Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2004/05/17

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Subject: [Leica] Re: Darkroom n Musket-Loading
From: dkhong at pacific.net.sg (DKhong)
Date: Mon May 17 14:11:10 2004
References: <200405162358.i4GNvho9026858@server1.waverley.reid.org>


Folks

During my recent visit to the US, I met up with a group of folks from the 
Musketloaders Gun Club. Now these guys were really passionate about their 
guns and many of their guns were hand made (DIY to some folks) from 
scratch. Crude as it may appear, there is actually great precision in 
loading the exact quantity of gunpowder followed by the lead shot.  When 
the gun was fired either through the firing cap or flint, it made a great 
noise and produced a lot of smoke. Even more surprising, these vintage 
styled guns are capable of great accuracy within 100 yards or even more.

It led me to wonder why on earth would anybody want to dabble with vintage 
style guns when there are advanced systems automatics, magnums, AK-47s, 
M-16s, high powered rifles with precison  sighting scopes and what not?

They invited me to handle one and I fired a shot. There was hardly any 
recoil as the gun was heavy. The hair trigger was amazingly soft and 
sensitive and the heavy gun felt good enough to fondle and to play with. 
That's right! It was the play factor that gives such great appeal. Slow as 
it may appear to operate, there was tremendous play satisfaction. Reminds 
me very much of a Leica M.

As I reflect on my darkroom, there is also tremendous play factor and 
satisfaction from exposing and pulling out wet B&W prints. I have nothing 
against digital darkrooms but I cannot see myself getting the same play 
satisfaction if I have to struggle through manipulating the images on my 
computer sometimes for hours (I am a little slow with softwares) before 
getting the right hard copies.

I recurrently read how folks who have switched over from traditional 
darkroom to inkjet printing speak glorious volumes about their new found 
wonder and how they regretted for "not doing it sooner". Similarly, while 
it might be natural for anyone to sound excited about a new relationship, 
is it really necessary to bad mouth the ex-spouse?

There are 5 year olds shooting at the musket loading club. They too are 
enjoying tremendous play factor going through the motions of cleaning, 
loading, and firing and enjoying plenty of family time with mum and dad.

My 7 year old loves taking pictures with my spare digital camera. She can 
appreciate the composition on the LCD screen immediately after exposure. 
She also loves to be with me in the darkroom; "play chemicals" as she puts 
it. Her job is to fish the prints out of the fixer and place them into the 
wash. One day I will teach her to expose the paper and develop. Lots of fun 
and play.

Dan K.