I think I might have found my new hobby. I just bought a camera I can grow into a little and am now lost in a world of black mist filters and more. Anyone else into it? As an aside photographers are like music folk with chippy opinions hehe.
3 Likes
Got very enthusiastic about film photography about 15 or so years ago then lost the habit. Still have the kit and keep meaning to get back to it. Too much fun stuff, too little time :-/
7 Likes
Used to be a part of my job Designer/Art Director/Photographer, only dabble now.
2 Likes
I have some lovely film cameras I never use, it makes me a bit sad. Olympus OM1 with about a million lenses (that Iām scared to use), a Contaxt 139, and a few Olympus Trip / Olympus PEN point & shoots hanging around.
I used to love it in my 20s, took a camera with me everywhere.
2 Likes
My first proper job was in a commercial photographic lab, loved it. Did all sorts from sweeping up to processing negs and contacts to exhibition production. I think its a world thats gone with the digital takeover. It ran 24hrs, met some great people. Had quite a few photographers who used to come in at night for their āglamourā stuff to be processed 
4 Likes
a long time ago, before widespread digital photography, some friends and I were into macro photography. we built a little lightbox and mounting jib and with the right combo of lenses, would take photos of tiny, intricate things (think jewelry or bugs etc.).
it was a lot of fun. one of those friends carried on and got a job doing photography for catalogs (again, this was a long time ago, pre-www) taking photos of tiny screws and cutting blades for vinyl sign manufacturing machinery.
similarly, my ex (employed as a stylist) was one of the early āknollersā - itās almost a form of macro photography, just on a much larger scale.
anyway, if i was to start back up, thatās probably what iād be in to.
4 Likes
I teach photography as my main profession. I love it, I never really tell the students what to take photos of, I try and get them to express themselves through the images that they make. I give them the skills, they bring the ideas. Oh and the darkroom is a magic sacred space, photography type of darkroom obs!
6 Likes
Iāve got a bag of with an OM10 and a brace of filters and lenses, bought whilst browsing the boots for vinyl. Iāve only every used it for slide film which is then used for club event visuals. Iām always hoping I can find associates with the right balance of art and work to be creative on this side.
If we are talking film then the most fun was a Ā£2 Yashica T4 or 5 that I used for social photos in clubs and all over. It broke and I sold it for a fair sum not working, Iād certainly have another similar device.
A sticky with resources for film purchase and developing would be useful if the thread florishes?
1 Like
Oh just do it. We can add to it.
Thereās so much to learn but itās nice to see feel your brain ticking over again. The gf does event so no shortage of places to take photos of people which should be fun.
Re knollers - thatās mentalā¦ I remember the turntable people out in grand royal. Early knoller?
1 Like
@joeblackcircles do you have a few online resources (YouTube channels etc) youād recommend for a digital beginner? I am literally starting at zeroā¦
Is it more in terms of composition, ideas or editing techniques?
I donāt have the time to watch youtube really, but I can certainly recommend a few books.
All of Henry Carrollās series; āRead This If You Want To take Great Photos ofā¦ā are great places to start with compositional tips.
Joel Meyerowitz is an amazing photographer and a very insightful writer, this is a great place to start with him.
The Photographerās Playbook is full of ideas for creative projects.
The Street Photography Challenge is 50 postcards each with a prompt for taking photos on the reverse, this great for challenging yourself when you want to go out a shoot.
In terms of editing, I would get an Adobe subscription and just play around with Lightroom and Photoshop, honestly the tutorials are so good that I have stopped teaching my students how to use the software at the start of the course, I just let them work their way though the tutorials and help when theyāre stuck.
Hopefully this is helpful, let me know if youād like more on a certain area.
1 Like
Oh, this is very good too.
Perfect thank you. Iāll have a dig through. I have the adobe suite so all good there. I know some from being in a design studio for years but I just want to get a basic understanding of the interaction of the various elements.
My three top tips are always;
Change your viewpoint, dont take all your photos from standing eye level, look up, look down, lie on the floor, crouch.
Negative Space, isolate your subject from the background.
Photograph appearances not subjects. Donāt concentrate on what you think the image is about, but what it look like.
3 Likes
Used to love it when I had access to a darkroom. Cost of film/dev is bonkers nowadays
1 Like
This popped up yesterday evening so I thought iād share it here.
I was very into astronomy in the 90ās so started taking photos with my Olympus OM1 (totally mechanical, flip up mirror etc) which was perfect for attaching to my telescope. It was a lot to learn and I went through a lot a film but there were some good books that helped.
Loads of trial and error and ābracketingā.
I got some good shots of the solar eclipse in 99 and comet hale-bopp in 97. Lunar eclipses in the mountains, planets etc. I really loved it.
A good mate who I DJd with asked me to be their wedding photographer, I think to save money 
but when I said I donāt photograph people they said āthatās why weāre asking youā.
Anyway that was one of the worst, most stressful days I can remember. I hated it. They were kind about the results but Iām not sure they were any good at all.
I sold my drum kit in order to buy an enlarger and all the developing kit and turned our bathroom into a darkroom.
This was seemingly the day before the world turned digital.
I ended up giving the kit away at brighton station boot fair.
I used a firm called Easy 6 in Brighton to develop all my astro films. Not sure if theyāre still going but they were great.
I remember being in Newquay for the total eclipse. I was on the headland all set up but it was cloudy. Somehow, exactly at the right moment there was a hole in the clouds and I got off some shots through my telescope, all while trying to take in the atmosphere and the strangeness of it all.
I took the film to a high street developer in the town who had obviously been inundated with people wanting their films done.
Iāll never forget the feeling when I collected them and the fellow said they were the best theyād done. Proper lump in the throat and tears in my eyes as I left the shop without looking at the photos. I wasnāt disappointed.
Iāve recently given the OM1 to my daughter who is doing A level photography. It felt very nice to have it in my hands again and I looked up some stuff on Youtube to refresh myself. I watched a vid and finally got to understand more about aperture/exposure in 20mins than I had in the previous 30 years
Good luck with your new hobby, weāll expect to see you looking like Dennis Hopper in Apocalypse Now sometime soon.
8 Likes
Love this. That must have been a very calm hobbyā¦ Iām doing that same YouTube deep dive. Itās fun feeling your brain go to learn mode.
2 Likes
We were down for it too, on a hilltop nr Penzance, didnāt see a thing because of the cloud, took 12 hours to get back home to Bethnal Greenā¦ #worthitnot
Those images are amazing btw!
1 Like
Those Yashicas are great.
My son has got a charity shop Olympus clamshell, they go for serious money now.
A few years ago I got some stuff processed at Rapid Eye in Shoreditch. The smell of developer was amazing and you could tell it was staffed by extremely fulfilled old guys who got to process by hand all day.
My dadās a photographer and I grew up around darkrooms, enlargers, big silver umbrellas and that chemical smell.
3 Likes