Feeding The Habit.

Since buying my scamp I have been downsizing other hobbies to fund some of the improvements I want to incorporate into the scamp. I've mentioned new lighting, a revamped 12 volt system, cooktop and others. I've been selling some old collectibles and vintage toys, but yesterday I sold my first hobby...photography. I've been shooting since I was seven or eight years old. My first camera used 120 roll film and was purchased from an ad in the back of a comic book. I graduated to the Kodak Instamatic and flash cubes, and eventually to a real beauty; the Yashicamat 124G. All these cameras, and a job at a camera store led to developing and printing my own pictures in a darkroom fully equipped with an enlarger, sink, safelight etc.  Over the years I went through all the phases of photography. I at one time or another owned a Nikon, Canon, Olympus, even a WWII vintage Leica. I went from 120 to 35mm to 4"X 5" with a beautiful Nagoka field camera. Later I decided that this was all too much, and that the equipment was getting into the way of photography. And besides, color was becoming my preferred medium. I sold it all. Every bit of it except for one Olympus OM3 camera. I was determined to concentrate on the image instead of the tech.

Cut to 25 years later. Lomography is in vogue. For those who don't know Lomography consists of using vintage cameras or modern reproductions of them to shoot. Some use 120 film, others use 35mm. I have always had an original Diana. I never did sell this little plastic camera, so I thought I'd try my hand at shooting some black and white. Since the advent of digital photography there are few resources available to develop and print black and white, so I proceeded to reacquire a complete darkroom setup. I was able to find an otherwise $250.oo enlarger for less than $50.00, and quickly accumulated all the other equipment. And that's as far as it went. Yes I did shoot some film, and yes I developed it, but never got around to setting up the darkroom.

I sold it all yesterday.

I will use the funds to purchase a nice battery for my Scamp.

Oh, that photo above? I took that with a Nikon F2, 1/60th sec. 400mm F5.6 lens, Ectachrome 400 film pushed two stops. (developed 3x longer than normal to increase the ASA to 1600).