Hobbies & Ham Radio

There is a corollary in the ham radio hobby about the "other" hobbies that ham's seem to participate in. Among the most popular are (in no particular order):

Model railroading
Photography
Amateur Astronomy
Shortwave listening (SWL)
Computers

Over they years in this hobby I have encountered many hams who regularly engage in one or more these five side-hobbies and I always find that we have some common ground as I like all of them!!!! Unfortunately none of them are cheap. 

Photography, in particular, is my 2nd hobby. I have been a photographer since age 8, when a cousin gave me a Baby Brownie camera at a family gathering. During junior high and high school I was year book photographer for the Palouse high school. I started shooting a Baby Brownie, moved to a Kodak Hawkeye, graduated to a Crown Graphic with a hand held light meter, and finally when I arrived in Japan in 1968, found a local camera company call Nippon Kogaku and I have been shooting with Nikon cameras ever since.  


True story: My barracks room mate was Jay Merton Verrill III, a crypto maintenance man who liked shooting super 8 movies. We hit it off and when I was offered a ticket to the 1968 Bob Hope Show at Camp Zama, Japan, I was loaned a Nikon F, a couple of lenses, and a whole bunch of 35mm bulk loaded film by Jay's co-worker, Jack Wallace (AKA: Wally). That one outing with a Nikon F was the clincher. I loved the "F" and ended up owning two of them and seven (7) Nikkor lenses. Life was good....very good. While stationed in Japan in the late 1970s I entered and won base, command and Air Force level photo competitions!

During my divorce in 1981, I was forced to sell my beloved Nikons in order to raise money to pay off some bills that my ex-wife managed to accrue without my knowledge. That left me using a large Mamiya Super 23 press camera (used 120/220 roll film) and was not the best camera for the type of photography I engaged in. 

I married Patricia (KB3MCT) in July of 1981 in England where we  were both stationed.  During that time I managed to procure a Russian Zorki 4K 35mm roll film camera, their knock off of a Leica IIIC. It was an amazing camera for the money and, some warts aside, was a good little 35mm camera. No light meter but by that time (especially after graduating from the School of Modern Photography) I was able to "read light" very effectively so a light meter was really not a necessity. 

Christmas of 1986 found us re-stationed to Langley AFB, VA (near Hampton Roads). For Christmas that year Patti completely surprised me with a new Nikon FG and a couple of lenses! I was back in the Nikon Fold. I still have that little camera and it works great, considering it is over 30 years old. I have taken a lot of really good images with that little Nikon box, even winning several local competitions with the prints. 

In 2006 my daughter, Maja, a graduate with a major in photography from Marywood College, loaned me her Nikon D-70 digital. I had promised myself that I would never go digital. That lasted for a grand total of 3 days after Maja dropped off her camera. My D-70S was on order along with an 18-200mm zoom with vibration reduction (VR).  That lens seldom leaves the camera body! It's a "do-it-all lens" that, although very expensive, is a great lens that yields terrific images.

I used the D-70S until about 2 years ago when I found a Nikon D-90 on ebay for a decent price. I contacted the seller and we exchanged several emails and I felt confident it was a good upgrade. Although slightly larger than the D-70, the D-90 offered matrix metering which the D-70 didn't. The upgrade in bodies was well worth the expense. 

Now I have come full circle with the purchase of a used Nikon F4 and three auto focus (AF) lenses. The F4 platform is a film camera, not a digital one. According to articles I've read there is an upsurge in going "retro" and breaking out the old film cameras, especially in Japan. 

Opinion time:
One of the things I absolutely deplore about digital photography is the simple fact that virtually anyone can turn out very technically correct and, in most cases, well composed images at the press of a button. There is no "art" involved, as with dark room work. Take that digital image and roll it into Photo Shop or Lightroom, and you can do all sorts of computer manipulation that cannot be done in the dark room. That's just not fair nor is it in keeping with the "art" of photography. Where is the "art" in punching a keyboard? 

All the previous history of my photography involvement leads up to my good friend, Michael Boatright, KO4WX, a expert photographer who also indulges in the ham radio hobby.  I first Mike during a trip to Tampa in 2000 to be part of the birth of KC, my grand child. He met me in the Atlanta terminal, took me into the Delta Crown Club and we talked QRP and he gave me some info on a project that he'd been working on. Later, after we decided to move to the metro Atlanta area I became involved with the North Georgia QRP Club (NoGA) and Mike was a member. We discussed QRP, photography and ended up trading gear: my Mamiya Super 23 for his Ten-Tec Argonaut 509 station. 

Over the next several years Mike withdrew from actively participating in ham radio and NoGA, channeling his efforts into his photography. The best portrait ever taken of me was shot by Mike at my new shack in Dacula. The guy is an  absolute genius with a camera. If he can make me look good....imagine what he can do for you!! He has since opened his own studio in Dacater, GA and hosts regular open house events open to the public. To see his work, go to:  http://www.michaelboatright.com/galleries.php. You will be impressed.

I'd be interested to those who read this blog giving me feedback as to their favorite hobbies. 

All for now. 

Vy 73 es "say cheese!"

Rich K7SZ