Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/11/10

[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]

Subject: Re: [Leica] The initial spark (newbie)
From: "B. D. Colen" <bdcolen@earthlink.net>
Date: Sat, 10 Nov 2001 12:20:56 -0500
References: <F1047xGFUpJoS9v6uYT0000de53@hotmail.com> <011901c1699b$7015aa80$57f9f6ce@alice>

It's not easy for me to sort out the "initial spark," as I believe there
were two sparks tossed onto the tinder at about the same time.

I remember that when I was in about the 5th or 6th grade, inspired by
seeing a friend's camera, I asked for, and received, a "real camera" for
my birthday - a Kodak Bantam, as I recall. I'm sure that my interest at
that time also had not a little to do with the fact that my father
always had a 'good' camera of one sort or another, which he generally
used to take color photos of 'trees and rocks' - he was excellent with
trees, rocks, flowers, barns, babbling brooks, but was not much of a
people shooter.

The second spark, which came a couple years later, was the fact that a
camp counselor, who was pretty much idolized by most of the campers, was
a very serious photographer. He was the son of the camp's owner, had a
darkroom in his parents house, and, here's the relevance for the list,
had a LEICA IIIC. He took hundreds and hundreds of what I know I would
still think were wonderful candid photos of campers and counselors -
'street photography' where the streets were the wooded paths, athletic
fields, and waterfront of a Cape Cod sailing camp.

I inspired by this counselor - whose named was John "Buckle" Hagenbuckle
- - honest - I used money saved from a part-time job to buy a user IIIc
with a Canon 50 1.8 Serenar, and a Weston meter - and that was the
beginning of the addiction. The following summer, I returned to the camp
as a CIT, and Buckle taught me how to develop and print, and gave me
access to the darkroom. And the rest, as they say, is 'history.'

(Oddly enough, my initial photographic inspirations, other than Buckle
Hagenbuckle - where ever he may now be - were not the likes of HCB, but
rather were Bert Stern and Richard Avedon, although fairly early on I
discovered a book entitled "Willie," by Ken Hyman, and turned more
toward documentary/pj work.



Mike Durling wrote:
> 
> The initial spark seems to go way back.  There is a picture of me at about
> age six holding a folder.  At about 10 I received a handed-down Brownie
> Holiday camera.  I liked to do double-exposure ghost pictures.  A little
> later I got a "good" camera, a Brownie Auto-27 and more importantly a
> second-had darkroom kit.  My Dad helped me a lot.  I really enjoyed the
> darkroom.  The first rangefinder was an Argus C-3 when I got to high school.
> A Nikkormat and the Leicas came later.
> 
> I don't know for sure, but I really think that watching my Father's home
> movies really got me going.
> 
> Mike D
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "stefano ravizza" <rawizza@hotmail.com>
> To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
> Sent: Friday, November 09, 2001 5:36 AM
> Subject: [Leica] The initial spark (newbie)
> 
> >
> >
> > Dear Luggers, i hope this question is not too basic or, in any way,
> boring.
> > My question is: What and when the idea of taking pictures come to your
> mind
> > ?
> > A gift from a parent ? The visit to a museum ? some deep need or maybe
> pure
> > masochism ?
> >
> > thanks in advance
> >
> > Stefano Ravizza
> >
> >
> > _________________________________________________________________
> > Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp
> >
> > --
> > To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html
> >
> 
> --
> To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html
- --
To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html

In reply to: Message from "stefano ravizza" <rawizza@hotmail.com> ([Leica] The initial spark (newbie))
Message from "Mike Durling" <durling@widomaker.com> (Re: [Leica] The initial spark (newbie))