| For a few months I pretended to be a photographer for the student paper at UW-Madison, where I was an undergrad, back in 1962 or so. Out in the complete dark was I at that point! My father loaned me one of his Leicas which I had no idea how to use, and getting the film on the reel for development was another unmastered skill. I am happy to report that I still have the misbegotten film from that episode, and some of it went to the Wisc. State archives a few months ago… And by sheer luck someone else got a photograph of me which I still love to this day… A few years later I got a little more interested in taking pix, and my poor father, who was absolutely committed to his Leicas and light meter, conceded the points to me and acquired some kind of Kodak reflex camera which I sniffed at, being as I’d requested an Oly OM1. Eventually I managed to get into the Oly line with the OM1, OM2 and 2s. Unfortunately I didn’t understand about getting good glass, but in any event at least I could begin to figure out how to compose and more or less get a usable exposure. I used the 2s until 1995 when I made the terrible decision to take a workshop with Galen Rowell on a rare weekend that he came to this coast. Just the opening lecture left me in the dust, but in retrospect I began to get a glimmer of all the stuff I didn’t know. On the final day the Nikon guy came and handed out bodies and lenses for us to play with and that was the death of the Olys. I got two experiences out of that - the first was taking a photo which caused Rowell to almost say wow, and second was watching him have no clue of how to photograph my ecosystem. So I scrambled to switch my gear, and still have the first image I took with my new-used Nikon. But it was the year shooting for the local paper that firmed up my knowledge base and skillset, and still there was so much to learn. Still I got control over the b&w darkroom, shot lots of sports, local b&w color, events and officialdom, ribbon cuttings, etc. Every day. Nothing like having to shoot every day. Still, slide film was touch and go, although color negative was OK as long as the technician at the lab salvaged some of the worst mistakes. By then Photoshop had arrived, and all of a sudden my understanding of matters technical took another leap. I vividly remember being in a joint show with the other newspaper shooters on the Cape and having to prepare and frame 7 or 8 images for it. First was to scan the neg, then get it right on the computer, then go in the darkroom and replicate the dodging and burning and contrast adjustments which I had already worked out on the computer. Lots less running water, way fewer test strips. And then the watershed moment arrived - stay with Nikon or shift to Canon for digital. A friend loaned me his N90 and I shot a couple events but the white balance was awful. Setting white balance at every event was insane. Another friend allowed me to shoot a few frames on his Canon and the auto daylight white balance was spot on. Bye, bye Nikon. I still have the CF card which came with my new Canon 10D. 32M. I back up my checking account to it once a month. _________________ Emily L. Ferguson mailto:elf@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 774-392-0022 New England landscapes, wooden boats and races http://landsedgephoto.photodeck.com/ |
