Not a Whodunit but Whydoit ?

helen.HH

helen.HH

A smile & a wink…
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I woke up Today with a New Conundrum...

not the Linhof Disese that has plagued the New Yawk Rff meet ups
nor the Nikon rangefinder gas from viewing Nikon Rangefinder Month Threads
nor all those New Tempting Voigtlander lenses Mr Kobayashi has been re / inventing
nor the Thought of switching from film Rf to SLR looking at OM, NikonF threads
or spending countless hours a week looking at Photographs online, in books, at galleries
or trying to get out of the House but can't decide which camera: film or digi because both is too much to carry...

Feel free to ADD Your List

but the Real Question is Not a Whodunit but Why do it ?
 
Well, I don't get outta the house much these days either. Two reasons...uh, excuses, really. Poor mobility is number one. My joints don't bend like they used to. Hardly at all. Hurts to walk. Hurts to bend. So I don't. But number two is seasonal. It's been over 100 degrees F here for too damn long with humidity pushing the "feel like" temperature to pure misery. Used to get out and drive on days like these but I can't even get interested in moving last few weeks. So, I've been pretty much house bound, taking pictures of my dog. My dog is also pretty worn out by the weather. She only goes where there's air conditioning.

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The desire/need to get out of the house has been inversely proportional to the temperature outside here too. That may change since the air conditioner seems to have given up the ghost here yesterday. We shall see...
 
For me its been finding something interesting and different...our daughter is visiting from Colorado to do some Equestrian training for the next "Big Show".
I'll go with her tomorrow, watch her ride and shoot while there...
Then in a few weeks we'll be spending a long weekend with my wife's family and heading down to San Diego...looking forward to something new to shoot...
 
I find the "Why Do It" a common problem. It is not just me. A part of it, I believe, is the lingering effects of Covid-19. For those of us well past voting age it has been a blow. It has affected me physically and mentally. It is so much easier to sit in the house and see what is going on on RFF and other boards. But that does not feed the bulldog.

I have the M9/Amotal combo which I like a lot and which has done very well for me. I have a few Jupiter 8's which have very good color and solid tones but somehow not enough light in them. The Cooke Amotal seems to have the right balance. So I will throw some laundry in the machine and be off with the camera and a good supply of electrons and see what I can poach this afternoon. You know, even a blind hog finds a root once in a while.

As for the weather, we hope to break 70F here today. :cool:
 
Beyond artistic photos, things I find interesting, and nature photos, I consider myself a sort of historian / archivist that wants to preserve the places I’ve lived in and seen before they inevitably change.

When I was a pre-teen kid with a 127-format camera, I made photos of anything I saw. Seeing those photos today is amazing. Much later, making photos of my neighborhood, city, my university, my places of work, has created something precious that I can view many many decades later.

On the negative side, the memories I have of those places, along with my photos, prevents me from ever returning to those places because I want to preserve in my mind how they looked long ago, reinforced by the photos, and I don’t want to see anything changed.
 
You have something there. I photo for my pleasure. It is an exercise to see if I can get a good image. And at times I do. More often I do not. However pros I have known admitted that one good one out of a roll of 36 was good. And I am not a pro so I suppose that one good one out of 72 would be quite acceptable. I do not delude myself. My gear is better than I am. But good gear removes one big excuse about why the image is not good. And I like good gear.

So to please myself I see what I can do with a camera. If I get a good one I will share it. Which means I will be sharing less as I am becoming more honest about what lands on the SD in my camera. But I will continue to take pictures following the Jesuit law of learning, "Repititio, repititio, repititio." We become better through repetitions. And we record what is around us.
 
boojum said:
You have something there. I photo for my pleasure. It is an exercise to see if I can get a good image. And at times I do. More often I do not. However pros I have known admitted that one good one out of a roll of 36 was good. And I am not a pro so I suppose that one good one out of 72 would be quite acceptable. I do not delude myself. My gear is better than I am. But good gear removes one big excuse about why the image is not good. And I like good gear.

So to please myself I see what I can do with a camera. If I get a good one I will share it. Which means I will be sharing less as I am becoming more honest about what lands on the SD in my camera. But I will continue to take pictures following the Jesuit law of learning, "Repititio, repititio, repititio." We become better through repetitions. And we record what is around us.
Click to expand...

Galen Rowell was happy when he got one good one out of 200, but then his standards might have been a bit higher than ours. I take my cameras for little walks on our property, it's too hot to get much further than a few hundred feet from the AC. I'm old, I take different cameras out to keep remembering how to use them. Mostly I just love to take pictures, when there is the occasional good one that is frosting on the cake.
 
Old is another problem. 82 here. And if life were fair, I'd be dead. But here I am, chugging along. One out of two hundred. That seems accurate. So I will keep clicking my 200's for that one good one. Here it did not hit 70F today so heat on the coast is not usually a problem.
 
I photograph every day and night if awake! I am definitely senior, slow, walking not fun but required! So on Shanks Ponies, i and a camera plus lens hit the maelstrom ! Usually a Digital compact or when the mind says "We can do this" and body hides.. It's A Leica-M3 usually Ziggy. 55 years in service. If insanity come forward., a SLR Nikon, Canon, Pentax, Minolta and maybe a spare lens. Total meltdown, take the Rolleiflex Automat and ONE roll. It will take weeks to complete.. It is a compulsion.
 
I guess I should elaborate. Why Do It?

I have led a life of hard work and struggle. Somehow I’ve come through to the other side in good shape. Married life- the best! Financially - independent. Social life - could be better (thank you COVID for that).

Photography wise, I go out everyday with a camera and walk 10,000 steps. I don’t care if it’s hot or cold, I don’t care if I'm young or old… walk, walk, walk! I’m 67, I’m retired, I have the mindset to do this come rain or shine. At the end of the day I’m happy.

BTW, I don’t have an air conditioner in my house; despite the heat (and it is f-ing hot here). I prefer strategically placed ceiling fans. We invested in solar energy years ago and our electricity is free (thanks to my wife’s farsightedness).

Anyway, there you have it, I must go out, I will go out… it’s not an option, it’s who I am.

All the best,
Mike
 
On a day-to-day basis, photography is unfortunately very low on my priority list. Two jobs, two small kids, a house to run, living in a small and boring village... I don't have the time or inclination to photograph.

When I am on holidays thought it is a different story. I am currently in Poland and brought 4 films and two cameras with me. I carry the T4 with me all the time and i went twice to the town centre for pictures. I have a roll of HP5 left so probably I will head to the town once again. Why? I like it.

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I will spend the next few Saturday evenings developing and scanning when I am back - that's the peak of the week for me.
 
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