rayvan

One of my strongest memories from high school involved bread. In history class, I read that modern yeast we buy in jars was invented a little over a hundred years before, and not common where I lived in the world until the 1940s. I also learned that day that people baked leavened bread for thousands of years. From this, I drew the conclusion that there must be some other source of yeast they used prior to the invention of modern yeast. So I asked my home economics teacher about this and she said that it was possible, but I would kill everyone so don't try it. This reply surprised me and instead of going home after classes ended, I went to visit my grandmother's house. After all, she learned to bake bread long before modern yeast was common or affordable. She talked about it in the past. Maybe she could give me some words to take to the librarian (pre-internet days) so I could learn how people used to make bread. It wasn't something I wanted to do every day, mind you, but I just wanted to know how they did it. After the greetings and the 'you never visit often enough' and 'let's phone your parent's, they must be worried sick with you running away like that', I worked up the courage to ask her about bread. Her reply was short and simple. "It's too difficult. Don't bother." When I pressed her, she added "you won't get predictable results. You had best stick with the proper method of making bread." And so ended my first attempt to learn the history of bread making. And yet now, there are many books about baking sourdough bread at home. My city is overflowing with bakeries that specialise in this art - almost to the point where we have more bakeries than speciality coffee shops! Keeping a sourdough starter is considered an essential skill in my circle - even by people who seldom bake their own bread. It's amazing what a few years and a different perspective makes. Back to light, light meters, and photography. I worry I haven't expressed myself well. When I see "The eye is not a good light meter", I trust that this is correct. I'm confident that you all have far more experience with this than I do and I'm grateful that you are willing to help nurture an amateur's enthusiasm for photography. When I see "The eye is not a good light meter", I understand the sentence. I understand the individual words. I understand how this applies to my areas of expertise (which involves a lot of colour work). But none of this helps me understand what it feels like to use my eye as a light meter. I can read about it forever and 36 days, but it won't give me the experience. I know not using a light meter may seem stressful to you. That's okay. It's stressful for me too. After all, I'm spending money on a roll of film and having it developed. Having a strong chance of wasting money like that bites at my miserly soul. However, it's not something I'm going to be doing a lot of. It's a step in the learning process. The next step involves using a camera with a light meter. Then maybe take both out and see how they compare taking pictures of the same thing. Do you see? I want to understand what the results of "The eye is not a good light meter" feel and look like and what it's like using my eye as a light meter. I might like it, or I may decide that it is folly to live life without a light meter and carry one on a string around my neck until the day I die. It's like sourdough bread - one doesn't have to make it every day, but using this ancient technique once or twice, greatly improves one's understanding of how bread works. On that note, I would love to see the photos you've taken without a light meter so I can learn what it looks like when someone with loads more experience than I have takes photos without the aid of this technology.

Thank you for the tip. Yes, it arrived in quite a state, but it was free and worth every penny. I used the puffer on it, but it's still not clean enough. The internet suggests that the coating isn't baked on for a 1945 version of the Argus C3. I'm not sure what this means but the internet also tells me to be careful what lens cleaner to use or I'll remove the coating. That sounds like an undesirable result and as my lens cleaner doesn't have ingredients on it... Well, with anything this vintage, the fastest way to destroy it is to try and fix it. Any suggestions for a lens cleaner that won't damage the coating? Or a recipe I can make at home (rubbing alcohol)? I'm also worried that there is still a lot of grit on the lense that the puffer couldn't dislodge so this might scratch it when I apply lens cleaner. Any tips for removing caked on crud?

I played around with the lightbox yesterday. Please forgive the noob question, but I would like to learn this and the photographers in town I've approached forget that they too had to start somewhere. I agree. I want it to look more dynamic. However, the specifications they give me for these photos is that the item doesn't cast a shadow on the white background. When I play with light (adding, subtracting, changing the angle), the item looks better but makes a shadow. Is there a happy middle ground?

Brilliant. Thanks.

Thank you, everyone, for your thoughts and advice. Especially for the feedback on the photo. Learning to use the lightbox has been a real challenge. A whole 'nother kettle of fish as the camera's auto setting can't understand what I'm attempting to do. There's a lot to learn there and I agree, it's not something The Brick will teach me. The other thing is the lack of squareness in the representation of the camera. This is due to use of too short a focal length lens while having the camera too close to the subject. It's called 'perspective distortion', .... I would like to learn more about this. Hiring a professional photographer for some of the shots might be in the budget for the next book. This one goes to the printer in a few weeks. What I'm learning most from this thread is how we all learn differently. The thing that excites me most about working with film is the delay. I'll have a limited number of shots which forces me to take more care composing the shot. I think this will be a good habit to develop. I will also need to take meticulous notes with each photo so that when I see the photos in a week or two, I'll be able to understand what causes the results. But that's a perfect match for how I learn. Everyone's unique and it's great to hear how you all learn things. Given that I'm going to be using this Argus C-3 for the first time this week, do you have any tips or tricks to get the most out of it?

Thanks for the warm welcome. There is a lot of great information here. Thank you, everyone, for your thoughts and sharing your experiences. My digital camera has manual settings and some semi-manual settings. I've experimented with these a lot and mined the library for any book I can find on photography. I've even tried taking lessons. I get how each part works individually but I still can't understand how each setting interacts so I created a learning plan for myself based on how I learn best - by following technology through history. The problem is, I have a funny brain. I learn things mechanically. Later on, I'm going to dissect the brick so I can see how each part physically moves. When I can see things physically, I can understand them digitally. I like the Argus because it won't do any thinking for me. It also looks like when I reassemble it, there's a good chance it works just as well as before I took it apart. After all, it's nowhere near as complicated as a typewriter. If not, it will make a great paperweight. I'll start with the brick, then take what I learn and move forward in time and learn with an Asahi Pentax Spotmatic. Then I'll take what I learned with these two and apply them to my digital camera. Probably take all three out in the wild and compare the results. But that's later. First I'm going to learn about the Brick. I only wish I could start with a pinhole camera. This is the learning path that matches my brain. I know it's not the easiest path, but I also know it works because I've followed this path for learning other technologies. Thank you for the resources. It's a great help. Do you have a favourite book about photography?

Hello all, I don't know if I'm in the right place. I'm looking for a community of helpful photographers who might be able to point me in the right direction so I can improve my photo taking skills. These days I've been writing for magazines and am working on my first book. Taking good photographs is a big part of writing these days, but I never take my digital camera off auto. Sometimes it sees what I see, but other times, it makes too many decisions for me. Someone gave me a Brick - Argus C3 - that I'm eager to try. Fully manual, I'm assured this camera will not attempt to think for itself. Just what I need to help me learn. I'm very mechanical when I learn and this camera is extremely mechanical. I want to learn to use this without a light meter. I know they help, but I feel that I could train my eye better if I can use as little technology as possible. So I'm wondering if there is some sort of table I can start with? It's sunny (Although this time of year, overcast is most likely), I'm taking a photo of a tree, the film is 200 iso... therefore, I make the knobs go to...? Also, I'm seeking general advice for a total amateur to mechanical cameras. If you know of any books, that would help, please let me know. I found three places in town that develope film (but only one of them does Black and White). Is this the right place for me? (if it works) this is a good example of my current photo skill which is okay for what I've been doing up to now, but not good enough for what I want to do in the future.