Hi from Kangaroo Island

[lesm]

Another old fart joins the forum! I'm a retired ex-university student counsellor, now living in bliss in a small coastal village on this beautiful island off the coast of South Australia. I've been taking photos on and off for around 60 years. My experiences with digital photography have led me almost to grind to a halt. I don't want to run it down - it has its place - but film is what makes my soul sing. Happily, I've just bought a Mamiya 645 1000s and a Pentax MX and I'm going to build myself a darkroom in the garage. I feel liberated and ready to go again. This forum seems like a place where civilized, intelligent and friendly people hang out and I really love the idea that if more people keep signing up we're keeping film alive.
I haven't made a print for forty years and I've forgotten everything, so I'm hoping to browse and ask advice and join in where I can.

 

[M.A.Longmore]

.
Welcome Home Lesm !

Ron
.

 

[Rick A]

Howdy and welcome to Apug land. Don't worry, it's like riding a bicycle, you may be a little tipsy at first, but once you get going you'll fly. The only difference from 40 years ago is better products, albeit fewer of them. Multigrade papers are phenominal, and the eastern european papers are superb.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Welcome to APUG!

 

[Jeff Kubach]

Hello and a warm welcome to APUG! Love that name to your island!

Jeff

 

[zsas]

Welcome to the community! Congrats on your retirement. Great cameras too! Cant wait to hear you progress of building out your darkroom!

 

[Mustafa Umut Sarac]

Welcome to APUG ! Greetings from Istanbul.

I read in time , Our friends from Australia are complaining about the paper expenses , air cargo fees and custom fees. If you face with trouble , some of Australians order film , paper , chemical together and share the expenses , this would be better for your wallet. Dont afraid to ask help , many people comes together from your land. Do you develop film byyourself ? Do you have scanner ? It would be great to see your islands pictures.

Umut

 

[papagene]

lesm - hello and welcome to APUG!

 

[Chazzy]

Welcome to APUG, and good luck with your darkroom.

 

[Joachim_I]

Welcome from Melbourne!

 

[lesm]

Thank you all for your very warm welcome! I knew I'd come to the right place! Yes, I'll certainly keep you posted on progress with my darkroom. And Umut, yes, I develop my own b&w film and I do have a scanner, so I'll post some photos of Kangaroo Island when I can find some time. Right now I'm getting ready for a couple of exhibitions (my last in digital format, perhaps?) but I'll get cracking next month. (And my great-great grandfather was born in Istanbul).

 

[Mustafa Umut Sarac]

Lesm ,

Its great to know about great great grandfather. Google Earth is a great tool to explore Istanbul. And I will look for your island. Small world as they say. I am looking to weather maps from CNN and south Australia is suprisingly cold. You are slowly entering to summer and north to winter. It would be great to see Bikini girls at winter here . If you want check www.library.nu and check for free Istanbul guides.

Take care ,

Umut

 

[Kevin Caulfield]

Hi and welcome from Melbourne. I still haven't got to Kangaroo Island, but hope to get there before too long.

 

[lesm]

Hi and welcome from Melbourne. I still haven't got to Kangaroo Island, but hope to get there before too long.

If you do, PM me and maybe we could meet.

Les

 

[wotalegend]

Another welcome from Melbourne. I too have not yet been to Kangaroo Island but one day, if my super ever recovers from the malaise of the last few years, I might be able to afford to retire and get to places like KI.

Cheers, Peter.

 

[Vaughn]

Welcome from the Left Coast of the USA! And best of luck with your photographic endeavors! Use whatever tool best allows your images to sing!

Vaughn

 

[gregmacc]

Hi Lesm ... Welcome to APUG from another South Aussie ...
We live in Adelaide and travel to the Island every so often for holidays. We were there last October and circled K.I. on off-road touring bicycles. We travel independently and camp overnight wherever the trail leeds us. The north coast was quite a challenge ... but those beautiful secluded coves were worth the effort ... some terrific photographic potential as you are no doubt aware.
I assume you have contacts in the big smoke ... but if not give me a P.M. if you ever require assistance with shopping for photo materials in Adelaide ... I drop into Total Photographics on a fairly regular basis for example.
My wife and I are very envious of your situation ... whenever we pass through American River we dream of settling there one day. It would be so tempting to opt out of the rat-race, set up a dark room and veggie garden there and just spend our time doing photography, and catching fish ...
Good luck with the darkroom and all the best ...
Greg

 

[hoffy]

Howdy and welcome from another South Aussie. If you are ever on the big Island on the 2nd Monday of most months, don't forget to look up the Adelaide Film and Dark Room users group that we are trying to establish!.

(BTW, never been to the KI......I should do something about that!)

 

[munz6869]

Another Hi from Melbourne - I travelled around Kangaroo Island (shooting with a 2x3 Crown Graphic!) a few years ago and loved it! Those woolly kangaroos....

Marc!

 

[Poisson Du Jour]

Hi from a "temporary" South Australian, homeward bound to Victoria via Gawler! Nice way to greet me here today with rain and cold!!
Which "coastal bliss" village are you referring to? Penneshaw? I ran rings around Kanga Island in 2007 and chiefly remember the Hog's Breath Café.

 

[Tony Egan]

Hi Len - lucky you indeed living on Kangaroo island. Enough things to point a camera at there to keep the mind and body young forever. I suggest an annual Aussie APUG gathering at Les's place! OK with you?
Welcome, but look out, before you know it you'll be wanting a 11x14 view camera.

 

[bazz8]

Hi Les

I will be over on the Island from the 4th to the 9th of October, I will be bringing my 5x4 camera,s and plan to shoot some of the early and late light weather permitting .
May catch you while I am over there.
My darkroom is alive and well and I mainly use the BTZS method of exposure and
subsequent printing.
My home location is a long way away at Pt. Willunga.
We are staying in the acacia apartments Kingscote
regards
Barry Treleaven
Bazz8

 

[Alex Bishop-Thorpe]

Hello and Welcome from another South Australian, here in tiny ol' Adelaide - Check out the Australian regional forum, South Australia has a surprisingly active APUG group. I'm sure you'll find a lot to keep you amused here on APUG, I check the site daily even after 3 or 4 years. A wealth of information and a nice bunch of people too.

EDIT: Ah, scratch that, just saw when I joined. 5 years then...man I feel old.

 

[Mike Wilde]

You certainly have a nice place to live, particularly when the sumer hordes have gone home.

I am glad that you have found us here.
It is a nice place to 'live' when the weather is too foul for shooting, and the malaise about getting into the darkroom is a bit to high.

I spent a week holidaying on KI in July 2002, as a part of the 4 years I spent working on a project in Brissie.
The place was deserted, the skys clear and the days warm enough once the sun had risen.
I have a nice 16x20 RA-4 print I made of the Remarkable Rocks with no one else at the site. From the size of the car park, I guess this is not possible in the summer.
KI is one of those places I long to visit again, but don't know if it will be possible.

 

[lesm]

Wow! So many fellow Croweaters and people who have /wish to visit our island. Amazing! You're all welcome to come and visit (but not all at once!). I'd love to have an outing with one of you LF shooters. I have a feeling I might head that way eventually. You might be interested to know that there's a bloke here who used to work with Ansell Adams. He really knows his LF stuff and all the darkroom wizardry. I could set up a meeting for any of you who might be interested.

Yes, my wife Pat and I live in Penneshaw. We built our own strawbale eco-friendly house, which is cosy in winter and cool in summer. It's a great place to live and a dream for landscape/wildlife shooters. Not so great if, like me, you love street work - there ain't no streets to speak of. Periodically I have to get off the rock and go to Adelaide for a workout.

Thanks again everyone for all your interest and the amazing warmth of your welcome. There's still hope for the world with people like you around...

Les