angelehua's photostream  

So my first camera was an old, beat up Cambo 5x7 that I got in Philadelphia when I was 17 for $550 and in need of a camera to shoot buildings. I taught myself how to use the camera and I turned my bathroom into a darkroom and did the developing and printed contacts of all my photos. I had a couple of lucky shots, but mostly they turned out dull, blurry and without a lot of compositional integrity. In spite of this I fell in love with being behind a camera, with the smell of the chemicals and of that instant when you first see that blank sheet of nothingness start to fade into the concrete reality of the moment captured.

I still have the 5X7 and a few years back my uncle gave me his old 4X5 that's in much nicer shape, but it's been a long time since I've shot large format. Mostly I shoot a Pentax ZX5N, which I love and wish I knew more about. I also have a Canon Elan 7NE which I like considerably less than the Pentax, but it is nice to have the option of having one camera loaded with color and one with b/w or different speeds, etc.

I don't do digital, I'm kind of a film snob, to me the art of photography happens at the moment you snap the shutter and it happens in the darkroom, it doesn't happen in your hard drive.

I also don't own a microwave or an SUV and I still think that it's better to buy things at the store from a living, breathing person. I still think that sending a hand written letter or card in the mail is infinitely more preferable to email or any other type of electronic, computer related "correspondence".