So MUCH on FlickR just amazes me!!!

Plus I love looking at a world's worth of great photography!

 

I was hit by a bus in Chicago in March of 2019.

My memory has issues now.

I appreciate good photography but my brain seems to have no interest in creative shooting.

I hate this!

 

Vision issues late Summer 2020 and now in Spring 2023 have caused me anxiety (?) when shooting.

Walking and balance varies day to day.

 

I am losing interest in shooting and editing and it makes me sad, yet I have bought 4 cameras this year and my first drone. All my buying might be a dopamine effect to me.

 

I love art - especially sketching - but my hands and brain can’t coordinate. My late Dad was a good “visualist” so maybe I got something from him.

 

All of you who sketch, draw and paint - I love your postings here!

 

I moved back to the Chicago suburb of Downers Grove, Illinois after 22 years in DC with a brief Charlotte, NC side trip......before that OK, TX and back to OK.

 

I am a demi-curmudgeon photog and "vidiot"....the latter meant a career in the tech side of TV production.

 

Have forgotten MORE about photography and often - now - make beginner's mistakes. Duh!!

 

I need to take a LightRoom class.

I need to remember to take an ND or

Polarizer EVERY time that I go out....

 

I will always be a better EDITOR than shooter.

I use but hate digital p&s cameras - hate having less focus control and stupid gizmos.

I think ONLY a Leica M8 or M9 would please me - but can't afford one!

 

Some place I have hidden all my old portfolio stuff and need to scan it.

 

I am not longer on PBase, abandoning SmugMug and just loading stuff on FlickR or my FaceBook page.

 

Right now - I am one of America's under-employed due to vision and memory issues.

I just let technology pass me by, too.

 

I shoot 120 - when I can afford to - with a:

Mamiya (645-E)

Fuji (645GSW)

Yashica (MAT EM, A and 124G)

 

Own 7 Holgas - 1 which is like a Hassy XPan plus a Holga 135BC and a Diana+ and a Werlisa Club Color 35mm. Got a Holga Wide Pinhole for Xmas 2009..

 

I am Nikon/Leica/Kodak/Canon/Fuji /Pentax/Sony digital equipped..

My new refurbed Nikon P6000, sometimes working Canon G7, Fuji 50 fd , Pentax K-01 + Ks 2 + 2 Qs, Sony a6000, used Nikon D7100 are my mainstays - sadly my beloved Leica D Lux 3 is no longer functioning. I, uh, stepped on it...

My 2 used Fuji S2's - one is n/f and the other is now a back-up to the D7100.

Bought a used Leica X1 and like it.

April 2022 - added a Sigma fp and 3 lenses.

 

Have a variety of Tamron, Sigma, Pentax and Nikon lenses in various mounts.

 

I shoot with a Voigtlander L formostly wide angle stuff.

Had a Bessa R and another L but had to sell them.

 

I have film slrs:

Nikon (my original F, FM, FM3a, F4, Nikkormat FT3, APS Pronea and N80)

A gifted Canon FTb and another gifted AE-1.

 

Plus a now non-functioning Leica R-E but own only a 21mm Angulon for it...started using my Vivitar 500mm mirror lens with the R-E. Bought an R4s body but it was defective.

 

Also have Yashica AF (APS/half frame & 35mm).

 

I like small APS p&s cameras too.

I have about 25 old 35mm cameras of various makes and amongst them several Rollei 35 variations.

Have one of the new Harmon cheapy plastic 35s now, too.

 

Was given an old Kodak 616 camera, a Canon FTn (bad meter), a great working Kodak Pony 135 and a working LEICA IIg in 2020!

 

Had a lot of hot portable TV lighting gear - which I had to sell off. I used to know how to use it well!

 

Now use a Calumet strobe with softbox, a similar Flashpoint unit, some great little Rotolights, a mixed set of tiny Manfrotto LED lights, and (now rarely) a couple of Sunpak E-lites.

 

Am a fan of David Hobby's STROBIST web-page but need to re-learn so much...

 

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Many of the shots here are family pix from before I was born and shots in the Chicago suburbs of family in the 1950's. Other shots are of neighbors and friends that I like.

 

If I use a friend's or family member's shot in my sets - it is with their permission OR they are no longer living. They are still due credit.

  

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Am addicted to book stores (which seem to be dying out - curse you, Kindle!!) AND camera shops.

 

My favorite Chicago area camera shops are: Central Camera in the loop - sadly vandalized in rioting; ProCam in Naperville, LaGrange Camera and PJ's Camera near COD in Glen Ellyn.

 

Add a road trip to Gary Camera in Merrillville, IN for used oddities and when in Indy - Roberts Camera downtown.

 

PhotoVillage in NYC was my favorite boutique camera shop (thanks, Will!) and many years buying mail order only from B&H and Adorama - from when I worked in DC.