Hi all. I became involved in photography in high school back in the late 70s and early 80s and shot 35mm and did darkroom work through college and somewhat after. I always wanted to get into LF but between the camera and darkroom gear (the big honkin' enlarger, which wasn't a give away item back then) I didn't and finally let photography slide some time in the late 80s. Some years later in the mid to late 90s I got back into photography and got a Linhof Technika III with three lenses, some film holders and other accessories, an Omega DIIV enlarger, and went at things really intensely for a while.
Career changes and digital came along and I haven't shot any LF (and hardly any 35mm film) since about 2003 or so, but I kept all my gear.
This past summer I started dating a remarkable lady that, amongst her other charms, is absolutely passionate about art, pretty much any art. I showed her some of my old prints, the few I have hanging on the wall, and my photo gear and, well, let's say I've been inspired!It really served to get me interested again. She's eager to attend the Cartier-Bresson exhibit coming to the High Museum here in Atlanta next month, too.
I lived in TN in the 90s and had built a darkroom in my parents basement. I've since moved to the Atlanta metro area. I have a large basement with plenty of room but it isn't built out yet or stubbed, but I can work with a holding bath for a while. I retrieved most of my darkroom gear (the stuff I think I need, which is most of it) from TN over the holidays and am excited to be gearing up to get back into photography in general and large format in particular.
I've just not been inspired by digital. I'm a network engineer by profession and work with computers (well, routers and switches) all the time. My darkroom will be my retreat from that into another time. Still, I'm not anti-tech exactly. I did some color printing in the old days, passably well but never really enjoyed it that much. I figure color is probably best handled digitally or at least with a hybrid approach, so I plan to shoot primarily black and white. I have a Jobo CPE2 and the 4x5 (whatever the number is, I forget, 2500?) reels, so I may do some E6, but if I do it will be with a mind to scan the transparencies and print digitally. It also occurs to me that this opens up the possibility of working in 8x10 without being limited to contact prints or needing an enlarger that, while often free now, would be about as bulky as a sub compact car! But for the foreseeable future it's going to be 4x5 and 35mm, and probably some MF. I'm planning to pick up some MF gear and maybe a roll film back.
I did pick up a Pentax LX for 35mm (I had K mount lenses, and always wanted one of these back in the day) and went a bit berserk "commemorating" the end of Kodachrome, shooting a total of 15 rolls, of which I'm waiting for the last three back from Dwyane's.
My Technika III has seen better days, with a stripped focusing rail that is still workable by positioning the lens standard wherever you need
Oh yes, my other expensive hobby is flying. I earned my private pilot license in 2008, after a lifelong dream and an aborted attempt that ran out of money back in college. There are many great things about flying as a private pilot, but one seldom appreciated is that, after aviation, the cost of any other hobby gets an entirely different perspective!Even LF gear seems downright cheap in comparison! So now I get to balance out the desire to buy into an airplane partnership with the desire for all the cool photo toys I want!
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And welcome back to photography.
Originally Posted by Jim Michael
(Google finds it easily if any other pilots are interested.)
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