Hello from Somerset, England

[Carl Hall]

Hello everyone. My name's Carl and I live in the South West of England on the border between Somerset and Dorset.

As I'm 26 I grew up in the digital era so never had any experience shooting film when I was growing up. In the last year or so I've taken an interest in film and have started shooting medium format. I usually use a Mamiya C220 or RB67, depending on what I'm shooting or how much walking I'll be doing. Since I shot my first roll of film I've hardly touched my digital gear!

My favourite films so far are FP4+ and Portra 400, but I've recently shot my first roll of Provia 400X and it looks incredible held up to the light after it was developed, so I'm eager to try a bit more transparency film!

I've recently stared developing my own black and white film which is really enjoyable. Unfortunately I don't have access to (or space for) a dark room to be able to print properly, so all of my photos are scanned.

I'm looking forward to sharing some of my photos once I've learned my way around the forum and figured out how it's usually done.

Thanks

Carl

 

[Jesper]

Welcome to apug.
Have you checked localdarkroom.com to see if there is a darkroom nearby?

 

[pdeeh]

Welcome Carl. I can see the Tor from where I live (on a clear day) on the other side of the border.

Probably the nearest public darkrooms are in Bristol.

However it is perfectly possible to do darkroom work at home with very limited space and facilities - see (there was a url link here which no longer exists) for inspiration.

The Freecycle network is strong in Dorset and especially Somerset so if money is an issue, picking up enlargers/trays/safelights and whatnot can be done for next to nothing - http://uk.freecycle.org/

 

[Carl Hall]

Thanks for that link Jesper, it's not something I've seen before! Just had a look and the closest seems to be a "private darkroom" about an hour away from my house. Think it's a little far to go for me at the moment but it's work bearing in mind in the future

 

[Carl Hall]

Hi pdeeh, you must live fairly close to me then

The trouble for me is that I'm still currently living with my parents so they won't exactly be thrilled with me taking up more space for my hobby haha. In the next two years or so my girlfriend and I are planning on getting our own house so then it'll be more of an option Gives me a bit of time to read up on printing too because I know very little about it!

 

[Carl Hall]

pdeeh, that link you gave is very interesting. It seems that it can be done with very little room in a normal sized bathroom. I will start looking into in more depth and see what my options are. If I end up getting into printing and annoying the parents, I'll be blaming you! haha

 

[Sirius Glass]

Welcome to APUG

 

[cliveh]

Welcome to apug.
Have you checked localdarkroom.com to see if there is a darkroom nearby?

As above, but how does localdarkroom.com work, as surely you have to have some form of public liability insurance? What if someone has an accident or chemical poisoning within your darkroom?

 

[Trail Images]

Welcome to APUG Carl. Nice to meet you on line here.

 

[Valerie]

Hello, Carl. Welcome to Apug!

 

[flavio81]

I usually use a Mamiya C220 or RB67, depending on what I'm shooting or how much walking I'll be doing.

You are fit and have good strength then...

There should be a special marathon contest for us handheld-RB-shooters...

 

[Chazzy]

Welcome to APUG, Carl. I have cousins in Cornwall.

 

[Carl Hall]

Thanks everyone!

 

[fotch]

Welcome to APUG