WirtzWorld Loc: SE WI

This is a photo that I took at around age 27 or 28. That would be in the neighborhood of 40 years ago. I took this photo with a Mamiya 645 Super and Kodak Portra(???), I think. It was easy to scan but a real pita to get the colors close. The film is starting to degrade, I think, because of poor chemistry used to process it. I’d like to blame myself, but it was processed by a camera store here in Brookfield, WI. Photo labs are like restaurants, you just never know what you’re going to get. You are at their mercy, as far as how scrupulous they are about not spitting in your soup or using fresh fixer.

Anyway, this is Julie. She worked at the Milwaukee Journal and decided that she was going to be a model so she could escape the menial secretarial life. Probably didn’t make it. But we had fun. Even in 1979 I liked to see what I could get away with, regarding what I could talk young ladies into. This series was looked upon with disbelief back then, like porn or something. I liked these photos, and Julie had fun doing something so naughty. So no big deal.

KindaSpikey Loc: English living in San Diego

Hey John, not sure if I'm more impressed with your age now, or what you were shooting back at that tender age! Lol

JohnFrim Loc: Somewhere in the Great White North.

Well, that's quite the... watermelon slice! Humorous concept.

mjc925 Loc: SF Bay Area

Great shot, funny and a good back story.

WirtzWorld Loc: SE WI

Ya, I had a touch of wild and crazy to me. Go two steps beyond, that sort of thing. The army tried to square me away to no avail.

I still like doing stupid shit like going into abandoned buildings and shooting on rr tracks(gasp). I’m 66 now and probably in 10 years or so I’ll have to get cool.

KindaSpikey Loc: English living in San Diego

Screw 10 years man, as I have always said, "you're as young as the woman you feel"!

WirtzWorld Loc: SE WI

I like the way you think.

kscanman Loc: Wisconsin

Dude, you are frickin’ crazy! I love it!

GeneinChi Loc: Chicago, IL

I’m just curious what has been your equipment journey over the last 40 years?

WirtzWorld Loc: SE WI

A great question. I started with one of those flash cube cameras, my dad gave it to me when I left to join the US Army in 1973. I befriended a guy in Germany who was into photography and the bug bit. After my service ended, I drifted awhile, as teenagers who’ve seen the world will do. In 1978 I went to photography school at a technical school in Milwaukee where I was introduced to the glory of the 4x5 view camera. We could only use that format at school. Soon I bought an Olympus OM1 and I was off to the races. Soon after that I got another and walked around with both of them around my neck with different focal lengths. I also had started building darkrooms in every place I lived in, and they went from rudimentary to quite sophisticated by turns.

I opened a studio after I got 2 Mamiya Super 645s on eBay. Those cameras are real workhorses, and I still have them if anyone is interested, they are for sale.

Progressed into digital with a Canon 20D and used that for several years until I felt I needed more pixels. Got a Canon 5D mark II that I still use as a back up to my present Canon 5DS R. 20D - something line 10 - 12 mp; 5DS R - 56 mp. I’m happy with my progression, I think it has made me a better photographer.

One more thing, learning on a view camera using a light meter is the most important thing you can learn. I still have my seconic and still use it almost every time I shoot. Fundamentals are just that, a foundation.

Sorry for the long winded answer, but hey, that’s me.