dr._karl_hoppe

Absolutely fascinating. Still shooting film for 60+ years.

Here's another.

BTW, my great niece is the girl with the dark hair and ripped jeans. Virtually all exposures were taken with a 50mm Summicron ƒ/2 lens at ƒ/4 with shutter speeds varying from 1/30th–1/125th; some close-ups were taken with 90mm 'cron ƒ/2, at ƒ/2·8½–4. Either Tri-X or BW400CN pushed 1 stop to 800/30°. I'm mostly satisfied with the results even though I had no control over developing myself anymore. (It's very tough to shoot b&w film and give up control to a commercial lab when you were used to doing everything yourself.)

Will post a few more later today.

I'm mostly satisfied with the shots I took. Here are a few,

That’s amazing, Amsterdam. We’re Dutch. I was born in NYC when my father worked at UNHQ in NYC. Shortly after I was born, he was sent to The Hague on the Permanent Court of International Justice. When I was 11 we moved back to NYC and I graduated from high school. I decided to pursue a legal degree at Heidelberg rather than stateside, and while there attended the Max Planck Institute of Astronomy. I came back to the States and my career veered into astronomy. I never practised law but I did pass the NY bar exam. Sounds like your daughter made the right choice. It’s always good to have a back-up plan. I never thought my hobby would morph into a career but it did by some totally unexpected turn of events. Photography was my first love since I was 6 or 7 years old, but it never was a viable source of income, just a lot of fun.

My great niece loves theatre. She has been approached over the years to do modelling and acting in commercials. Her parents decided against it because they saw how others her age were robbed of a normal childhood. People we know told the parents to be prepared that her modelling and acting will totally take over the family’s life to the exclusion of just about everything else. I think my nephew and his wife made the right decision. She’s now at an age where she can explore her creative talents with a solid childhood behind her. I’m training her as a budding photographer, first with all the basics of film, then onto digital. I’m a retired astronomer so I have all the time in the world to mentor her along before I croak. I have no children so she will inherit tens of thousands of dollars worth of incredible Leica gear. She has done some back-up tracks for a couple of local recording artists, just fun stuff. She understands theatre, music, photography, etc. is a tough gig to crack into, so she wisely has decided to pursue a legal education as an “insurance policy” if the creative thing doesn’t pan out. I have a law degree in both civil and canon law from Heidelberg but unexpectedly veered from my hobby of astronomy into a professional career. You never know what path life will take you.

Sam, My great niece is in the production and you’re 100% right, the enthusiasm of the students is infectious. They pour their heart and soul into it, constant practice sessions, rehearsals. I was really blown away at how good these kids were.

I’ve had encounters where a DSLR with interchangeable lenses is a no-no, but if you have a mirror-less digital camera with a fixed lens, it doesn’t count as a so-called “professional” camera. Also, an M3 in a beat-up brown eveready case is hardly ever questioned. Heck, security can’t figure out how to turn it on!

Mike, I’m an old timer who can’t give up film even though I have loads of digital equipment. I have a huge stable of Leica M and reflex gear—cameras, lenses and tons of all sorts of accessories. I have a library of hundreds of books, all pre-digital. Used to do all my own darkroom work but because of health issues I had to give that up. I did my share of rock concert photography in the 1960s–70s, when it was fun—i.e. lax security, easy access back stage, performers approachable. People I talk to now say it’s not fun anymore, tight security; they herd you into a pen, first three sets, then get the hell out. A different world today.

FYI.—Excellent book on doing stage photography is Creative Techniques in Stage and Theatrical Photography, by Paddy Cutts and Rosemary Curr (London: B.T. Batsford, 1983).

Shot the third and final matinee performance with my M7 and BW400CN (1 stop to ISO 800/30°) as I ran out of Tri-X. Used 50 and 90 ‘crons at f/4. Got shutter speeds of 1/30–1/125. If anything comes out decent, I’ll post a few examples once I get the uploads from The Darkroom later in the week. Thank you for the advice above. I think Uncle Karl did a good job.