The Annual Upgrade

[Bill Burk]

Camera gear kind of comes and goes as needed.

Upgrades seem to be in the darkroom. Maybe this year I'll finally get around to "upgrading" the temporary light switch for the work lights over the sinks to a permanent switch. Maybe I'll finally fabricate the acrylic split grade filter holders for the condenser head (had the acrylic and Rosco filter material for ages ...)

I did just upgrade the darkroom's stereo!

I've got an X10 radio control module for the work light. The remote key fob hangs from a string on the enlarger side. With no conductive connection between them, I have nothing to worry about when turning on and off the light.

[Jac@stafford.net]

Whew! Glad you were kidding. Do you still have big dogs?

No. Big Dog lived to 11 1/2 years which is two years over the mean. It breaks my heart as well. I have always had hearty big dogs, the previous being a line Saint Bernards. We moved into town from the land 14 years ago; it is no place for a working dog. Great Pyrenees do not need more space than our current large fenced property, but they bark so much to remind the world that they are on-duty that the neighbor made life difficult for all of us.

That's one upgrade that almost happened, to a Pyrenees (coincidentally named Molly). That we don't have her is a heartbreak... My brother-in-law was having trouble with her roaming off his ranch. We have experience with escape-artists, so thought we'd be good for her. The dog was as loving as could be. You can't help but wrap your arms around that huge Mac-truck-built head and give her big hugs. She loved that. But she had been abused and her protective nature had been exploited. One evening after we had her for almost a week she attacked our friends - almost as if she'd been taught to "sic". We had to give her back... We get to visit her, because he'll make it work somehow. But it really hurt to have to give her up.

I've never known a GP to bite a human. Sure, he would run and throw his 175 pounds against a threat, stand on the unlucky creature's chest and bark and slobber in its face, but not bite.

My deepest sympathies and curses to her abuser. Perhaps she will recover, but it seems unlikely.

[Toyon]

My upgrade is to remember to do things the hard way. That means waiting the full 40 minutes in the cold for the clouds to clear. Double-checking the groundglass with a fine-tooth loupe to optimize focus. Walking through poison ivy to get to the better camera position, remembering to check tripod leg locks for tightness, cleaning film holders, separating film holders to prevent damage. And most important - to stop, when I see something and look around, no matter how tired I am, or how dicey the neighborhood, or how cold it is.

[John Kasaian]

One year my "upgrade" was buying a mini shop vac (on sale of course---this time of year everything's on sale) with the small tips and dedicated to cleaning film holders and other camera stuff. It replaced a Micro-vac which suddenly refused to suck and accompanied by an ominous small black plume of smoke.

[StoneNYC]

Toyon's got it right.

Also, if you don't know what upgrade, maybe you don't need to upgrade anything, maybe your gear is working just the way it needs to to make the images you want, if there's nothing in your current kit that you really really think you need to upgrade, maybe look at an additional lens that is not part of your working focal length as an option for a different perspective. If that doesn't work, don't upgrade, just shoot more film and buy more film

[Peter Gomena]

I need to upgrade my time in the field, on the beach, and on the road.

[John Kasaian]

I need to upgrade my time in the field, on the beach, and on the road.

Yes in deed!

[Jody_S]

My upgrade was returned because it was badly scratched and had a spotty fungus problem (Wolly Ser. II soft focus 15-1/2"). Oh well, there's always another lens, and I have a stack of them waiting to be tried, including a beautiful 14"/4.5 B&L Ser. 1 Tessar with the original hood.

[TheToadMen]

I decided to stop upgrading and/or expanding for a while and start using everything I've got first. And maybe let some gear go in the proces. Finishing projects before I pick up new ones, so to say...

[Bruce Barlow]

I hope to upgrade my head. I haven't made an LF exposure in far too long, and now I live in a relative paradise.

So, how 'bout a series where I set up the 5x7 aimed at a nice composition of the water through my trees, and starting early on a sunny summer morning, make one negative every hour all day long, just to see how the light changes? Print them all, and have a sequence. I've wanted to do that for years. Time to get around to it.

I have a show scheduled for December in Freeport. I don't want to use any work already made. So, photographing intentionally for a show, what should I do?

And more projects not yet imagined. Then there's the digital stuff, too, blasphemous as it is. I bought a cheapie Holga lens to put on my DSLR, which gives really sweet results. I'm thinking portraits, and at the moment it's just fun to play with to see what things look like photographed with it.

These are head upgrades worthy of early morning contemplation with good coffee.

Oh, and I'll upgrade the new darkroom by finishing it.