Black and White Ship [Port Townsend] Topcon on Ilford HP5 Plus (expired)

25 Random things about me, continued:

5) I was not an athletically talented child or "tween", not by a long shot, but that didn't stop me from joining Little League, soccer, swim team, volley ball, and track. I was probably the worst kid on all of those teams, but I didn't care, I just wanted to participate. Luckily, I had a bit more talent for gymnastics, dance, and music. I wanted to try pretty much every extracurricular activity ever offered, and probably did try most of them.

Not one of the 25 things, but related: one of the many things I tried in my teen years was photography. I took quite a few classes in junior high and high school, shooting with my dad's 35mm Topcon that was an old camera even then. This photo comes from a roll that I found rolling around in a drawer the other day that I shot in 2002 with that Topcon camera. It had a note on it that said "push three stops." I knew the light meter was shot when I exposed this roll, but I thought I remembered adjusting the ISO to compensate. Three stops seemed extreme, so I went with two; it ended up pretty overcooked anyhow. But I kind of like all the grain and contrast.

My dad still has this old Topcon camera and a whole ton of lenses and accessories; I bet it's even still living in the old leather brief case that I remember him coming home from work with every day when I was a kid.

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