Hi all,
I'd just like to introduce myself, I have been into photography for a long time, I attempted to make it as a professional but I became disillusioned.I hated weddings, baby pics and product shots. (I should have guessed what was going to happen i suppose. ) Anyway I sold my cameras and took up Archery instead (longbow actually). It wasn't until my kids were starting to grow up that I picked up my camera again. An old Minolta 35mm and the old love started to return. it got to the stage where I sold all my archery gear and found my self walking into Jessops in Birmingham to find out if there was a second hand 5x4 camera anywhere in the company. I used to work at Jessops in Birmingham and Carlisle, and was fortunate enough to have owned and borrowed (they were very good to their staff and lent out second hand equipment anytime) loads of large format kit. I was stunned to find however that my hobby had completely disappeared. Gone were the rows and rows of brightly coloured film boxes and rows of chemicals in an assortment of packets. I did see in the corner a small shelf with some things that I recognized, Ilford Multigrade paper and a few white plastic bottles of dev and fix. A Very pretty young girl came up to me and asked if she could help. I asked her where the second hand equipment was and was informed that they did not sell it any more. I was a bit disappointed but still carried on and asked if they had some Ilford FP4 5x4 in. "I'll just check" she said and went off to the fore mentioned shelf. She returned saying "I'm sorry we only have 6x4." She was holding a box of multigrade paper. I explained that it was the stuff that went in the camera that I wanted. A light went on and she said "Oh I'm sorry sir but we don't keep that any more, its all digital now". She indicated the sleek cases filled with exotic lumps of plastic and glass, all designed to reduce the world to pixels. "No film at all?" I asked. "We do have some" she said, and pulled from under a counter an old 8x10 red plastic dev dish with an assortment of 35mm film in it. The once cheerful boxes looked faded and lost.They almost seemed to blink as they were brought out into the light. "Is this what you wanted" asked the girl. I looked at the remains of my hobby lying forlorn in what resembled a Time Team finds tray, and with a mental apology to the film for sending it back into terminal darkness, I said "not really".
"You should have a look at our website." she said.
Thrusting a booklet into my hand. "The address is on the back."
I went back home and using the internet discovered that with a little searching most things could be found. I got into pinhole, progressing to making my own cameras from wood and then eventually selling them on ebay. 5x4 and 8x10 I still use them alongside a De-vere Devon that I acquired. I have since built a 12x16 camera around an old Industar lens. I'll Post pics later if you are interested. I am looking forward to picking up tips and info on photography. paper negs especially.
Well I think that about covers me and my story I won't bore you any more.