My hobby

My Hobby
John 3onar Tucker

I teli now I first started my hobby and how it
turned from just technique into an art when I dis-
covered the beauties that were added when color
film was used in place of ordinary panchromatic
film.

The most interesting of my hobbies is photo-
graphy. I be & an it a few years ago after I had
saved enough money from my first job to Duy a
camera. I first began by taking black and white
pictures of things of interest in the neighborhood >
of neighbors, pets, and houses. The pictures as
a whole were awful. Some negatives looked like a
nigger in a coal pile at midnight; others locked
like a polar bear in a snow storm. And then
there were some in which I did manage to find the
proper exposure but there was always something else
wrong like taking a picture of a friend and cutt-
ing his head off or taking an action shot and
getting a nice blur« Or what was worBe, was
when I would get a beautiful picture and woulA
not be able to figure out what it was. However,
as time went on, things oegan to improve and
occasionally I would get a picture which might
be worth saving.. Well, just about this time the
funds ran out and I had to shelve the camera.

A year ago last summer, after I had been work-
ing for about two months, I again decided to invest
in photographic equipment. I decided zdax, I would
buy a better grade camera. A camera which would be
easier to opperate, more flexible, and_of a better

engineering design. I looked around for awhile
and finally decided on the Perfex. I found that
it had all the necessary paraphernal i a for talcing
good pictures and coat less than other cameras in
its class. I bought the Perfex and found that my
pictures became from excellent to awful in range.
Since I could take good pictures sometimes, I
concluded it was partly my fault and began to ex-
amine my technique and found that it was far from
perfect. I analysed it and did improve.,

Then a friend suggested that I try color film.
I did, and that is the point at which photography
changed to an art. Instead of being able to make
a picture from anything, it became necessary to
find a scene that is beautiful, that has composi-
tion of color as well as of objects. The color
added atmosphere ; made the picture alive. Ordin-
ary scenes were transformed from lifeless grey to
beautiful tints and shades . Grey leaves were
transformed to leaves of delicate shades of green,
red, orange, and various combinations . Trunks of
trees turned from blacks to browns. Grey skies
became blue. Dark grass became green. Com oi nations
of colors replaced different shades of blacks,
white and grey. It became necessary to learn com-
position all over again* Color composition replac-
ed black and white composition. It became necess-
ary to look for pictures, to look for color compo-
sition. It was no longer possible to find a scene
and just balance darks against lights. Blues had
to be balanced against yellowei reds had to be
balanced against oranges. Color balance became
the main ODject. It became an art in place of a
technique.