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Shane D
10th July 2009, 11:49 AM
Good day...

I'm currently living just north of Cape Town and i'm just an amateur in monochrome. Ive recently got a darkroom set up, thanks to a relatives friend for selling me his old enlarger, from the 40's if i'm not mistaken :D. But it works great for now. I use 35mm, but really wanna get into a larger format one day. I hope to learn more from this site and improve my photography. You can never know to much.

Problem is here every one has gone digital, so there aren't many places who are willing help with stock chemicals, paper and film, but those who do are very willing to help and keep the art going.

Keep it alive...
Shane D

Bob
10th July 2009, 01:45 PM
Welcome aboard Shane. Glad you can still find some real photography supplies in a sea of digital!

Have fun, Bob.

Richard Gould
10th July 2009, 02:05 PM
Hello Shane and welcome to Fadu, very much a stronghold of tradiontal photography,hope you enjoy your visits to the forum, and I'm sure that if you have questions or need help then you'll find it here,Richard

Trevor Crone
10th July 2009, 03:53 PM
Welcome Shane and I hope your enjoyment of film and darkroom never subsides.

There are plenty of like mined folk here to help out if need be.

Peter Hogan
10th July 2009, 04:07 PM
Hi Shane and welcome to FADU...

Andrew Bartram
10th July 2009, 04:42 PM
Welcome Shane

Don't be in too much of a hurry to move away from 35mm, it really depends on what your subject matter is. In fact even for high quality landscape work there is much to recommend a 35mm camera, good tripod, roll of Delta 100 and a staining developer like Peter Hogan's Prescysol.
The resulting negative will look stunning especially if you limit the enlargement size to say 10X14 on 12 X 16 paper.

Benefits - cost, weight, versitility, cracking quality if careful

As for suppliers - the internet is the place to hunt for supplies, all the UK high street shops have just about given up on anything that isnt digital, with a few notable exceptions.

I look forward to seeing your first results

All the best

Andrew

Neil Smith
10th July 2009, 05:04 PM
Hi and Welcome.

If you want to go to a larger format one day great, but 35mm is a great way to learn whilst keeping your costs down, and it is still the preference of most documentary photographers.

Neil

B&W Neil
10th July 2009, 05:11 PM
Hi Shane and welcome to FADU. It is all here so come back often and ask away as that's the best way to progress. 35mm is a good bet until you feel ready to try something else and it will help you keep your costs down. I still use 35m a lot even after 45 years!

Cheers,

Neil.

Mark Snowdon
10th July 2009, 07:58 PM
Hi Shane,

Welcome to FADU. You live in a very photogenic part of the world! I lived in CT for 5 years (many years ago) and it was seeing quality of the light there which really got me started in photograhy.

Mark

Mike O'Pray
10th July 2009, 08:10 PM
Hi and welcome. Just a guess on my part but I suspect that all is not lost. It is possible to both develop film and prints from Ilford powder chems if transport of liquids become difficult. Powder can be bought in large quantities with relatively little bulk and will keep forever until mixed into liquids.

The great thing is that the wildlife near Boulder Beach and wandering about in gardens, on roads etc is all B&W :D:

Mike

Bill
10th July 2009, 08:11 PM
Hi Shane and welcome to the Forum.

Don't be afraid to ask questions they are a very knowledgeable and helpful bunch here.

I can recommend the "Ask Les" section.

Bill

Mike O'Pray
10th July 2009, 08:11 PM
Hi and welcome. Just a guess on my part but I suspect that all is not lost. It is possible to both develop film and prints from Ilford powder chems if transport of liquids become difficult. Powder can be bought in large quantities with relatively little bulk and will keep forever until mixed into liquids.

The great thing is that the wildlife near Boulder Beach and wandering about in gardens, on roads etc is all B&W :D:

Mike

Barry
11th July 2009, 06:31 AM
Welcome Shane, I look forward to your posts.

Ian David
11th July 2009, 08:37 AM
Welcome from Brisbane, Shane.
Ian

Shane D
11th July 2009, 10:51 AM
Thanks guys for the great response.
i'll sure be looking around the web for my supplies in the future.

hehe, you're right mark, the light here is great, and the regular storms in winter creates some breathtaking skies and the fact i'm never to far from a change in landscape is even better.

Thanks again guys, i will learn alot here at fadu.