News gathering cost me my dream. I'm taking it back!

Spiritdriven

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In the '70s I found a passion for B&W photography. Grabbed a 35, shot miles of film, moved to 2 ¼ and settled on my goal. Found work in a custom darkroom and loved every day. Then I moved to 16mm film and worked in news gathering and video production. The cold and mostly impersonal nature of the work literally broke my spirit. After 20 years I quit the business and for the past twenty I have worked as a consultant in industry around the country. Now I am nearing retirement, thank God.

Recently I found a lightly used Hasselblad, a Toyo 4x5 and some 4x5 darkroom equipment. I plan to rediscover the joy of my youth, starting in historical Virginia. So...howdy y'all...I hope to glean from this site, paint with light, and perhaps one day give something back.
 

Ken Nadvornick

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Spiritdriven said:
In the '70s I found a passion for B&W photography.

[...]

I plan to rediscover the joy of my youth...
Click to expand...

Welcome to the site.

You are not going to believe the number of others here who have followed the exact same path you describe above. You are in very good company and very familiar territory. For many of us it's a marvelous therapy to come back to.



Ken
 
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Spiritdriven

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Thanks for the warm welcome Ken. I certainly need the therapy.
 

Sirius Glass

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Welcome to APUG
 

mike c

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Welcome Spiritdriven, same with me , had fun with photography when young and went to Driving a truck and risen a family for 40 years and know I can kick back and enjoy my photo hobby , its fun.


Mike
 

railwayman3

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Welcome to APUG !

I think that photography is like almost any other interest....if you "have" to do it as a job and to earn a living, with all the problems and constraints that involves, it's no longer a pleasure. No different to most other professions...I've heard medics and lawyers say the same thing, so much regulation and "red-tape" nowdays that they no longer enjoy doing the job that they worked and trained for.
 
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Spiritdriven

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I'm in Farmville and I also spend time in Manassas, Richmond and Orange. Could you recommend a good B&W lab in the area? I don't have darkroom space here and won't build one until next year. I'll be shooting 120 rolls and using 4x5 film primarily. A 'meet and greet' sounds great too! Thanks.

Pat
 
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TheFlyingCamera

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Hmmm... good b/w lab? I don't know about that, but you could try looking up Richard Pippin, who has Dead Link Removed over in Staunton. IIRC he has part of the space set up as a photo classroom for workshops and such, and would probably rent darkroom space by the hour. I would think there's someplace in the Richmond area that would be closer to you, but I'll leave that to the southern VA folks to recommend.
 

Jeff Bradford

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Howdy. Welcome back to film.
 

alanrockwood

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Spiritdriven said:
I'm in Farmville and I also spend time in Manassas, Richmond and Orange. Could you recommend a good B&W lab in the area?
Pat
Click to expand...

A general comment on B&W labs, though not specific to labs in your area: Some of them process all types of black and white film identically rather than using a different development time for different types of film. Be sure to check with whatever lab you plan to use or else you might end up with over-developed or under-developed film.
 
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Spiritdriven

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Great point. I have sent several notes to The Darkroom including a question about push processing. My test rolls are bracketed plus and minus stops which should help me figure the best exposure for whatever lab I use. One day I'll have my own darkroom ready and I'll only have myself to blame for missing the zones.

Thanks for the tip.

Pat
 

Black Dog

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Hello and welcome to APUGland!
 

mooseontheloose

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Welcome to APUG! It's great to have you here!
 

jacaquarie

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Are you aware of PRO CAMERA in Charlottesville?
And now that you are away from the soul sucking work, you can learn to live. Trust me everything does improve. i Did 35 years as the corporate drone. Farmville is a great area, you will not be lacking for photographic opportunities. I am in Powhatan myself.

Arthur

Dead Link Removed

We Hand Process
Black and White Film
All Sizes
Roll and Sheet
Custom Process Available
 

ckagy

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Welcome from yet another Virginian.

I still have 20 years to go before i can think of retiring, but darn it, I'm tired of waiting and so re-started my photographic explorations a bit over a year ago.

You're in great company, with a bunch of like-minded folks. It's a pleasure to have you in our company.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
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