Hello everyone,
I've been reading Pentax Forums for a long time. 6-7 years at least. Long, long overdue to finally begin contributing. Why so long? Well, my
interest in photography has been largely functional the past dozen years. That has all been turned around recently, (more below).
There were several photography buffs in the family when I was a kid and I enjoyed their energy and passion. I had a number of second hand
cameras up through college; a motley collection including a 126 Instamatic and Minolta Underwater 110.
It wasn't until after college, in the early '90s, that I felt the desire to learn more about photography and take more than just snapshots. I was
limited in funds and looking for used gear. Pentax was one of the prominent brands I remembered from my youth. Used Pentax gear was
affordable and felt good in my hand. I was particularly keen on the M-Series bodies as I much preferred their dimensions over full sized
bodies, (and I still do). Ultimately, I acquired a ME Super and 50mm 1/1.7 and started taking darkroom classes.
Therein followed an busy 2-3 years of active photography and I learned a great deal. I set up a darkroom, learned how to expose good
negatives and got really good at dialing in and taking shots from the hip. It was then that I signed up for a pottery class and my life changed.
Clay took hold like no other medium before. I purchased a house shortly thereafter, the darkroom went into storage and never came out again.
A few years later I was still at the pottery and decided to pursue that interest full time. Photography fell from being a creative pursuit to a
functional tool to capture my ceramic endeavors. And the occasional holiday snapshot.
It was in this timeframe that digital was emerging and I kept an interest at the possibilities. I knew digital would one day eclipse film. Indeed,
I think I pretty accurately predicted that crossover point: in around 1996 I predicted film would be 'gone' from common use in ten years and
that proved to be just about correct.
I continued to shoot film for my portfolio work, mostly slide film, and purchased a couple early digital cameras while waiting for an affordable,
relatively long-life DSLR. I was keen to stick with Pentax when that day came as I already had lenses for that brand and liked my film bodies.
But with no DSLR on the horizon at the dawn of the millennium, I was resided to possibly of switching to another brand. The *istD gave hope
and when the K10D arrived I entered into the modern age. Still, the photography was mostly just functional.
It really wasn't until just this past Spring, when my partner surprised me with a Q7 for my birthday, that photography for its own sake once
again grabbed my interest. That Q7 is simply FUN, and it reignited my desire to create with a camera. In the past few months I've been
making pinhole lenses and making cyanotypes, and been on a junk find LBA bender like never before. I still have yet to really tap into that
new found creative stream, though, as much bigger projects are in the works, (another house sale and move, a studio to build, a completely
new line of ceramic work in development). But the foundations are there and I've been on Pentax Forums a lot of late. So time to make
acquaintances!
I've attached a shot of my 'other' work. Hope to contribute some images for their own sake in the near future.
Post #1 by tvdtvdtvd
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