Re: Roll Call

["Garbutt, Robert" <RGarbutt@ncrpexec.telstra.com.au>]

I am honoured to say that this morning I placed an order with Mister
Tamarkin for a chrome M6, 50/2 DR and a 90/2.8 Elmarit.  Am I excited?
Well, actually I'm beside myself (which is quite a disconcerting
experience) so this may get a little verbose.   Anyway, enough of the
chit chat . . . .

Rob Garbutt
Age 32, single, no children, no pets, kill plants
BSc in Chemistry, MEd in Adult Education
Born Lismore, NSW, Australia;  living in Bondi, a suburb of Sydney,
Australia.

I work with Telstra, the one time telecommunications monopolist in Oz
and now being sold off in the interests of, well . . . the argument gets
a little cloudy here, but the government says its good for everyone.  I
do whatever Telstra tells me to do because they pay well enough for me
to afford a Leica *and* an FM2.  At the moment I am a Project Manager.

I discovered cameras, lenses, the darkroom and its creative joys this
year.  Currently doing a colour course and did my first colour proof
sheet last night.  So exciting.  This is the unleashing of 12 years of
dreaming and seeing without photographing.  My marriage broke up (or is
that down) a little while back, so now I have the cash and the time for
my dreaming to become a reality - thank you lucky, lucky stars.

I like to photograph where I live and prefer developing an eye for an
environment and a sense of place before unleashing my shutter finger -
I'm not a good tourist, but always on tour.  My major interest is in the
environment, both built and natural, and how people interact with it.  I
just finished my first exhibition (in colour - Sydney flora in winter)
and am currently working on my second (in B&W - Sydney structures and
people), and have two planned for next year (so far).

Cameras:
*  since I was 21 a Ricoh XR something,  with a 50mm f/2 (Rikenon), a
surprisingly good lens, and a 28 - 70 Tamron zoom which is surprisingly
bad (but sometimes just the thing).  Don't use it anymore because this
year I lent it to a friend after lashing out on a . . .

*  Nikon FM2 with 35/2.8 PC, 50/1.4 MF, 55/2.8 MF Micro, 85/1.8 AF.
Great camera for the wilds, but I feel a little self conscious pointing
it at people.  For some reason I feel like a sniper and it is too loud.

* 2 Zeiss-Ikon Nettars: the most intimate affordable camera I have come
across yet.  One has an 75/4.5 Novar, and my favourite has a 75/6.3.
Quiet as a m-o-u-s-e.

*  on order and arriving next week an M6 + 50/2 DR + 90 Elmarit !!!!

I like cameras that I can carry with me at all times without worry.  I
don't use or want a camera that has to live in a padded cell.

Film:
For the Nettars (120 format) Delta 400 but have recently become
entranced with the Tri-X/Rodinal combo.  For the Nikon: P3200, Tri-X,
Delta 100, Agfa APX25, Agfa Optima 100, Fuji Velvia, K64.

Camera bag:
My back pocket is my bag of choice - the Nettar fits neatly.  Otherwise
a standard Aiking Australia 35 litre canvas day pack fits my Manfrotto
tripod + 029 head, FM2, 4 lenses, 1.5 litres of water, my lunch, a
Nettar and a Minolta IVF meter.

Lighting equipment:
Sol.  I don't know what its guide number is but at a distance of 93
million miles it seems to illuminate most things evenly and has a nicely
balanced colour temperature.  My favourite setup is bouncing it off the
sky in the evening or placing it in a cloud softbox.

Photographic desires:
A Rolleiflex 3.5F, a Hasselblad system, a Linhoff Technica V, a
Zeiss-Ikon Nettar with an f/2 or faster lens and rangefinder, a Konica
Hexar, a warehouse with a high ceilings, rough wood interior, north
facing windows and plenty of space for a darkroom, studio and workshop,
oh . . . . and a rich benefactor (preferably female).

Other interests:
Body surfing - I prefer my home beaches of Lennox Head and Byron Bay but
will settle for Bondi.  Music - can't listen to much before 1970 but
there's plenty of time left for that.  Reading -  postmodern cultural
stuff, especially Foucault, Deleuze and Guattari, but as this is getting
trendy now I keep it quiet.