OK, I admit I've been lurking here for a few years but just reading and never contributing. I've recently been called out on that, so I figured I'd start here.
I always hate these "introduce yourself" things because I never know what anyone gives a hoot about, but here's probably more than you want to know.
I've lived in Fairbanks, Alaska for about 30 years and I get really tired of photos of moose, mountains, and northern lights, although I have shot all three from time to time. I developed my first sheet of 5x7 tri-x in 1975 under my uncle's tutelage, and have shot large format on and off ever since. I consider myself to be well indoctrinated, but not necessarily very experienced, in the large format arena. I know a fair amount and I can make technically competent images, but I have a lot of the gaps that come from being self-taught, or taught by people who were self-taught and, since I'm aware of that, I'm pretty open to advice, constructive criticism, and corrections of my gap-ridden opinions.
I learned wedding photography on medium format film in the mid-1980s under a mentor that I later learned was not very good at what he did. I've dabbled in fine art photography (landscapes and nudes) and had a few locally-successful shows. For the last 14 years I've operated a portrait studio (profitable for 12 of those years) specializing in intimate portraiture. I'm closing my studio this month for a variety of reasons, but mostly because I'm ready to start spending my time shooting what I want instead of what the client wants.
Besides a lot of 35mm, medium format, and digital work, I've owned and used Toyo cameras in 4x5 and 5x7, B&J cameras in 4x5 and 5x7, and Sinar cameras in 5x7 and 8x10, and I was fortunate to be allowed to shoot a few sheets with a Chamonix 11x14 once in return for taking a vacationing photographer to one of my secret fishing spots. With the closing of my studio, I've sold much of my studio-oriented equipment to shift toward field-oriented equipment. I have a B&J 5x7 field camera, and there are a Svedovsky 8x10 and a Wanderlust Travelwide in the mail headed my way. I have a small in-home darkroom that I'm in the process of expanding, and I do mostly silver contact prints, liquid emulsion, cyanotypes, and salted paper prints, plus digital prints from scanned negatives.
I guess all else there is to tell is that the only thing I'll put down a camera for is to pick up a fishing pole, so some here might not consider me a dedicated photographer, but I'll bet I have more fish in my freezer than they do.
Later. -Tim
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Randy Moe
Bookmarks