Analogue to digital and now back again.

[Rob Lycett]

I thought I'd introduce myself sooner than later (lurking on forums is such a bad habit). This is all a bit of a confessional, so bear with me.

My name is Rob Lycett and I live in the Upper Calder Valley, near Hebden Bridge, and I am a part time lecturer (interactive arts and multimedia) at the University of Huddersfield. My current art practice based upon exploring the hauntedness of digital media and I also coordinate a digital arts organisation in Halifax, West Yorkshire, named 'da[n]' - www.da-n.org

It was nice for me to find an active LF group in the UK. I really hope to get to a workshop or two in the coming year. I was bitterly disappointed to see that you recently went to the Victoria Baths in Manchester. What an amazing place. Last march/april I was part of a group exhibition there called 'Meme Pool'. I was exhibiting some of my books. Here is a link to images of the show.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/interval/s ... 123156023/

I've not done analogue photography for probably 7 or 8 years. That was when I stopped renting a darkroom. Since then all of my gear has been in storage. Ironically, the first thing I did after unpacking my 5x4 camera was to sell it (it was a heavy Toyo monorail) and buy a more portable body. I now have an MPP Mk VI, bought for £75 on eBay, which looks as if it will be OK. The first thing I did was modify the back to take my Polaroid 545 holder. Sorry, I meant to say hacksaw. Movements are smooth and the bellows good.

I'm keeping my image making simple (and hopefully light!) to start with and I'll keep my 150mm Symmar-s on the MPP. I also shoot 35mm XP2 on a Bessa-R with a 35mm lens. Until I get my Jobo CPE a home I'll use Polaroid Type 55 for my LF negs. I know it's expensive but the edges are beautiful and I have a family so the bathroom and kitchen are most certainly out of bounds for film processing. My other lens is a nice 121mm Super Angulon. I've read that it will cover 8x10 without movements, so I may consider making an 8x10 HOBO. Any suggestions? I also have a Zero 75 5x4 pinhole camera (christmas present from my wife) and I'll use it to play with ultra wide angle imagery. Has anyone here done much pinhole work?

No darkroom is a real pain. I'm seriously considering contact printing to Centennial POP. I've done cyanotypes, argyrotypes etc in the past. 5x4 contacts are intimate, so I won't be shooting wide sweeping landscapes. Small images will be nice for my books too.

I still have a Super Chromega 5x4 colour enlarger to get out of storage. It only had the medium format light box, but that's all I needed. I'll put it in the classified section in the new year. I won't be asking much for it.

Over the Christmas break I hope to make some images in Inverness, so I'll get a Flickr page set up and start sharing my work.

Have a good one, everybody.

[Mark Pope]

Welcome to the forum Rob.

[masch]

Hello Rob,

Welcome to the club (of nutcases that we are... )

Funnily enough, we were in the baths the day of the Meme Pool took place. They banned us from photographing in the 1st Class pool that day, in case we photographed the float

You might have seen Joana there during that time. I think she was one of the official photographers...

I love the Bessas... My emergency (i.e. small scale) kit is an R3A with a 28 Ultron, a 40 Cron-C and a 100 Canon. And when in the bag, it's smaller than my Wista... Now if the film could only be a little larger...

Anyways, I'm sure we'll come across each other at some point...


Marc

[Apple]

Hello Rob,

Another northerner joins the crowd - I come under the joys of Kirklees so we're not a million miles apart...

I guess you might have "done" Heptonstall Church as it's in your neck of the woods - there was supposed to be a few of the LF people going there for a look at one point but I don't think it ever came off.

If you've a 5x4 enlarger up for grabs then someone called Dave Parkin might be interested if he hasn't sorted himself out with one by now.

All the best,

Andrew

[Apple]

Oops - just read in the classified section that Dave's now sorted so isn't looking for an enlarger...

Hope the sale goes well as there's a "renewed " interest in proper sized negatives and somebody must be on the lookout for some darkroom kit...

[Rob Lycett]

Hi Apple (my favourite computer variety)
Heptonstall is about a mile and a half from my house and the churchyard is quite a place. Well worth a visit and there is a nice Timothy Taylors pub a few yards away too. You could spend a day there quite easily. I'd be quite happy to welcome anyone over to this part of the world.

If you get hold of a copy of Fay Godwin's "Remains of Elmet" you can get a real flavour of the upper Calder Valley. I met Ted Hughes (he was born in Mytholmroyd) a few years back and he was very clear that his poems in the book were 'captions' for the images. I think he was just being really modest.

Your message has probably encouraged me to go up the hill this weekend - I'll try and post some images. It's lovely here when it's wet! The cobbled streets just glow.

[Rob Lycett]

Is a pub the same as a 'tea room'?

[Apple]

Is a pub the same as a 'tea room'?

Could be - depends how you classify "cold tea with a head on it"

Also, it can be useful for deadening the pain of carrying the LF stuff around but tends to make the results end up looking "artistic" when the beer goggles are removed

[Rob Lycett]

I must admit, weight is a worry for me at the moment. I completely wrecked my shoulder and neck a little while back carrying a laptop around. My solution was to get a smaller, lighter laptop and a rucksack style bag. My 5x4 camera (MPP MkVI) is about the same weight.

I've just got a modest rucksack style camera bag from Lidl of all places (I think it was around £17), which worked fine over the break - I could fit a polaroid 545 back, Zero 75 5x4 pinhole camera, Bessa R camera and a few other bits and bobs in it. The only problem I have had with this bag is that the straps are a little short for my beefy shoulders. I'm not sure my MPP will fit in it that well though, so I may have to look at something a little larger. My real aim is to be able to go for reasonable length walks with the 5x4 (outside the half mile from the car zone). There is some great walking around the upper Calder Valley and a half decent local bus service to get you near interesting locations.