Hobbies and Crafts

Another craft to detach from the main craft thread. I know Jude is doing a photography course. It has been a hobby of mine since I was eleven years old so if it is your hobby, this thread is for you.

I would be interested

Do you do your own developing Errol? I envy you if you have a dark room. 21 years ago before we moved here we had an under the eves room which we made into a dark room, mainly for me although OH used to do a bit. I only ever developed and printed black and white but it was great fun. I can remember the excitement now that I felt when the first photo started to develop.

I do enjoy the immediacy of digital photography, even though I swore I would never have a digital camera. In a way it has spoiled the way I look at photos, in magazines for instance, because I always think they have been digitally enhanced. But I suppose it is just a different sort of skill.

And I have never fathomed out Photoshop and neither has my technically minded OH> :-D

I don't do my own developing now but I have done in the past.

I was taught by my grandfather who was a member of the Royal Photographic Society and gave me my first camera and helped me develop the first film I shot - black and white of course.

I still have some of his exhibition prints form the 1940s.

It was his influence that persuaded me to exhibit.

when we lived in Bedfordshire I belonged to a camera society but I am not really a society person, prefer to do my own thing. I did win one monor competition but other than that have not really entered anything. I love looking at exhibitions though. I think there is one on at the moment in Gloucester of black and white photos, might try and have a look at that tomorrow. They hold it in the old priory which is a wonderful setting.

My Dad was my inspiration, I have photos of his (nothing really special, snapshots of their lives really, dating back to the 20s/30s and he taught me with his old Kodak concertina fold out camera. I had my first camera when I was about 12 and have never been without one since. Still have a cupboard full of cameras (mostly film) that I won't part with but don't use. Digital has made me lazy.

do you have a favourite subject?

A few years back, if you'd asked me that I would have said children's portraits because I took loads of our Grandsons, they were good subjects but they are too old now and not so keen on having photos taken. Now I enjoy taking flowers and scenery

I meant to ask, do you have your Grandfather's photos? Wasn't it much more of a skill then though?

Yes I do have a number of his prints and one of his original cameras. A lot of his prints are portraits and I find it fascinating wondering who the subjects were.

I don't know that it was more of a skill - I think it was a different skill.

My photography tends to be either abstract or extreme close up (including insects) but I am one of those that will take dozens upon dozens if not hundreds of shots until I find the one that I am happy with (I dare not think how many contact sheets I have pored over through the years lol).

My last exhibition was entitled Perceptions because it was a portfolio of images people would never normally consider beautiful and yet took on a beauty all of their own because they were taken from unusual angles or very close up.

Would like to have seen that Errol, an interesting concept. Lol The closest I have ever got to that was doping a quiz way back in the 80s, putting up lots of photos of close ups of objects for people to guess what they were.

Maybe we could have a GR photo competition?

Now thre is an idea worth thinking bout.

Yes, I love photography too and have just entered a Hoverfly closeup in a competition in our local paper. I've had a few photos printed in the local paper, but have only entered a couple of their competitions.

I like to photograph landscapes, sunsets, flowers, animals, birds, insects and old or unusual buildings. I love to get out when there's been a good frost! It was quite an expensive hobby until digital cameras came along and years ago I had a Kodak Brownie, then used an Olympus OM10 for ages, which I still have somewhere. Now I am lazy and like a point and shoot I can carry in my pocket. :-)

There is a website for our local villages, where anyone can post photos of the area that may be of interest to future historians, so I have put a few on there. Things like what somewhere looked like before houses were built and ones of floods and when the local bank was being rethatched!! A lot of people have put on photos of events and very old photos they have as well so it is building up a bit of ongoing history on each place.

I love looking at old photos of places I know/knew Ann. Have a few my Dad took around my home town which has changed a lot. trouble with so many of his photos they were quite small, if enlarged they don't really have the definition.

Good luck in the competition. Yes, we can upload to our local paper too.

I should have said before when mentioning my photographic interests, I too like to take old buildings and parts of old buildings.

The biggest problem with the old film photography is that the photos took up space. I have absolutely loads of photo albums. Keep meaning to scan the ones worth keeping and bin the albums but somehow can't make myself do it.

These days I still keep hard copies in the form of my scrap books. Habit dies hard :-D

But photo albums are such fun to browse through.

A couple of weeks ago I showed my nine year old son a photo od his dad (my son) when he was about 19. Sons hair was long and flopping over his face. Grandson didn't recognise him (at first). When I told him that it was his dad, he couldn't stop laughing!

I still have loads of photos waiting to go into albums. As well as some albums of my dads, some of hi photos were ones he took in India in WW11.

I had an SLR camera (can't remember what type) but now find it too heavy to cart around. Then got a point and press one (good for snaps) which is much lighter than the Slr.

Have also got a digital camera, but haven't got the hang of it.

(Must try harder).

If and when I do I will be taking loads of photos of my garden, (and its visitors) as well as family members, hopefully some of them candid shots.

Well done everyone, on getting your photos in the paper or eshibited.

I love finding photos of places my ancestors came from online.

Keep up the good work.

Tess you can't go wrong with a digital camera just point and shoot, take as many as you like, no fil to waste.

I agree that photo albums are fun to look at, but they do take up so much space. However out of the frying pan and ....... Scrap books are bigger.
:-D

I am only a begginer at photography. Taking good shots doesn't come very easy to me so my husband and I decided to go to Southsea to practice taking photos of the kite festival.

Unfortunately I got a bit distracted and took photos of a Tall ship and a submarine that just happened to be passing. Then there was the Hovercraft and the Catamaran and other ships sailing by. Not forgetting the Spiniker Tower. Oh I did manage a few shots of the kite festival but they didn't turn out very well. There were too many of them flying realy close together.

However I did have a very nice day out.

The thing is, with digital cameras you are not wasting film so take ten photos and there maybe one good one amongst them. It really is practice and learning what works but it sounds as if you had plenty to focus on. I bet the tall ship and sub looked good. I used to work near southsea (towards the ferry to Gosport) so could easily picture it all.

Yes, you can just snap away without any 'cost' and often something among the shots will be good. :-) Good idea with a digital though to get a spare battery to keep charged and carry with you. There is nothing worse than a perfect shot coming into view and your battery fizzles out! :-S

Sounds like photography heaven Jane. Glad you had a good day.

I will have to unearth my camera and start snapping in the garden.

I think that it may need recharging - and that when I became aware of this 9a few weeks ago) I couldn't find the connectors, instructions etc.

All I need to do is practise. Don't even need to leave home turf.

Annx good advice re charged battery. Just need to pull my finger out and start pointing!

Thanks Ann I have already learnt that lesson. We went out to take some pictures of car trails. We got up on Portsdown hill and got the camera set up ready to go only to find out after a couple of shots the battery had run out and we didnt have the spare. The next time we tried again we forgot to put a card in the camera. Third time lucky! We thought we had to get it right this time, but no after a couple of shots the card was full.
We had one last attempt and actualy managed to take some photos. Unfortunately they didn't turn out very well. More practice required.

However now before we go out now we double check that we have a spare battery and plenty of spare cards. Well most times!!!

I don't have a spare battery but I do charge my camera before we go out to take photos. I have a 2GB card so that holds a lot and I usually empty my card when the photos are downloaded to my pc. I also often carry two cameras.