DAM1970
01-21-2008, 05:19 PM
Hello All,
I've been a lurker and occasional poster to APUG for the past few months, have really enjoyed a lot of the stuff on this site. I currently live in San Antonio TX, where I've been for 4.5 years. Prior to here I've lived in Edwards CA, Biloxi MS, Norfolk VA, and am native to Escondido CA.
I've been shooting steadily since the late 80s, mainly 35mm black and white - Tri-X and Plus-X that I develop myself in D-76 mixed 1:1. For black and white, the cameras I currently use most are Nikon F and F-100; I recently bought a used Pentax 645 with 55mm and 75mm lenses and am having a good time with it. Prior to the Pentax I was shooting medium format once in a while with a Yashica-Mat purchased well used for $150 and actually have gotten plenty of good pics with it. I still shoot color, mainly in an Olympus Stylus Epic that I take everywhere.
Since the early 90's I've had my own darkroom stuff - Beseler 23CII. Between having a demanding "day job" and being a family man with three young kids, it is hard to find the time other than late at night on weekends to print. However, I still LOVE printing my own B&W and cannot see getting the same enjoyment out of the process by doing everything on a computer.
I have lived in tiny apartments, small and medium sized houses in the burbs and have never had the luxury of dedicated darkroom space. Currently I set up the enlarger on the floor of a walk-in closet and carry the exposed paper in a papersafe to the laundry room where I set up my trays on top of the washer and dryer. I use no running water in either location, just do my rinses in the kitchen sink when I'm done for the night. The dust/lint in each place is terrible but I actually don't need to spot prints as much as one would think. I guess my main point here is not to let lack of dedicated space and/or suboptimal conditions keep you from getting in the darkroom if it's something you enjoy.
I have scans of around 150 of my black and white images on Flickr if anyone wants to check them out:
http://flickr.com/photos/21659860@N07/
I just paid to become an APUG subscriber and will likely put them on a gallery on APUG when I have the time.
-DAM1970
I've been a lurker and occasional poster to APUG for the past few months, have really enjoyed a lot of the stuff on this site. I currently live in San Antonio TX, where I've been for 4.5 years. Prior to here I've lived in Edwards CA, Biloxi MS, Norfolk VA, and am native to Escondido CA.
I've been shooting steadily since the late 80s, mainly 35mm black and white - Tri-X and Plus-X that I develop myself in D-76 mixed 1:1. For black and white, the cameras I currently use most are Nikon F and F-100; I recently bought a used Pentax 645 with 55mm and 75mm lenses and am having a good time with it. Prior to the Pentax I was shooting medium format once in a while with a Yashica-Mat purchased well used for $150 and actually have gotten plenty of good pics with it. I still shoot color, mainly in an Olympus Stylus Epic that I take everywhere.
Since the early 90's I've had my own darkroom stuff - Beseler 23CII. Between having a demanding "day job" and being a family man with three young kids, it is hard to find the time other than late at night on weekends to print. However, I still LOVE printing my own B&W and cannot see getting the same enjoyment out of the process by doing everything on a computer.
I have lived in tiny apartments, small and medium sized houses in the burbs and have never had the luxury of dedicated darkroom space. Currently I set up the enlarger on the floor of a walk-in closet and carry the exposed paper in a papersafe to the laundry room where I set up my trays on top of the washer and dryer. I use no running water in either location, just do my rinses in the kitchen sink when I'm done for the night. The dust/lint in each place is terrible but I actually don't need to spot prints as much as one would think. I guess my main point here is not to let lack of dedicated space and/or suboptimal conditions keep you from getting in the darkroom if it's something you enjoy.
I have scans of around 150 of my black and white images on Flickr if anyone wants to check them out:
http://flickr.com/photos/21659860@N07/
I just paid to become an APUG subscriber and will likely put them on a gallery on APUG when I have the time.
-DAM1970