david_hempenstall1

Sal,

because even though i'm a beer drinker and love a cold schooie at the pub with mates watching a rugby match, every so often its good to sit down over a meal and converse while enjoying a bottle of Mudgee wine.

from this day forth let this wonderful concept be called 'variety'.

then again, you could always just live on beer.... seemed to work for at least one of our prime ministers (australia).

this forum is fantastic for getting quick techie stuff when something needs checking, and certainly is not the best place to have any real conversations or experiences with what we are involved in, but every so often it's good just to break from the mould and become involved in a brief chat where people are going to go off in all sorts of directions....

a few people have answered with deeply felt conviction, and are to be applauded for

it. whether you are in agreement with them is another matter entirely.

some find answers in their chosen religion, some don't....

but it's good to see people discussing things other than characteristic curves and the

like.

no answer, just the lyrics of a particular song that keeps me going out for more. i

think the opening line to the second block of text may provide a starting point for

some.

******************************************************************************

Black then white are all I see in my infancy.

red and yellow then came to be, reaching out to me.

lets me see.

As below, so above and beyond, I imagine

drawn beyond the lines of reason.

Push the envelope. Watch it bend.

Over thinking, over analyzing separates the body from the mind.

Withering my intuition, missing opportunities and I must

Feed my will to feel my moment drawing way outside the lines.

Black then white are all I see in my infancy.

red and yellow then came to be, reaching out to me.

lets me see there is so much more

and beckons me to look through to these infinite possibilities.

As below, so above and beyond, I imagine

drawn outside the lines of reason.

Push the envelope. Watch it bend.

Over thinking, over analyzing separates the body from the mind.

Withering my intuition leaving all these opportunities behind.

Feed my will to feel this moment urging me to cross the line.

Reaching out to embrace the random.

Reaching out to embrace whatever may come.

I embrace my desire to

feel the rhythm, to feel connected

enough to step aside and weep like a widow

to feel inspired, to fathom the power,

to witness the beauty, to bathe in the fountain,

to swing on the spiral

of our divinity and still be a human.

With my feet upon the ground I lose myself

between the sounds and open wide to suck it in,

I feel it move across my skin.

I'm reaching up and reaching out,

I'm reaching for the random or what ever will bewilder me.

And following our will and wind we may just go where no one's been.

We'll ride the spiral to the end and may just go where no one's been.

Spiral out. Keep going, going...

Walter and David,

thankyou both for the fantastic offers!

i'm really hoping to be in Melburne in late Novermber/early December. if so i

will definitley have a good look at your prints David. Are you sourcing the

paper direct from Michael & Paula? How do you go with the shipping etc?

Walter, very tempting. very tempting indeed. we shall have coffee. would love

to see pictures.

regards

D.

many thanks to brian and michael for the leads!

i figured a long plate running nearly the length of the bed would give me more control over where to place the camera relative to the head (ie depending on extension, angle of camera etc). that may be muddled thought on my behalf!

michael, do you only use the one screw to hold the plate to the camera? do you have any twisting problems? i thought i'd need to have another tripod socket tapped in so as to secure the plate. looks like i might not...

it's going on top of a B1/gitzo 410, and like the technika (on a smaller tripod), i'll be throwing the tripod/camera over the shoulder to cruise around. thought this might cause enough torque to slip a single connection point. the technika has a lip on the plate which stops it moving.

cheers,

dave.

sorry,

i should have been more specific.

the kodak master 8x10 is a metal camera.

thanks for the idea tony!

i guess it would work on the 2D (isn't that the wood one?)

dave.

hi,

anyone put an Arca Swiss style plate on the bottom of a Kodak Master 8x10?

i'm standardised on RRS on all other formats (35-6x7-5x4).

figured i'd use one of their flat long lens plates, and have to some how add

another tripod socket to the bed of the camera.

is there a different approach? diiferent plate?

cheers,

d.

hi peoples!

anyone on here live in Sydney (Australia) printing on AZO? Would you mind

sharing a coffee and showing me some prints?

have contacted on enlarging paper for a while, and still really enjoy enlarging.

simply looking for another means of expression, not wanting to turn a blind

eye to something i always hear about.

see a fair bit of Platinum and POP prints here, don't think i've come across

AZO yet.

so.....

anyone up for that coffee or beer?

d.

hi guys,

tried asking this over on the darkroom area. got a few answers, but need them

cleared up for me. came hear because this has been a great resource for me

in the past.

have been using a fujimoto 5x4 condensor for the last few years. love it..

fantastic enlarger.

was given a 138 with a CLS300 dichro head and EST300 control box. can

now enlarge 5x7 and 6x17. sweet.

using my little old analog timers in line with the control box i am getting a

'warm up' period where the enlarger lamp switches on, and then about 3

seconds later the intensity jumps dramatically.

i have been made aware that the timer needs to be compatible with the

control box (ie goes into the back of the controller rather than 'upstream' of it)

to operate a 'shutter' in the head.

can anyone point me to what timers are appropriate. any suggestions. am not

looking for anything fancy.

sorry for the inane questions, but this thing is a different beast to my beautiful

little fujimoto!

dave.

hi guys!

just wondering if anyone has a starting time for agfa ortho 25

(35mm) @ Normal.

i have HC110, Xtol or rodinal at my disposal.

cheers!

dave.

G'day guys,

just thought i should publicly thank john and laura @ versalab for

their outstanding service in supplying me with a print washer.

not only did they organise the shipping to australia, but they got

stuck into the shipping company when they started to screw me around

and try to drag more money out of me before the goods would be

delivered. After john and laura had a quiet 'chat' to the company i

got my goods real quick. thankyou!

even with the shipping price, the washer ends up about half the price

of a locally made version. it may not be as pretty, but it does

exactly the same thing.

thank you john and lara, you look after your clients brilliantly!!!

sorry for the rant, but i figure i'll continue saying thankyou

(publicly) to people like john, laura and paula (from linhof studio

in UK) who work so hard to provide services to a rather small, and at

times difficult, community.

THANKYOU!

d.

G'day guys,

just thought i should publicly thank john and laura @ versalb for

their outstanding service in supplying me with a print washer.

not only did they organise the shipping to australia, but they got

stuck into the shipping company when they started to screw me around

and try to drag more money out of me before the goods would be

delivered. After john and laura had a quiet 'chat' to the company i

got my goods real quick. thankyou!

even with the shipping price, the washer ends up about half the price

of a locally made version. it may not be as pretty, but it does

exactly the same thing.

thank you john and lara, you look after your clients brilliantly!!!

sorry for the rant, but i figure i'll continue saying thankyou

(publicly) to people like john, laura and paula (from linhof studio

in UK) who work so hard to provide services to a rather small, and at

times difficult, community.

THANKYOU!

d.

scott,

remember not all kodak chromes are 'lurid'.

EPN and EPP are fairly neutral. they are still 'current'. lots of work

is done on them every day.

VS and SW are certainly a bit crazy (SW a bit sickening in my

shockingly narrow opinion).

just thought i'd be specific (and make sure a broad brush stroke

is not painted).

as to the inside 'dope'... give me a call and i'll see what i can

arrange. i'm sure i could organise for a kilo or two to be shipped

over. grown in a garden shed, so i guess it qualifies as 'inside'....

big smile.

d.

Hi people,

a quick tale of horror.

out from Oz in cyprus to do some work for an archeological dig.

bought the 5x4 over for personal work.

out the other morning, slipped and dropped the tech onto a large

rock. ground glass everywhere except on the back of the camera.

had a good laugh because there was no-one around to kick.

jumped on the phone to r.whites in the UK. didn't have one in stock,

but was more than happy to pass on a relevant phone number

(thankyou!).

Paula at 'linhof and studio' fed-exed me the part ASAP and i've been

back up and running for the last few days.

just wanted to publicly thank both the staff of RW's and paula for

their kind help in getting me out of a horrid situation.

In such a small community it is important to highlight the good work

being done by photographers, suppliers and all the relevant

associated industries.

cheers,

d.

p.s after testing my theory, i can confirm that a tech is not the

best piece of earthmoving equipment.

marc,

i work as a processing tech in a pro lab. we get film sent over in

all sorts of packs.

depends on how you prefer to organise your film. the lab WILL

accomodate you if they are half decent.

we get film boxes with everything lumped in in one pile, boxes

with different shots seperated by card (ie 2 or more sheets to

every shot), and double darks.

some photographers bracket and just run the lot, some like to

test and balance, some run off a numbering system on the DD's.

say hi to the techs if you can! everyones interested in each other

and their work when a smiling face says hi. accomodating any

requests, late processes, rushes etc seems to be easier to fit in

when the individual is sincere (just human nature i guess).

rather than writing the ISO on the box, just indicate N, +1/3 etc

and the type of emulson (E6, C41 etc). everyone rates their film

at a different speed (to calibrate meters, or at what they think the

film actually is-velvia is the pet of this debate etc). all we need to

know is how many seconds in the first dev. this is obviously

indicated by the N etc. a short note the first few times you go to

the lab explaining any specific systems/filing you use will quickly

get them doing everything for you as you like it.

hope it helps..

regards,

dave

claude,

i had a different problem. something in the shutter timing was all

buggered. when i locked up the mirror i could hear a faint

second 'click'. this only occurred on occasion, but became more

frequent. only when the mirror was pre-fired.

the shutter would not open for the correct time (if at all).

black frames were the result.

a trip to a good tech...all fine now.

hope it's just a battery.

btw, my camera was the 6x7 model with lockup (as opposed to

6x7w/o MLU or 67MLU). don't know if that makes any difference.

dave.

walter,

you've probably already checked this one, but just in case...

hugo brandli.

i believe he was the first sinar factory tech into the country. L&P,

borges and quite a few others used him for their work at one

point or another.

i drove up to his place in wollembi ( a beautiful home he is

building himself) to get some work done on my busted up

technika last year. he did a MAGNIFICENT job.

maybe give him a call. a real craftsman.

might save you having to send them out of aus.

his number is: 02 4998 3314

don't know if it helps...

otherwise mitsu at baltronics did great work on my p67, he might

work on DD's, don't know.

regards

dave

Aaron,

i believe danny is right....

depth of field relies on magnification and aperture.

focal length does not dictate DOF.

like perspective does not rely on focal length... only subject/lens

distance.

happy shooting,

dave

andrew,

i am not affiliated with any of these places:

point light. they are in surry hills. gordon undy and his wife run

the place.

awesome darkroom space with great gear. may have to attend a

workshop before you have access... not sure. give them a call

(www.pointlight.com.au).

the australian centre of photography (in paddington i believe).

they have space for hire as well.

either way..... i will place a bet you'll have your own before next

year is up.

regards

dave.

faye,

i've got a 5.4 fujimoto enlarger. need a 6x7 neg carrier.

sydney office didn't know what i was on about and melbourne

wasn't much more help.

as it often happens in australia, i suggest going straight

overseas and getting it shipped in yourself.

regards,

dave

dan,

none of the cameras you listed are compatible...

hooks up to a sinar. no adapters etc. as always they seem to

come up with the goods.... thinking ahead etc.

field use is a bit hard. you need a large extension cord, generator

or a hell of a lot of car batteries (with some additional toys). but...

you can use adapter 013011 from linhof ($144,995) to convert

the technika into a home/field entertainmnet system. the plasma

hooks into this and the DVD and subwoofers run off it with a few

simple adapters (again, consult the Linhof site). a few solar

panels and you're sweet. i was going to do this with my V but

ended up making my own out of things i found at a hi-fi store. talk

about DIY!

us large formatters get all sort of zany ideas as how to get

around problems, eh?

Michael A Smith sent me a little email letting me know that his

preferred arrangement for contacting azo was a plasma turned

face down. using the pause on the DVD player he can create

dodge and burn masks out of stills from all his favourite

southpark episodes. but keep that one quiet, it hasn't been

shown in the workshops as he really wants to keep ahead of the

rest in his personal work.

btw, my ford laser (1988) has over 330,000km's on it. anybody

have any comments or ideas as to the suitability of this type of

car for general interstate touring?

putting on flame retardant suit and crawling under water soaked

dark cloth.... c'mon people... big smile, big smile.

maybe i should think about that 'breaking light' comment.

seems the little flowers aren't always awake like the foolish LF

photographers tramping around before sun up.

regards,

dave

ralf,

i use my tech V for close-up work with a 150mm.

QTL made a great point about rear focus, which can be

accomplished to a small degree with the tech (keeping

everything squared etc is by eye). not as many options as a

geared rear standard. and when you want to just raise both

standards a fraction to tighten the composition..AAAHHH!

get that lens where you want it then do the final focus on the rear.

easy.

remember 'bellows extension' will affect every format (a fact of

life, 1:1 loses 2 stops).

the problem is with the larger format you are already out at fairly

small apertures.

decide what you want (big film or faster times) then dance with

the respective devil....

the wind generally picks up after sunrise, so those few precious

minutes of breaking light may be your friend.

you can always get a pack or something upwind to try and

provide some shelter.

remember you'll also have to shield the bellows from the wind (i

stand in front of it, some people use umbrellas).

in terms of lenses i guess the process or corrected lenses may

be the best.

just as a stupid thought ( and something i have not tried yet).

closeup diopter: no need to rack the bellows out to breaking

point (avoiding the additional stops you lose = shorter times &

less exposure to the elements (wind etc). probably flawed

somewhere.

have fun which ever way you go.

regards

dave

ellis, wilbur & craig,

thankyou for the help. stuck it in the freezer (head and plate).

rubber-thingies and a bit of a twist and off it came.

i did not remember that there was no rubber 'film' across the top

of the gitzo plate. maybe the freezer didn't do a damn thing except

give me the courage to give it a bit more of a twist!

anyway, now at least i will be able to take the smaller gitzo out

away from the main tracks. the last 100km hike with the 410 and

9 days worth of food/shelter etc was great fun... but it hurt :)

cheers,

dave

roger that,

turning off oven and opening freezer door....

stay tuned for more of "the idiot Aussie tries to solve his

problem".

dave.