold here, but I can layer up and go out it. I ran a couple times this winter at -5 degrees or so. Of course, the BIG downside is that we have 4 months of very little motorcycle riding although I did get the bike out at least once a month. Another upside is that we get a break from yard work for 5 months or so.

Back to the SRT, I am going to Italy in May and considering taking my SRT with me to do some street photography. I figured I’d bulk load a bunch of 35mm canisters and see what I get. Of course, I’ll shoot with my phone as well, but B&W on film would be great. I’m going on a university study abroad trip to the Vienna Bienalle, a big contemporary art show. We’ll do 5 days there and then to Florence to see all the non-contemporary art there. I may take the obligatory selfie with David but I am more interested in street scenes than the art that I can look up in a book or see online.

Humidity? I'd like some of that! Seems like none here in Kerrville. But, I moved here from SW Florida 3 years ago. There was a fine line between humidity and outright rain there. Here, it rains for an hour and they talk about "all the rain we got".

You know....when it's smokin' hot out there isn't much riding to be done here, either. I've been on the bike in 90-100 degree weather and wondering what kind of fool does that. You sure don't want to stop.

SRT's - I sent both my 101's to John Titterington who worked his magic on them along with converting them to use 1.5v batteries. I also bought a minty 201 from him along with a couple of lens. Wonderful cameras. I really like my Olympus XA2 and Yashica T4 Super D, though. Especially for street photography. Those two are quiet, take really good pictures, and are easier to tote around. I currently have a roll of Lomochrome Metropolis in the XA2 and a roll of Delta 400 in the Yashica. Need to get off my butt and go shoot something.

I'm jealous of your travel! What an amazing trip and experience that will be. I'm an artist, too. I do block-printing mostly now. On t-shirts. I have my Mokarano design and Shakyman designs at mokarano.com. It's just a hobby. I used to do a lot of pen-and-inks but doing those now is tough. My eyes aren't what they used to be.

What kind of film are you going to bulk load? I sure would like to do that. I haven't done that since photog class in college. I actually had a couple of those bulk-loaded rolls of film that I'd shot back in the early '80's laying around that I sent to The Darkroom to get developed. The pix came out fine. Not sure what kind of film it was, but I'm guessing Tri-X. I still have a couple of those unexposed 40-year old rolls of film and loaded one of my SRT-101's up with it the other day. Haven't shot anything, yet, but I bet it will be fine.

 

[VinceInMT]

What kind of film are you going to bulk load?

I’ve got Kentmere 100 in the loader and another 100’ in a box so I’ll probably use that. I’ve been happy enough with Kentmere and the only issue is that I think the base is thinner than the Ilford I was shooting and the negatives can buckle in the enlarger when heated up. I resolve this by “tempering” the film in the enlarger (leaving the lamp on until they pop) and then focusing and making the exposure. This might have something to do with my darkroom temperature. It’s an unheated room in my basement and is about 58 degrees in the winter.

That’s cool that you got the SRT adapted to the newer batteries. I bought a couple of those adaptor things so I could use those same batteries in my Gossen Luna Pro light meter. I can swap them to the SRT if I need to but I’ve been using just the handheld meter. For travel I’ll move the batteries to the camera and save space when packing.

I got my motorcycle out for a 60 mile ride today. Low-60s and extremely windy but it felt great to be on it again. Here the bike today:

with the Crazy Mountains in the far background.

 

[KerrKid]

What a nice bike. I don't ever see too many around. I don't see too many Blackbirds around either. When my wife got home this afternoon she asked if I'd gone riding. Nope. I should've. Exactly the same weather here today as you had. The only ding against the FJR that I ever heard was that they run hot, but that could be the early models. My Blackbird ran very hot in Florida and not bad here at all.

 

[VinceInMT]

OMG, that Blackbird is awesome. I’d forgotten about that bike and its speed record. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one in the flesh.

Yes, the early FJRs ran hot. Those were the Generation I bikes. The joke was that if you planned to have kids you needed to install a heat shield. Gen II was better and with Gen III, mine, they really have worked out all the kinks. When I decided to get back to riding I had originally though a Goldwing but I wanted something lighter and when I started re-educating myself I learned about the sport-tour class and knew that’s what I would get. I’d never owned a new vehicle of any kind and decided that this would be the time to do so. I made a list of the specs I wanted and started looking at what bikes checked the most boxes. I wanted >1000cc, inline 4, shaft drive, cruise control, less that 650 pounds, and a high reliability rating. I liked the Honda ST series but they were no longer made. I thought BMW would be good but their reliability rating is lower than Harley. Yamaha, Honda, and Kawasaki win in that department. When it came down to it, the FJR and the Kawa Concours were the contenders. They were not available here in Montana so I ended up in Rapid City, SD at a dealer who had both. I sat on each over and over and the FJR just spoke to me so I trailer it home that day. I have zero regrets. On the FJR forums, many of the conversations are about adding accessories and going for rides. It seems that with other brands it’s “how do I fix this.” Guys are getting over 100,000 miles on them with only oil and tire changes. I did a 6,658-mile trip on mine last summer (Montana to Maine and back) all on 2-lanes roads. Truly awesome.

BTW, I have a blog I keep on the bike and my rides and such:

https://fjradventures.blogspot.com/

I checked out your site. Those are some cool designs. I took a printmaking class a few years ago and really enjoyed it. I did several types but screen printing is more to my liking. Ultimately, I do photography and drawing for the most part. I am finishing up a BFA and will graduate in May. My senior show is the week after next. I should be panicked (other students are with theirs) but I have all the work completed and only need to pick up a piece of glass to finish framing one piece. I am taking an advanced drawing class as well, just something to round out my day, and I’ve been combining photography (cyanotypes) with drawing. Lots of work but lots of fun.

 

[KerrKid]

OMG, that Blackbird is awesome. I’d forgotten about that bike and its speed record. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one in the flesh.

Yes, the early FJRs ran hot. Those were the Generation I bikes. The joke was that if you planned to have kids you needed to install a heat shield. Gen II was better and with Gen III, mine, they really have worked out all the kinks. When I decided to get back to riding I had originally though a Goldwing but I wanted something lighter and when I started re-educating myself I learned about the sport-tour class and knew that’s what I would get. I’d never owned a new vehicle of any kind and decided that this would be the time to do so. I made a list of the specs I wanted and started looking at what bikes checked the most boxes. I wanted >1000cc, inline 4, shaft drive, cruise control, less that 650 pounds, and a high reliability rating. I liked the Honda ST series but they were no longer made. I thought BMW would be good but their reliability rating is lower than Harley. Yamaha, Honda, and Kawasaki win in that department. When it came down to it, the FJR and the Kawa Concours were the contenders. They were not available here in Montana so I ended up in Rapid City, SD at a dealer who had both. I sat on each over and over and the FJR just spoke to me so I trailer it home that day. I have zero regrets. On the FJR forums, many of the conversations are about adding accessories and going for rides. It seems that with other brands it’s “how do I fix this.” Guys are getting over 100,000 miles on them with only oil and tire changes. I did a 6,658-mile trip on mine last summer (Montana to Maine and back) all on 2-lanes roads. Truly awesome.

BTW, I have a blog I keep on the bike and my rides and such:

https://fjradventures.blogspot.com/

I checked out your site. Those are some cool designs. I took a printmaking class a few years ago and really enjoyed it. I did several types but screen printing is more to my liking. Ultimately, I do photography and drawing for the most part. I am finishing up a BFA and will graduate in May. My senior show is the week after next. I should be panicked (other students are with theirs) but I have all the work completed and only need to pick up a piece of glass to finish framing one piece. I am taking an advanced drawing class as well, just something to round out my day, and I’ve been combining photography (cyanotypes) with drawing. Lots of work but lots of fun.

I graduated with a BFA in 1981. Oh my. What that didn't do for me. I started my career as a graphic designer a couple months after graduation. Knew nothing, but got fairly good at it. Eventually became an advertising copywriter instead. Long ago. I've always been into drawing. but I've done almost every kind of art you can think of. I've done screen-printing which I really liked. Took that class at the University of Dayton in Ohio over one summer. I have some of my t-shirts silk-screened with the discharge printing process and water-based inks. As I mentioned, I'm carving now. It's a lot of fun and very therapeutic. I still do some pen-and-inks now and then. Nothing on the scale that I used to. I'll post a photo of one of the big ones (22" X 28" framed image area) I still have. Most were sold and have other homes. Good luck with your show! I'm sure you'll do well.

I like your blogspot! I should do one. I was vlogging for awhile here, but haven't gotten back into it. Here's one of my vids if you'd like to waste 19 minutes of your life. . I think my youtube channel is "Mokarano".

You made the right bike choice. Honda's Goldwing is very nice, too. The suspension on the latest version is supposed to be amazing. Dunno if it's as sporty as the JJR, though. Maybe in the right hands. The Honda ST1300 is a good bike and a big improvement over the ST1100 that I had, but I heard they had some stability issues at speed. Not sure if that's true or not. The Concours is functionally a good bike, but it is really ugly. Life is too short to ride an ugly bike. BMW is German and German's don't make mistakes, so good luck getting one of their non-mistakes fixed. Actually, the bike I'd like to have is the Suzuki TU250X. Great little bike. Would be fun to do a long-distance back road ride on one. In theory anyway.

Your trip to Maine and back sounds great. I've never ridden anywhere that far. Back roads are the only way to go. I couldn't imagine slogging down the freeway. I have over 101,000+ miles on the Blackbird. Not many of those are freeway miles.

I'm waiting for my Pentax Zoom 90-WR to arrive. I bought it off of fleabay after reading about it on the forum. Other reviews on the internet were very positive, too. Paid $33. Hope it's decent.

Have a blessed day!

You can't really see the detail of the drawing in this photo. Too bad. Photrio wouldn't allow me to upload a file large enough to show that.