Mechanical Engineering Photographer?

Sirius Glass · Jan 29, 2015

SuzanneR said:
Welcome to APUG. I don't see that engineering and analog photography are incompatible at all! Enjoy it here, it's a great community.

Worked through undergraduate selling cameras, taking wedding photos, and working as a draftsman. Electrical engineer, then a controls engineer, subsystems engineer, optical engineer, software engineer, systems engineer, chief spacecraft engineer, infosec engineer, nuclear engineer, director of engineering and electrical engineering and computer science professor.

benjiboy · Jan 29, 2015

Sirius Glass said:
Worked through undergraduate selling cameras, taking wedding photos, and working as a draftsman. Electrical engineer, then a controls engineer, subsystems engineer, optical engineer, software engineer, systems engineer, chief spacecraft engineer, infosec engineer, nuclear engineer, director of engineering and electrical engineering and computer science professor.

We aren't worthy, oh master

Sirius Glass · Jan 29, 2015

benjiboy said:
We aren't worthy, oh master

Everyone has something to teach the rest of us.

johnnyh · Jan 29, 2015

Retired engineer, from the aerospace industry, worked a lot with electronics and in due course the associated software. So, naturally, for my hobby photography, I use mostly film (digital only to photograph the cameras and for family snapshots) and regard anything using batteries as a perishable commodity

Vaughn · Jan 29, 2015

Welcome!

I got a BS in Natural Resources Management, not exactly engineering but when it came time to graduate, I did not bother to show up for the ceremony -- I did not really know anyone in the program anymore as I seem to have spent a good amount of my time in the Art Department darkroom. I also took 8 years to get a 5 year degree, so everyone I knew in the NR program had already graduated!

After 12 years of counting steelhead, packing mules, building trails, fighting fires and cleaning campground bathrooms, I ended up working 23 years as a darkroom tech for the same university, and just finished my first year working in the Anthropology Dept. One never knows!

Steve Smith · Jan 29, 2015

Vaughn said:
I got a BS in Natural Resources Management, not exactly engineering

You would probably be better prepared for the practicalities of engineering than many engineering graduates I have worked with in the past!

Steve.

E. von Hoegh · Jan 29, 2015

sleepOhh said:
Hello everyone as I found this forum completely by accident while researching film related topics. It looks like you guys have a pretty nice community going on and I would love to be a part of it.
As the title suggests I am a Mechanical Engineering student (sophomore) and I just so happen to be a photographer aswell. People always are so confused when I tell them I am an engineering student while holding a film camera.

Well with that said, Is there anyone out there whose in a similar situation? Would love to hear some interesting stories.

Welcome. This place is full of real characters, incredible talent, a lot of good will, a few curmudgeons (raises hand, not at all sheepishly) and a good deal of fellowship.

If you're studying Mechanical Engineering, you can't use anything but a mechanical camera, no electronic cheats allowed.
It shouldn't have any plastic bits either. Or a place to put a battery.

lxdude · Jan 30, 2015

E. von Hoegh said:
If you're studying Mechanical Engineering, you can't use anything but a mechanical camera, no electronic cheats allowed.
It shouldn't have any plastic bits either. Or a place to put a battery.

It's fine being a curmudgeon but come on! That rules out the Nikon F2!

sleepOhh · Jan 30, 2015

bsdunek said:
Welcome Sleep! I just retired last March after 54 years in engineering (the last 12 was consulting). When you spend your working day in front of a computer, film & darkroom are a welcome relief. Of course I grew up with film - started at age 8 as my Father always had a darkroom.
Besides, it's fun to have a mechanical/film camera on your shoulder. Others are interested, amazed, or ignorant. A few years ago, some people snapped a photo of my wife and I with my Nikon F. They couldn't understand why it didn't have the screen on the back, and my explanation went right over their head. My wife had to restrain her laughter so as not to insult them.

This is exactly what I thought of when working as an ME. I wish I would have had more experience with film, I was introduced a year ago. Such a pitty because there are far few types of film as there was 10 years ago.

sleepOhh · Jan 30, 2015

Sirius Glass said:
Worked through undergraduate selling cameras, taking wedding photos, and working as a draftsman. Electrical engineer, then a controls engineer, subsystems engineer, optical engineer, software engineer, systems engineer, chief spacecraft engineer, infosec engineer, nuclear engineer, director of engineering and electrical engineering and computer science professor.

I noticed you are a director of engineering and C.S. at what school in southern ca?

sleepOhh · Jan 30, 2015

silveror0 said:
Mechanical engineer here, retired from the aerospace industry for 8 yrs now, after only "151 yrs" of service. I qualify as a curmudgeon. It seems to me engineers are drawn to film photography because of their problem-solving mode of thinking and the importance of needing to understand/develop processes. The logic and orderliness of it all is too much to resist. Given that there is no shortage of problems that must be learned/overcome in film work, it becomes a labor of love for some or too much to endure for others. Then there is also the resistance to change felt by some, once they've found what works for them. Geez, maybe I should've taken up philosophy.

This could be the reason why I gravitate towards film a bit more. The developing process is very interesting and relaxing to say the least. It sure beats sitting in front of a computer screen for hours editing images. How is the life after retiring?

Steve Smith · Jan 30, 2015

sleepOhh said:
It sure beats sitting in front of a computer screen for hours editing images.

That's why my conversion to digital quickly became a return to film.

Steve.

E. von Hoegh · Jan 30, 2015

lxdude said:
It's fine being a curmudgeon but come on! That rules out the Nikon F2!

And the F with a metered prism. And a Speed Graphic with the Focusspot and/or a lightsaber. Note that I said "shouldn't" rather than "can't".

Vaughn · Jan 30, 2015

Steve Smith said:
You would probably be better prepared for the practicalities of engineering than many engineering graduates I have worked with in the past! Steve.

Possibly. Some of the funnest (most fun?) times working on trails in the wilderness was designing and building re-routes (usually putting in switchbacks on over-steep trail sections), anywhere from 100 yards to a mile of trail. No surveying equipment, just feet on the ground and working with the land. Weaving the ease of use, ease of building, drainage, minimum future maintenance, scenic values, and other factors into something I would be proud to walk on at the end of the day.

Work smarter -- not harder, was our motto. In ten years, I (and crew) took 150 miles of trail that had decades of neglect and brought them up to spec, haul out hundreds of pounds of trash out of the wilderness and had things looking pretty good. But 25 years later it looks worse than when I finished, unfortunately. But also in a way it has become even more wild, which is a positive thing. I have seen one or none other people during my last several week-long backpacks out there.

benjiboy · Jan 30, 2015

My employer bought me a fancy clock when I retired so I could watch the rest of my time on this mortal coil tick away

Steve Smith · Jan 30, 2015

benjiboy said:
My employer bought me a fancy clock when I retired so I could watch the rest of my time on this mortal coil tick away

I always thought it was strange that a clock is a common retirement gift. Just when you don't need one any more!

Steve.

benjiboy · Jan 30, 2015

Steve Smith said:
I always thought it was strange that a clock is a common retirement gift. Just when you don't need one any more!

Steve.

I don't even use a watch any more Steve I have the time on my android smartphone that I always have on me. I heard on the radio this week that in China it's considered an insult to buy someone a clock.

Sirius Glass · Jan 30, 2015

sleepOhh said:
I noticed you are a director of engineering and C.S. at what school in southern ca?

California State University Los Angeles [CSULA]

Sirius Glass · Jan 30, 2015

Sirius Glass said:
California State University Los Angeles [CSULA]

Retired. Offroading, skiing, photography and cordless bungee jumping were demanding my time.

benjiboy · Jan 30, 2015

I've been retired for ten years, and I particularly enjoy waking up on Monday mornings and realizing that I don't have to go to work.

Steve Smith · Jan 30, 2015

benjiboy said:
I don't even use a watch any more Steve I have the time on my android smartphone that I always have on me.

I don't have one of those new fangled devices so I use a watch.

Actually, I don't feel fully dressed without a watch. I would rather leave the house without trousers on than without my watch!

Steve.

E. von Hoegh · Jan 30, 2015

Steve Smith said:
I don't have one of those new fangled devices so I use a watch.

Actually, I don't feel fully dressed without a watch. I would rather leave the house without trousers on than without my watch!

Steve.

So do I. I have a small collection of American Railroad watches, from early 1900s to late '30s, with one Hamilton from the '50s. You have to wind them.
For basic utility, I have a Rolex Milgauss wristwatch.

sleepOhh · Jan 30, 2015

Sirius Glass said:
California State University Los Angeles [CSULA]

Thats quite interesting, as I attend Cal State Northridge!

sleepOhh · Jan 30, 2015

Any tips on how to become a successful engineer in the workforce?
I really don't want to live a life of not wanting to go to work. I would love to wake up and enjoy my job as much as possible.

Sirius Glass · Jan 30, 2015

sleepOhh said:
Any tips on how to become a successful engineer in the workforce?
I really don't want to live a life of not wanting to go to work. I would love to wake up and enjoy my job as much as possible.

An engineering degree is not job training, rather it is a sign that the holder knows how to access and use technical libraries to solve problems beyond the range of his or her education. Now learn how to write clearly and concisely. The two are a ticket to success.

Mechanical Engineering Photographer?

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