Hello, people. This is gonna be long and boring, so I don't expect everyone to sit and read it all...
My name is James. I'm from Pennsylvania and currently living in California. I've been into film photography since school and got serious about it in high school. After graduating in 2003, I rarely shot film because I didn't have access to a darkroom and was too foolish to realize how cheap it is to develop your own negatives at home. I bought a crappy digital camera and used that only occasionally because I never really cared for it. Back in late 2009, I decided I wanted to get back into photography and started buying up 35mm SLRs. I fell in love and soon jumped up to Medium format (something I've only toyed with a little back in high school). I was shooting with a 6x7 Rangefinder press camera (a Koni-Omega), but couldn't quite fall in love with it as I prefer SLR cameras to rangefinders. I continued shooting on 35mm until I bought a Mamiya RB67. Since that point, I barely touch 135 film anymore and my RB67 is my go-to camera for almost anything unless it requires wide-angle or telephoto lenses (which I haven't gotten yet for my Mamiya).
Less than a week ago, I got my first large format camera. It's an Anniversary Speed Graphic. I haven't gotten to run film through it, but I will be doing so soon (as soon as I get the problem I'm having with the rails sorted out). Just playing with this I know I'm going to enjoy it. I can't see it as replacing my medium format gear in the same way that my RB67 replaced my small format gear, but It'll definitely not sit around collecting dust.
Other than photography, I've got many other hobbies. I actually have a habit of collecting hobbies. I spend too much of my money on movies and music. I spend less on books than I used to, but still buy them when I see something very interesting. I play a few instruments very badly, and sing even worse, but love doing both. I made a few short films in high school and would love to do so again. I also have plans for at least 1 stop-motion short that I'd like to do.
I generally walk almost everywhere I go and try to take a camera with me unless it's a walk at night (I'm not afraid to do so, I just don't like having to carry a flash around as I suck with unnatural lighting and need to man up and learn more about it).
Back to photography, my favorite things to photograph are urban still-lifes, and candid street portraiture. I have a desire to travel around North America (and maybe someday, other continents) on foot and by hitchhiking and train hopping and photograph what I see along the way (yeah, I know that it's called a photo journal).
I try to find positives in every experience I'm in and have turned bad experiences (such as being beaten by mental patients and being arrested on a day trip to NYC) into good ones. I guess I just want to experience as much as I possibly can out of life.
My life philosophy is live and let live. As long as what someone wants to do doesn't hurt or infringe on the rights of someone else, I'm okay with them doing it. This spans across religions, sexual affiliations and fetishes, lifestyle choices, drug use, etc. I believe it was Voltaire who's credited as saying, "I may not agree with what you have to say, but I shall defend to the death your right to say it." That about sums it up.
-James.
likes a lot of stuff.
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Originally Posted by Roger Cole
Those Speeds are great fun to play with!
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