Hi all,
I realized I started posting and just now noticed there was an introduction subforum. So, here goes. I'm a stable isotope chemist and paleoclimatologist (yes a chemist, so yes, of course I'm interested in the chemistry of negatives and prints). I usually use the isotope ratios of old things (corals, stalagmites, leaf waxes, plankton fossils) to investigate past and current climate change. I'm a (non-tenure track) research scientist running the stable isotope lab at an obvious university given my location, but my words here are my own opinions.
Native Floridian living in Texas since 2008, I started when I was 10-11 years old shooting 110 then 35 mm. I graduated very fast to anything I could get my hands on. My mom's fully manual Minolta x700 and very fast 50 mm prime became "my" prize possessions. This forced me to develop an understanding of the relationships between exposure, aperture, shutter speed, etc. by the time I was an early teen. I got darkroom experience in high school where a growing love of chemistry got me interested in understanding the crystal growth of the silver metals from latent images. Our library had copies of Adams' 3 main books, and I constantly had one of them checked out. I got to print cibachrome in addition to black and white papers.
College, I lost access to a darkroom and it really was the beginning of the pocket digital boom. Science/school got all my attention. During grad school in Texas, in 2009, I used a tax return to buy an entry digital Canon dslr body. I also saved a lot more and bought another fast 50 mm prime, and a razor sharp prime 90 mm macro that was fast at f2.8. The glass made fantastic images even on an crop sensor entry level body. I was in love again. But I got very disgruntled at the state of digital photography and photography in general, and won't get on that rant here. I shot less and less until it was a trickle. Sold a handful of prints, but not many because I never cut myself off at the knees with mass purchasing services: I handled the prints, mounting myself and limited everything to editions of 10, never using a 3rd party service. I tried to maintain the DIY craftsmanship ethos even as a digital abuser. I was bored and had a full time career to focus on.
A chance meeting of a medium format body and I in an Austin pro shop changed that. I didn't buy that body, but it lit the spark. And I really hoped that there was a wealth of info here and there on the web, preserved and generously shared by the old schoolers who have more than paid their dues. Lo-and-behold, I found this incredible place. And purchased the pieces of a Hasselblad V system.
Side note, my "bucket list" goal of photography hit me in June of 2006, relatively recently seeing as I had been ravenously using film since I was a preteen. I was in Boston and saw Laura McPhee's River of No Return at the Museum of Fine Arts. It was like getting struck by lightning. I had never seen prints that big. Printed from film. Absolutely brain melting. That is a true moment I can point to where I realized the true possibilities of the print. To hell with looking at ANYTHING on a computer screen. THIS was the art. I realized that film must never be allowed to die.
Anyway, that was way too long, and my humble thanks if you managed to read it. And thank you all for everything you've contributed to this site. It's been the single best resource so far.
I realized I started posting and just now noticed there was an introduction subforum. So, here goes. I'm a stable isotope chemist and paleoclimatologist (yes a chemist, so yes, of course I'm interested in the chemistry of negatives and prints). I usually use the isotope ratios of old things (corals, stalagmites, leaf waxes, plankton fossils) to investigate past and current climate change. I'm a (non-tenure track) research scientist running the stable isotope lab at an obvious university given my location, but my words here are my own opinions.
Native Floridian living in Texas since 2008, I started when I was 10-11 years old shooting 110 then 35 mm. I graduated very fast to anything I could get my hands on. My mom's fully manual Minolta x700 and very fast 50 mm prime became "my" prize possessions. This forced me to develop an understanding of the relationships between exposure, aperture, shutter speed, etc. by the time I was an early teen. I got darkroom experience in high school where a growing love of chemistry got me interested in understanding the crystal growth of the silver metals from latent images. Our library had copies of Adams' 3 main books, and I constantly had one of them checked out. I got to print cibachrome in addition to black and white papers.
College, I lost access to a darkroom and it really was the beginning of the pocket digital boom. Science/school got all my attention. During grad school in Texas, in 2009, I used a tax return to buy an entry digital Canon dslr body. I also saved a lot more and bought another fast 50 mm prime, and a razor sharp prime 90 mm macro that was fast at f2.8. The glass made fantastic images even on an crop sensor entry level body. I was in love again. But I got very disgruntled at the state of digital photography and photography in general, and won't get on that rant here. I shot less and less until it was a trickle. Sold a handful of prints, but not many because I never cut myself off at the knees with mass purchasing services: I handled the prints, mounting myself and limited everything to editions of 10, never using a 3rd party service. I tried to maintain the DIY craftsmanship ethos even as a digital abuser. I was bored and had a full time career to focus on.
A chance meeting of a medium format body and I in an Austin pro shop changed that. I didn't buy that body, but it lit the spark. And I really hoped that there was a wealth of info here and there on the web, preserved and generously shared by the old schoolers who have more than paid their dues. Lo-and-behold, I found this incredible place. And purchased the pieces of a Hasselblad V system.
Side note, my "bucket list" goal of photography hit me in June of 2006, relatively recently seeing as I had been ravenously using film since I was a preteen. I was in Boston and saw Laura McPhee's River of No Return at the Museum of Fine Arts. It was like getting struck by lightning. I had never seen prints that big. Printed from film. Absolutely brain melting. That is a true moment I can point to where I realized the true possibilities of the print. To hell with looking at ANYTHING on a computer screen. THIS was the art. I realized that film must never be allowed to die.
Anyway, that was way too long, and my humble thanks if you managed to read it. And thank you all for everything you've contributed to this site. It's been the single best resource so far.
) Welcome to APUG!
