Hello from Rome, Italy

[Francesco_from_Rome]

Hello everybody,

this is my first post ever to APUG, but I have been reading it for a while.

My serious interest in photography has begun when we were waiting for our first child, almost 4 years ago. I wanted to get some nice pics of him, and I got a good deal on an used Canon DSLR. I got hooked to photography, well beyond capturing moments of my family life (not that there's any problem with that!).
Further down the road, I got a fuji x100S and a full frame camera (which are great tools and have given me a lot of wonderful images).
I love printing my pictures, since I enjoy them much more than on screen. I suppose that it could be thought of as a first step towards analog photography

Lately I have begun to seriously study some photography books (to name but a few by the likes of Doisneau, Sieff, Avedon, Heisler, Brandt, Kertész, Ritts...).
This has further kindled my love for photography and exacerbated my distaste for endless discussions about gear-in-itself (is the dynamic range of canon sensor large enough? do all the previous cameras stop working when sony puts out a new sensor?... ).

In the end I decided to try film. I have nothing against digital it's not a crusade against my other cameras which I am not dismissing and which work very well for me. But... now I have a Minolta SRT 303 (which is the european version of the 102, as far as I know) and I love it, with a Rokkor Mc 50 f/2. I have shot my first couple of rolls.

I would like to set up a darkroom and learn to develop, and print, bw film. And my goal is to get to medium format (which in digital is completely out of my reach, while is more realistically attainable with film).

From what I've seen, many people who attend this place have a vast knowledge and freely share their experiences. This gives me the impression that there is a sense of community which is not readily found in many other forums.
Thus, I hope to be able to participate in it, even as a complete beginner. There are many things to learn..

Thanks for taking your time to read this.

Francesco

 

[Rick A]

Bienvenidos paisano.

 

[paul_c5x4]

Some great places to shoot film in and around Rome - I certainly had fun last time I was there.

 

[Francesco_from_Rome]

I agree. Where did you go, in particular? Did you shoot bw or color? I think that Rome has some special colours in the afternoon, with the colours of the buildings and of the light which blend beautifully.
If you happen to come back, feel free to leave a message.

 

[Chazzy]

Welcome, Francesco.

 

[fotch]

Hello and welcome to APUG.

 

[Francesco_from_Rome]

Thank you everybody. I decided that since I like this place I could go on and subscribe. It appears that you'll have to put up with me for at least 1 year ...

 

[paul_c5x4]

I decided that since I like this place I could go on and subscribe.

Now you can look at images posted in the gallery, and even join the (there was a url link here which no longer exists)

 

[Trask]

Glad to see you here with us, Francesco!

 

[Francesco_from_Rome]

Now you can look at images posted in the gallery, and even join the (there was a url link here which no longer exists)

I went earlier in the Chat room but I found it empty, maybe everybody was happily shooting or it was a matter of time-zone .

In the gallery, I have already found a lot of images which astonished me. I want to take pictures like that, but somehow I think that merely shooting film will not magically improve my photographic skills...
But I want to say to those who cannot see them: those galleries contain some really good work. Surely, there's Flickr, or many other venues for watching pics: we live in an age where there is an overwhelming abundance of imagery. But none the less, I'm truly enjoying what I'm seeing. I have paid to support the site: I received in exchange a very good token of gratitude in the form of those pics.

Francesco

 

[Jeff Kubach]

Hello and a warm welcome to APUG!

Jeff

 

[MattKing]

Welcome to APUG.

I hope you get as much from it as many of us do.

And thanks for subscribing.

 

[aRolleiBrujo]

Hello, Such a historically rich world you live in! Welcome to APUG!

 

[Sirius Glass]

Welcome to APUG

 

[winger]

A warm welcome and thank you for subscribing! The images in the gallery didn't happen overnight either and I'd guess a fair number of APUGers think that hanging out here might have helped them improve to the their current levels, too. Seeing what's in the gallery and seeing how the person did them will be like a bunch of photo lessons rolled into one. Well worth the subscription, imo.

 

[ME Super]

Welcome home! I rediscovered film in 2010 when I built a 35mm pinhole camera. I got out the slide projector in December of that year to show some old slides to the kids and fell in love with film all over again. Long live film!

 

[SuzanneR]

Welcome! Lots to learn here, enjoy!

 

[baachitraka]

You live in one of the beautiful town in Europe, endless photo opportunity. Good luck for the first print.

 

[mopar_guy]

Welcome to APUG.

 

[cliveh]

Welcome, you live in a photographic wonderland and we look forward to seeing your images.

 

[Francesco_from_Rome]

You live in one of the beautiful town in Europe, endless photo opportunity. Good luck for the first print.

Thanks, I hope to be able to try printing by myself soon. For the time being, I'm having the rolls developed and will scan them. I suppose that my first rolls won't be of high quality, since I have to accustom to a new workflow. On the other hand, I'm noticing that - in just a couple of weeks with the Minolta, my "metering-by-eye" skill is much improving.

It's a nice feeling, learning again something that you already knew, but in a different way.

 

[Francesco_from_Rome]

Welcome, you live in a photographic wonderland and we look forward to seeing your images.

Thanks everybody for such a warm welcome. I hope to be able to show you something, and I really look forward to receive some critique to help me improve, when that time will come.

 

[baachitraka]

Last time when I was in Rome, I need to set the aperture/shutter once.

That was in the month of August, light values did not change much from 10:00-17:00.

 

[Francesco_from_Rome]

Last time when I was in Rome, I need to set the aperture/shutter once.

That was in the month of August, light values did not change much from 10:00-17:00.

Yes, that helps. But yesterday I was out shooting at the sunset and light was rapidly changing. I'll soon see how much off I was ...

 

[Ghostman]

Ciao Francesco,

In case you aren't already friends with these guys, do check out ars-imago - their shop is in Rome. They will also be able to help you out with sourcing a darkroom.