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Old 15-08-10, 12:43
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Don Hoey Don Hoey is offline  
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Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Norfolk
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter Waites View Post
.................In a way it reminds me of the days of my youth when I spent more time fettling (ie bodging) the old motor bikes than riding 'em - so apart form coins what will you actually manage to paralyze long enough to shoot Don?
Peter,

I guess I just really enjoy bodging too.

I got into photography in the 1960's when kit as a proportion of salary was considerably more expensive than now, and as a lowly airman in the RAF cash was seriously limited, so through lots of trial and error and through that I learnt a lot of photographic basics. There is a thread on the forum where Christine and Rob as the main contributors were posting shots of insects in flight. Well to use that as an example, my first attempt was in the 70's and I was handholding a reversed 50mm and chasing hoverflys. ........ No money to spend on proper kit but willing to have a go at anything and learn from it. Some things like reversing lenses I discovered by accident and as viewed by knowledgeable folk I would probably have been seen as reinventing the wheel.

In photography I see things that people spend a fortune on, and almost by implication it is access to large funds that is required to do that particular thing. Just like you and your motorbikes, your knowledge allowed you to get great enjoyment from doing things that others would struggle with due to their lack of mechanical knowledge. So with me I like the challenge of doing things for as little as possible. This particular exercise is a bit of an oddball, as I am probably the only forum member with access to a workshop to make things, however in most cases tests on bits and pieces have been done with cardboard, wood, black tape, in fact anything to hand, before I have done a workshop job on it. For interested parties its all about ideas and then when it comes to kit probably quite a bit can be cheaply bought on e-bay or at boot sales or camera fairs.


What am I going to take with this lot ???? Well the whole thing was fired up by finding dead bugs in the garden earlier in the year. There do not seem to be any around at the moment and I am not into killing or disressing anything just for a pic, so I will keep my eye open for a suitable subject.

You mention " Lots of the references you make and take for granted need work on my part to take in but it does prompt further study. " Well that is down to 45 years worth of playing around in quite a few areas of photography so I would hope some of it has stuck . When posting in threads like this I cannot anticipate the knowledge or lack of it, by any interested parties, so can only rely on the posts prompting questions. If I know the answer then I am happy to help. If I don't I will say so. I pride myself in not handing out duff info as that always comes back to bite.

Nobody was born with the knowledge, and whatever they have, was gained through others, and personal experience. There will always be someone more knowledgeable than you, and someone less so. So any questions you have do not be afraid to ask.

Now we have digital cameras, so can experiment for little cost, and have forums like WPF to share our experience and pass on some knowledge, we are all gainers.

Don
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