On Fri, 11 Jul 2003 08:00:12 -0400
Matthew Born <mborn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> I just wanted to introduce myself; been lurking for a while and
> have even
Welcome. Glad that you've decided to join :)
> made a few transactions with Tom, who was kind enough to treat me
> like he knew me right off the bat.
No doubt, Tom is a great guy. He's been helping me getting a few
pieces I was looking for for a long time, and even occationally
remembered that I once had mentioned looking for an item which he
came across.
Now, of course, if you are married, your CDFO may approve less of
Tom...he has a way of feeding our collective addiction to that
wonderful Zuiko glass :)
> I am in the process of divesting myself of a nice
> Nikon N70 and a couple of lenses and going back to my OM-1. A
> relatively recent purchase of a Mamiya 645 reminded me that it's a
> lot more fun to make photos than it is to take them, if you'll
> forgive the arty way of putting it.
Agreed. I have a M645, and I have found that since I got thatone,
I became a much better photographer than I was before. Basically,
taking the habits of carefull framing, really looking at the image in
the viewfinder, using a manuel light meter etc. has made me more
considerate.
That said: making pictures is fun, but so is "taking pictures" when
the odd/funny/rare/interresting/curious situation happens. I like to
think that I do both...
> That darned Nikon was
> annoyingly difficult to use manually and while it got me terrific
> pictures I never much liked using it.
My complaint from having owned a N*k*n (F5) was, basically, that I
did invest in a piece of photographic gear, not an accessory for the
gym. I'm a reasonably big guy, but carrying an F5 around for a day
was really tiresome. An OM1 does *not* give you that problem :) I do
not know if the N70 is of the same dimensions. (That said, I did like
the N*k*n glass I had, and the thing "handled" nice, had it only been
a few kg lighter *gg*)
> And for those family shots
> with my three-year old flying around
...she must be the youngest certified private pilot I know of :)
> ...where auto focus is a boon, I
> have a little Rollei point and shoot that does just fine. So I
> overhauled my near-perfect, always-been-mine OM-1 and started
> accumulating additional lenses and bits. I have found this list to
> be a terrific resource!
Many a CDFO would use the phrase "I have found this list to be a
Horrible resource". When I joined, I was very much a "normal" guy
doing b/w and the occational color negative. Then the crowd around
here convinced me that I needed to do slides (more bodies since
changing film suxx) in different speeds (more bodies since changing
film suxx), macro (more bodies since changing screen suxx). And to
all that, more lenses (since changing lens apparantly suxx too) and
special lenses and bellows and flashes.....
Ok, I do exagerate a bit :) The point is, though, that many a time
when I have the need for doing something, there's someone here who's
done it before and can tell me how -- and someone who can pinpoint
and provide the needed equipment (that would be you, Tom, and
others...) making it all too easy :) The good thing is, though, that
I do take objectively more photos than before -- and that they are
subjectively better (according to the CDFO) than before.
> I also recognize a name or two from a
> couple of other lists -- digital B&W, among others. Small world
> indeed. Thank you all in advance for the great info.
>
> I also felt compelled to join in the train thread -- my dad's a
> terrific train photographer (a foamer, as he is called in the train
> circles...) who has had stuff in the various mags and a few coffee
> table books and I've accompanied him off and on since I was about 5
> years old. And one of the things that sometimes slips through the
> cracks is that beyond being dangerous you can ruin a good thing for
> the next guy by getting too close or by not appearing to be careful
> enough. The railroad employees will generally leave you alone if
> you mind yourself, but if you're close enough to get their
> attention in a bad way, they'll probably alert the bulls. Enough of
> that and they'll crack down on what might be a really good spot. In
> recent years, at least in the northeast US, they've really started
> cracking down on railroad photographers. Many a great spot is now
> off-limits, so it definitely pays to keep a low profile.
>
Yeah, it always pays to "play nice" and be reasonable. Can get you to
the weirdest of places (I've been at the end of a runway on the
pavement with jumbo-jets racing over my head at a large comercial
airport just for asking nicely and being reasonable: "Sure, you can
xray my stuff, and I need no more than 2 lenses; sure I can come back
tomorrow when you are less busy." and so on).
Anyways, Matthew, do you (or your dad?) have any of the photos on the
WWW somewhere? There's nothing I like much better than looking at
what other people have done, thereby getting inspiration for
improving my skills. (Although it is also slightly depressing:
seamingly everyone around here are quantum-leaps better than I..)
Again, welcome
--thomas
> Cheers,
> Matthew Born
>
>
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>
--
------------------------------------------------
Thomas Heide Clausen
Civilingeniør i Datateknik (cand.polyt)
M.Sc in Computer Engineering
E-Mail: T.Clausen@xxxxxxxxxxxx
WWW: http://voop.free.fr/
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