Hello from Oklahoma
Jul 3, 2014 01:54:17 #
I have been watching this forum for a while now and even posted a few random comments where I thought it might be helpful. I have been taking pictures since a was a little kid. My first camera was a Kodak Instamatic, I think it was a model 104. 126 cartridge fed, and had a socket on top for "magicube" flash cubes.
My dad and uncle were photographers and I got to spend quite a bit of time with both of them learning the technical side of photography and included a lot of time in the darkroom processing and printing. I supplemented my income to varying degrees over the years selling pictures to newspapers and insurance companies and shooting the odd occasional event like weddings and reunions and some portrait sessions. I also got roped into doing a little photography and pre-press work with kodalith and "dropout red" for print ads that would end up as newspaper inserts and the regional "thrifty nickel" type classified rags you could pick up in convenience stores. So, nothing glamorous, just practical.
I feel pretty lucky to have had the mentors I have had over the years and try to pass that on and help others that are trying to learn the craft. I do find myself being called a luddite and a dinosaur pretty often. It seems most of the people that call me that are no older then 20-something, and they take dozens of pictures from any given vantage point and never take the camera off auto. It's digital so it's free right?
I still treat my digital camera a lot like a film camera. Plan your shot, then shoot your plan, so I walk away with a dozen images for the day and 80% are keepers. I suspect the "Ready, Fire, AIM!" lot wonder why their images have a high bin rate.
I fancy myself as a historian of sorts and like to go on photo outings to sites of historic events or even nature images that reflect just how ancient the mysteries of the Earth are. I have an unnatural fondness for bridges and old machinery.
An artist I am not. I never have been really. At best I consider myself a technical illustrator. Along those lines I have been pretty successful as a teacher to newbies afraid to turn the dial off the green tyro modes, many of them already that artistic eye, but never had the support or encouragement to learn the things they can actually control in an image.
Thanks for listening.
Charley.
My dad and uncle were photographers and I got to spend quite a bit of time with both of them learning the technical side of photography and included a lot of time in the darkroom processing and printing. I supplemented my income to varying degrees over the years selling pictures to newspapers and insurance companies and shooting the odd occasional event like weddings and reunions and some portrait sessions. I also got roped into doing a little photography and pre-press work with kodalith and "dropout red" for print ads that would end up as newspaper inserts and the regional "thrifty nickel" type classified rags you could pick up in convenience stores. So, nothing glamorous, just practical.
I feel pretty lucky to have had the mentors I have had over the years and try to pass that on and help others that are trying to learn the craft. I do find myself being called a luddite and a dinosaur pretty often. It seems most of the people that call me that are no older then 20-something, and they take dozens of pictures from any given vantage point and never take the camera off auto. It's digital so it's free right?
I still treat my digital camera a lot like a film camera. Plan your shot, then shoot your plan, so I walk away with a dozen images for the day and 80% are keepers. I suspect the "Ready, Fire, AIM!" lot wonder why their images have a high bin rate.
I fancy myself as a historian of sorts and like to go on photo outings to sites of historic events or even nature images that reflect just how ancient the mysteries of the Earth are. I have an unnatural fondness for bridges and old machinery.
An artist I am not. I never have been really. At best I consider myself a technical illustrator. Along those lines I have been pretty successful as a teacher to newbies afraid to turn the dial off the green tyro modes, many of them already that artistic eye, but never had the support or encouragement to learn the things they can actually control in an image.
Thanks for listening.
Charley.
A tourist at the Oklahoma City Memorial. A tiny national park property dedicated to the April 1995 bombing of the Murrah Federal building in Oklahoma City. Shot with a Kiev 88 on Kodak Tri-X and scanned directly from the film then inverted and toned in Paint Shop Pro.
Jul 3, 2014 02:11:00 #
Hello and welcome. Interesting background; stirred my early memories of the whiff of developer and fixer, sound of running water and the subterranean glow of safelights and the first time I loaded a spool with film beneath the bed sheets on a bright day (I was overly keen). Needless to say my first ever home developed roll of HP4 came out slightly fogged and covered in fluff marks and fingerprints!My god that seems like a lifetime ago. My dad was a very good amateur photographer which sort of got me going. Look forward to seeing some more of your images.
Jul 3, 2014 07:42:39 #
Welcome to the Hog, Charlie. I relate to your background and love the photo you attached. You will be an asset to our group. ;)
Jul 3, 2014 21:28:08 #
Welcome to the Hog, Charlie. You'll find lots of friends & plenty of good advice here. Great shot of the OKC Memorial. I worked for an agency that had its offices in the building. I lost 6 good friends that day.
Jul 4, 2014 07:50:47 #
Jul 4, 2014 07:53:33 #
Jul 4, 2014 09:33:16 #
Jul 5, 2014 10:19:13 #
Jul 8, 2014 12:11:34 #
watchcow wrote:
I have been watching this forum for a while now an... (show quote)
Charlie, welcome to the hog You have quite a background I too miss the smell of fresh chemicals in the darkroom. Most of my shots were B/W. But alas, i don't have most all my negatives any more. The 1994 Northridge earthquake did away with everything i had .ALL ruined. I was able to salvage some Now i use digital. And is quite different, but I still miss the darkroom.
Your post is excellent .
Rich
Jul 11, 2014 02:37:10 #
Rich2236 wrote:
Charlie, welcome to the hog
You have quite a background
I too miss the smell of fresh chemicals in the darkroom. Most of my shots were B/W. But alas, i don't have most all my negatives any more. The 1994 Northridge earthquake did away with everything i had
.ALL ruined. I was able to salvage some
Now i use digital. And is quite different, but I still miss the darkroom.
Your post is excellent .
Rich
Your post is excellent .
Rich
Thanks. I lost a lot of my past as well. For a while I was living an old rented trailer in the boonies and my neatly packaged boxes of negatives, proofs and tear sheets were in a closet in a room I didn't use for living space. One of the seams at the edge of the roof started leaking at some point and every time it rained water was running down the inside of the wall. that eventually soaked through the paneling inside the closet into those boxes. That must have gone on for months before I had an occasion to go dig our some pictures to show a potential client one day and I pulled out the top box and the wet bottom fell out spilling lumps of moldy prints and negs. Nothing was recoverable from any of the boxes. So other than a few stray prints that friends or relatives had, I lost about 18 years of history.
Jul 11, 2014 04:21:00 #
watchcow wrote:
Thanks. I lost a lot of my past as well. For a whi... (show quote)
Oh, how well i know that feeling. Close to 50,000negs and slides ..what a heartbreak. Oh well, onward and upward .
Rich
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