Recent Forum Posts

I wouldn;t say that cameras and women are similar....

YET, Cameras are each a unique object, that allow you to see things differently because you can focus in something else in each of them
Rotating or using one or the other (especially vintage ones) forces you to maximize your film usage and to try and obtain images that suit the shooting method that you develop with that camera; and thus the results are going to be a bit different or very different

Statistics: Posted by titrisol — Tue Oct 22, 2019 1:33 pm

My opinion: comparing cameras to people as she did is not really very nice, in my opinion. Cameras are tools, and whether you use one or many makes little difference to them, other than the effects of usage or non-usage. People are not (certainly should not be) tools; they have agency and feelings and it's a category error to make this comparison, however joking (although it sounds a bit pointed to me).

That said, I went through a phase such as yours for about 5-6 years. Discovering that the cameras I'd wanted but assumed I'd never be able to afford when I was 20 were pennies on the dollar when I was 45 enabled me to explore all kinds of equipment I'd only ever seen in magazines or behind glass at the local camera store. Plus I'd always had a fascination for historical technology, and on top of all of that the existence of a huge body of knowledge on the internet gave an opportunity to learn skills and techniques that would have been much more difficult to self-teach when I was young. So I went nuts, bought all kinds of cameras (I honestly have no idea how many cameras I have at this point, ranging from small format to medium format to large format to (now) ultra large format, but they were all amazingly inexpensive at the time) and had (and still do have) a blast playing with them. Phil got to watch a fair bit of this experimentation phase via Flickr, so he can attest to it.

Anyhow, in the end, I've slowed down a lot. I now think a lot more about what I want to shoot, and what therefore is the best tool available for that. When I'm bored, I still have a lot of fun toys to play with that I haven't picked up in a while. And sometimes they're just fun to get down and hold in my hand and fire the shutter every once in a while. I could cull the herd a bit if there were some reason to, and I've been willing to give a few of them away to promising youngsters who seemed interested in the craft. But while the pressure to acquire and experiment has dropped way off, neither has the pressure to clear the decks and "simplify" built up on me, as it does for some people. So, as in my woodshop, I have multiple shelves full of gear, and when I have a subject I'd like to shoot, I scan the tools available for what seems like the most appropriate one for the job...

Robert

p.s. and I still have two cameras I've never shot and need to find an opportunity to try out. First, a trichrome camera I bought a couple years ago from Mark Osterman: a 4x5 with one lens and a rig of prism and mirrors that allows a simultaneous exposure through three holders that have R, G, and B filters on them respectively. You can then recombine the three color separations to make a full color image. Second, a very kind and generous new friend I met at a dry plate collodion workshop in May lent me her 11x14 Gibellini to try out. She was very frustrated with it (a long story) and I think just wanted it out of her sight, so it simply appeared -- in a very large travel case -- on my doorstep one day. Sadly, the summer was crazy busy and I just didn't have time to play with it, but I hope to soon to justify her expense and trouble...

Statistics: Posted by Brazile — Mon Oct 21, 2019 7:41 am

Hi all,

This is a year of chances in my life, a close friend told me cameras and women are the same for me, that I can't have only one.
I want to believe she is not right but there is always a chance... as a person who ask 'why' a lot I wonder why I keep buying/testing new cameras, formats, films, etc... Phil said once I'm in my "searching" period and I have found some cameras I'm very happy with (Medalist II, Superb, Super Isollete, Bergheil and maybe Plaubel Makina II).

After thinking about this my first conclusion is that the "camera + me" is something unique, my brain can see the frames, analyse the light and other technical details but what I feel holding the camera makes me discard one photo for another up to the camera I have in that situation.

Have you ever thought about this? Feel free to answer as long or detail, this topic is quite personal but I wanted to share this question you all.

Thank you in advance,
Alex

Statistics: Posted by alexvaras — Mon Oct 21, 2019 4:46 am

Nice separation from the background.

Umm, you might want to spell check the title of one of your birch photos on Flickr, Alex.

PFThank you, Phil, done it!

Statistics: Posted by alexvaras — Mon Oct 21, 2019 1:01 am

Nice separation from the background.

Umm, you might want to spell check the title of one of your birch photos on Flickr, Alex.

PF

Statistics: Posted by PFMcFarland — Sun Oct 20, 2019 7:43 pm

Thank you, Graham

Here goes one more I like how it went.


Last standing leaves.

Two more plates to go
Thank you for looking,
Alex

Statistics: Posted by alexvaras — Sun Oct 20, 2019 3:14 pm

Oh I forgot the photo!
Yes, indeed make you going to the kitchen!! But guess what... there is more film than food inside

Statistics: Posted by alexvaras — Fri Oct 18, 2019 12:13 am

Beautiful photos again, Julio. You're starting to find different looks as you roam the waterfront.

I once thought of moving to Norfolk to be near the sea, but the problem is the sea is also moving into Norfolk because of the double whammy of ocean level rise, and land subsidence. If I live long enough, I'll be able to cut the travel time to the ocean to two hours instead of five!

PF

Statistics: Posted by PFMcFarland — Thu Oct 17, 2019 10:56 pm

Might get frost tonight, so hopefully that will kickstart the color change. It just stays too warm for too long, and sometimes the leaves just drop instead of change.

The shot looking down on the rain drops hitting the puddle says it all, Alex.

PF

Statistics: Posted by PFMcFarland — Thu Oct 17, 2019 10:47 pm

Makes me want to get in the kitchen and start cooking!

PF

Statistics: Posted by PFMcFarland — Thu Oct 17, 2019 10:41 pm

Oh yes - the seagulls really add to the photo. I also like the composition with the women in the photo.

Statistics: Posted by melek — Thu Oct 17, 2019 3:48 pm

Thank you, Julio.

I hope, Graham, you can get good shots of your autumn

Statistics: Posted by alexvaras — Thu Oct 17, 2019 11:52 am

This one I like the most is great! Waiting fishes

Statistics: Posted by alexvaras — Thu Oct 17, 2019 7:00 am

Thanks for the comments! Another one of seagulls in this roll:



Better to stay above these nice birds than below.

Statistics: Posted by Julio1fer — Wed Oct 16, 2019 9:04 pm

Very nice photos, Julio, as said the last one has something special
I miss the sea but at least I can feel with your photos

Statistics: Posted by alexvaras — Wed Oct 16, 2019 11:18 am

As I keep retouching and "developing" more of these I found a new enemy... Newton Rings!
In the 80s this was not a problem to me, but seems that my grandpa did a lot of contact prints (from negative to positive in the glass plates)
Some are just beautiful like in this picture:


Laguna-HaciendaSanLuis-flickr

Statistics: Posted by titrisol — Sun Oct 13, 2019 9:10 pm

The one with the seagulls is very pleasing!
Good luck in the elections

Statistics: Posted by titrisol — Sun Oct 13, 2019 8:52 pm

Superb images, Julio. I like the last one especially.

Statistics: Posted by GrahamS — Sun Oct 13, 2019 5:03 am

This year we have elections in October 27th, and likely again at the end of November. The way they do it here is with flags, banners and a kind of general carnival on the streets. Hopefully more pictures to come in the following weeks.

A bus parked near the Rambla, in a strategic place so that everybody sees it. Totally painted in the candidate's color (red), Maybe you can tell the candidate's name and option number.



Militants are on the streets every weekend, distributing brochures on traffic lights.



Last week I took the Autocord to Punta del Este harbor, taking advantage of a trip to show the place to a friend. This is a favorite part of the world, especially in the low season. Subjects galore: not only fishing boats (which would be enough for me), but fishermen, seagulls, seafood stalls and people.









I had not used this TLR for a long time. Film was TMX, developed in Beutler.

Thanks for looking!

Statistics: Posted by Julio1fer — Sat Oct 12, 2019 5:15 pm

Great idea to go to the park loaded with color film, and great images too. My favorite is the last one.

Statistics: Posted by Julio1fer — Sat Oct 12, 2019 1:05 pm