My first serious was a Praktica Super TL with a Zeiss 50mm f/2.8 lens which fired up my enthusiasm and was changed after a year or so for a Pentax Spotmatic which I still have with eight cherished Takumar lenses. Now I use a k5, my vintage Takumars , or a few carefully chosen lenses from Pentax or Sigma. We are so spoiled these days!

The creative process is involving and fulfilling, and the digital facilitates this. Being able to select an appealing part of our environment and not its surroundings is the essence of photography!

As a hobby, digital photography provides a seemingly unlimited scope to learn about our tools of trade and about composing a good photograph. We become more observant.

And thanks to the internet, we can participate in a forum such as this, developing friendships with like minded and fun people from all over our planet. But why choose a screen name of Kuckamanyou?

 

Read on if you have a couple of minutes:

 

THE CAMP OVEN COOK AND THE MOUNTAIN

 

Dusk was falling at the campsite

The air was icy cold

But with the campfire embers glowing bright,

An outback yarn was about to unfold.

 

The chairs were drawn close to the campfire

There was a glass of red in each hand,

From the camp oven came an appetising aroma,

Our million star hotel was feeling incredibly grand.

 

When suddenly we became aware

Of a new presence in the dark

Into the gloom we focused, whence

Emerged three figures, lithe and stark.

 

In the campers' hearts a twinge of fear

Was occasioned by this silent, sudden visit,

However the Yamatji came not to cause alarm

But to check on our camp oven's aroma exquisite!

 

We made our visitors welcome fully

After introductions all around

We had chairs and food to share aplenty,

But they liked to sit cross legged on the ground.

 

As we settled down to eat our food

Quietness over the campsite fell

Tonight the Rudall Rooster tasted particularly good,

But the camp oven had always done us well.

 

They said they really enjoyed the tucker

But the Yamatji were not yet ready for sleep,

They regaled us with stories of bush survival

And we marvelled at their knowledge deep.

 

After an enjoyable evening of enlightenment

Our new found friends made ready to go

Their fund of stories surely spent----

When their leader peered through the campfire glow;

 

He focused on our camp oven cook

A wicked twinkle in his eye;

On his grinning face an evil look

"That was tucker for which to die!"

 

"So we've decided to grant you a tribal name

After one of those mountains east!"

But we knew the names of those mountains same-

And a worried frown our cook's forehead creased.

 

This offer had aroused cook's deepest fears

And he looked about to blubber

"We will name you Kuckamanyou!

Not, as you fear, Mummaloo-wye-bubba!"

 

`````````````````````````````````````

 

Kuckamanyou [382 metres] and Mummaloo-wye-bubba

[367metres] are on Mt. Gibson Station, not far from Payne's Find in Western Australia.

 

The only people who would call them mountains are people trying to embellish a story, or somebody who has just climbed one of them.

 

I chose Kuckamanyou because it was not taken,

Nor, to the best of my knowledge, is Mummaloo-wye-bubba!

 

Lawrence Baker