11 Metres

Pookeyhead said:
Two new images. Can't decide which.. one obviously has more "impact", but the other seems to do it's job as a documentary image more. I have more of this bloke, but not processed yet.

These are neg scans from the Flextight... can't print until Wednesday.

FP4+ in HC110 (1+47) for 9 mins.

Mamiya RZ... 180mm lens and 50mm lens respectively.

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First image for me, not sure the environmental aspect of the 2nd matters for this project ...
 
Number 1 for me, can see whats on the bike clearly. Both made me smile though. Never got into CB when I were a lad but some of my friends were, they used to drive up to top of local hills to try and get better signal- there was a bit of a competition to see who could speak to furthest person away.
 
I personally prefer the first image. The story isn't about how much drama is in the sky or the lighting. It's about the people and their passion. I think you get that in the first image with the closer crop. You get to see more of him, his bike and his equipment (radio equipment).
 
I think I prefer the second one(although I like the first one too). There's something about him being on his own.... it's the isolation thing, which kinda fits with the whole CB reason that that's his connection with other people. Also I like the shadow in the second one.
 
We use CB radio in our family a lot. To start with I do a lot of off-roading with my Jeep so I have one installed in there.

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I'm also a pilot so I do like my gadgets in the cockpit. :wacky:

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We have two more CB radios. One is in the kitchen and the other is in the cabin/den I built for my 7 y/o son at the end of our garden. When he's in the den he always has his CB on and chatters to us constantly. Mummy calls him in for lunch or dinner on it.

Of course, any CB operator worth his salt in the UK also needs to be a licensed HAM radio operator. Here's the Yaesu in the back of the Jeep:

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I have a ballun on the tailgate which allows me to hook it up to a 10m telescopic antenna:

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But you also need a handheld HAM up front, soooo.. :D

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an ICOM E92D WITH HM175-GPS MIC sits proudly in the cockpit. :wideyed:

Yeah, I need therapy. :D

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Of course, when you're chatting to Australia in the back of a Jeep, you and your son need somewhere comfy to sit! So I made this "HAM bench" out of a Landrover rear seat and some wood off-cuts from our kitchen work tops.

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Yep, I was 3-10 in the 70s but CBs always fascinated me. It's a pity the CB channels are now abused so much, which is why I went down the HAM route for the purposes of teaching my son comms.

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Blog = 4WDX.COM
 
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Nice little mobile set up. What's your callsign? (Ham... not CB).
 
PaulButler said:
First image for me, not sure the environmental aspect of the 2nd matters for this project ...
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nog said:
Number 1 for me, can see whats on the bike clearly. Both made me smile though. Never got into CB when I were a lad but some of my friends were, they used to drive up to top of local hills to try and get better signal- there was a bit of a competition to see who could speak to furthest person away.
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Nostromo said:
I personally prefer the first image. The story isn't about how much drama is in the sky or the lighting. It's about the people and their passion. I think you get that in the first image with the closer crop. You get to see more of him, his bike and his equipment (radio equipment).
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OK... I concur. Me of all people shouldn't be distracted by eye candy.


Solo man said:
I think I prefer the second one(although I like the first one too). There's something about him being on his own.... it's the isolation thing, which kinda fits with the whole CB reason that that's his connection with other people. Also I like the shadow in the second one.
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Fair point... but it's just too pretty... I doubt I could sustain that for everything in the project due to time limitations with each subject, so it may stand out. Early days yet... if there's other stuff with equal impact then it may stay.
 
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I'd have to go for the second image in post 39 - the wide angle shot.

It reminds me of a work colleague in the late 70s who had a CB fitted to his Honda 50.
 
kendo1 said:
I'd have to go for the second image in post 39 - the wide angle shot.

It reminds me of a work colleague in the late 70s who had a CB fitted to his Honda 50.
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I like the shot, and the use of wide angle is giving a portrait an edge.... and the space works as Lee suggested... If there's sufficient other work it hangs with, it will be in... otherwise not. I have to be thinking of the set/show/book... not individual images. All feedback appreciated though, and I agree with your comments.
 
Did the guy on the pedal bike, power his rig with a dynamo?
 
First one for me. But I do have an aversion to obviously 'lit' photographs. That said the second one is almost working for me, formally, with the circle he's standing in - but it's not quite right to my eyes.
 
Pookeyhead said:
Oh.. and for comparison... here a film scanned version... this is the most the scanner can recover from the highlight area, and bear in mind, this is a Flextight X3.. £20K worth of scanner..

View attachment 61756

It's not the same neg (although exposure is identical), as this is the one I shall be finally printing, as focus was missed on his face in the first one, but you can see how difficult it is for the film scanner to recover that detail, whereas burning in in the darkroom allows greater control. There is greater shadow detail on the scan though... look at the readout of the radio... Dodging such a small area in the darkroom is tricky and can result in a grey area... will work on various contrast grades next darkroom session. There's around an hours worth of work to get a print like this right though.

I'm not even sure if I prefer the window whited out...

Opinions appreciated please.
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I've only just come to this thread and I'm enjoying it enormously.

fwiw I much prefer the version with the window whited out. With the outdoor scene visible the CB operator is part of his immediate surroundings. With the window whited out he becomes isolated in his van, communicating with the outside world only via the medium of CB - which is a stronger if less subtle story. It also happens to be more consistent with the earlier shot of the woman by her window - I particularly like the way she seems to be staring into the void.

In the new images of the chap with the bike I prefer the second for similar reasons. More space around him is more isolating. If you had a wide shot where he was clinging to his bike - his connection with the outside world - then that would be my pick.

But perhaps you don't want to emphasise the solitary nature of their chosen form of communication?
 
My OM is still a Radio Ham.

His views on CB had better not be expressed here, but as a G3xxx he has been in the game a very long time. (Early 1950s)

Now CB has matured, the parallels with Amateur Radio are very similar and the comment above regards the isolationist nature are very relevant.

I never took up Amateur Radio, having been subjected to it from a very early age and CB was not an option due to the above. I was offered one once with a second hand car I bought, but managed to negotiate a better price without it. The guy thought I was mental not wanting it at the height of the CB boom.

I think there are huge parallels between the two, even down to seeing the 'home made' table supports in the camper van. The language is very similar too. DX, QSL, Whips etc, plus the need to find high ground etc. I don't need any of the terminology or frequency info explaining, I think I was born with it ingrained in my DNA, despite never having taken it all up.

Maybe there are parallels to be had between digital and film? :exit:

A very interesting thread.
 
juggler said:
I've only just come to this thread and I'm enjoying it enormously.

fwiw I much prefer the version with the window whited out. With the outdoor scene visible the CB operator is part of his immediate surroundings. With the window whited out he becomes isolated in his van, communicating with the outside world only via the medium of CB - which is a stronger if less subtle story. It also happens to be more consistent with the earlier shot of the woman by her window - I particularly like the way she seems to be staring into the void.

In the new images of the chap with the bike I prefer the second for similar reasons. More space around him is more isolating. If you had a wide shot where he was clinging to his bike - his connection with the outside world - then that would be my pick.

But perhaps you don't want to emphasise the solitary nature of their chosen form of communication?
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There is something about that guy holding his bike in the first image that I'm drawn to, and I agree it could be read as his connection to the outside world, it is the 'clinging' to it bit. But even so, the second image shows an almost defiant posture...as if he's ok with the idea of the isolation.

With the guy with the whited out window as opposed to the window showing the view, again I saw the window showing the view as a contrast to the guy in that small space on his radio connecting with the world, his world is in there, even though we see a world out the window.

But then, maybe I just read way too much into each image

I guess with so few images as yet, its not going to be easy deciding which ones do, or don't fit.
 
Interesting project. Do you still need a license to operate one? We used to clag one in our military Landrovers whilst still serving. Had a magnetic mounted ariel that could be whipped on / off the vehicle. Had a lot of fun with that back in the day. CB meets, discos led to a string of romances for many of the lads.

I do recall that the serious CB'ers thought that FM was all a bit 'duff' most of the hard core were on AM which was more 'underground' - as underground as you can be with a massive ariel sticking on the side of your house! I believe the demise of the CB radio was attributed to all the kids who could buy hand held 2 channel CB's who constantly used to block CH 14. Your post also brought back memories that virtually every town had a CB shop, that would of certainly made a very interesting photographic study oh, and good luck with your project. I will follow it with interest.
 
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Pookeyhead said:
I need to know if it's just hiking type stuff... or ropes and piton type stuff. If the latter... sorry.... but sod that! LOL
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Hilltopping is just hiking, or sometimes you can drive there, its all about getting your antenna up as high as possible.

On the subject of CB radio, I still use it, in fact the weekend just gone I attended an "eyeball" meet with about 20 or so other users.
 
Blank_Canvas said:
Interesting project. Do you still need a license to operate one? We used to clag one in our military Landrovers whilst still serving. Had a magnetic mounted ariel that could be whipped on / off the vehicle. Had a lot of fun with that back in the day. CB meets, discos led to a string of romances for many of the lads.

I do recall that the serious CB'ers thought that FM was all a bit 'duff' most of the hard core were on AM which was more 'underground' - as underground as you can be with a massive ariel sticking on the side of your house! I believe the demise of the CB radio was attributed to all the kids who could buy hand held 2 channel CB's who constantly used to block CH 14. Your post also brought back memories that virtually every town had a CB shop, that would of certainly made a very interesting photographic study oh, and good luck with your project. I will follow it with interest.
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You don't need a license to operate a CB radio but you do need a license to operate a HAM radio.
 
AM and SSB is legal now.. no license required. The old "mid band" channels are legal as well as the same 40 channels that were legalised in 1981. 80 Channels.... 26.965 to 27405 MHz mid band and 27.60125 to 27.99125 MHz UK FM. It's effectively ungoverned though, and unless you make a nuisance of yourself you can pretty much do what you want.. OFCom are useless. Even if you are a licensed amateur they're useless, so they really don't give a crap about CB unless you cause a problem.
 
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Pookeyhead said:
AM and SSB is legal now.. no license required. The old "mid band" channels are legal as well as the same 40 channels that were legalised in 1981. 80 Channels.... 26.965 to 27405 mid band and 27.60125 to 27.99125 UK FM. It's effectively ungoverned though, and unless you make a nuisance of yourself you can pretty much do what you want.. OFCom are useless. Even if you are a licensed amateur they're useless, so they really don't give a crap about CB unless you cause a problem.
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Yep. Add an amp and they get neg. :D
 
No one sticks to those frequencies, hence the term "freebander" these days. The international calling frequency for SSB is 27.555 USB, well outside the legal range of frequencies, but no one cares.
 
Solo man said:
There is something about that guy holding his bike in the first image that I'm drawn to, and I agree it could be read as his connection to the outside world, it is the 'clinging' to it bit. But even so, the second image shows an almost defiant posture...as if he's ok with the idea of the isolation.

With the guy with the whited out window as opposed to the window showing the view, again I saw the window showing the view as a contrast to the guy in that small space on his radio connecting with the world, his world is in there, even though we see a world out the window.

But then, maybe I just read way too much into each image

I guess with so few images as yet, its not going to be easy deciding which ones do, or don't fit.
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No.. not yet. I think the second shot of the bike though... the more I look at it, the more I think it's just all eye candy. Too pretty... it's distracting.
 
shreds said:
My OM is still a Radio Ham.

His views on CB had better not be expressed here, but as a G3xxx he has been in the game a very long time. (Early 1950s)

Now CB has matured, the parallels with Amateur Radio are very similar and the comment above regards the isolationist nature are very relevant.

I never took up Amateur Radio, having been subjected to it from a very early age and CB was not an option due to the above. I was offered one once with a second hand car I bought, but managed to negotiate a better price without it. The guy thought I was mental not wanting it at the height of the CB boom.

I think there are huge parallels between the two, even down to seeing the 'home made' table supports in the camper van. The language is very similar too. DX, QSL, Whips etc, plus the need to find high ground etc. I don't need any of the terminology or frequency info explaining, I think I was born with it ingrained in my DNA, despite never having taken it all up.

Maybe there are parallels to be had between digital and film? :exit:

A very interesting thread.
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The two are surprisingly close now. UK FM channels are still the stomping ground of idiots... mainly... but SSB is more akin to ham radio: No handles... just callsigns... same terminology.. "CQ DX, CQ 11... " etc... 73.... blah blah... The Odd thing is, that despite the parallels, there's a fierce determination to be a CBer. With the Foundation license being so easy now (Schoolkids can pass it to speak to Tim Peake for god sake) you'd think they'd do it and go down to the lower HF frequencies because upper HF is dead due to heading into the crap part of the sunspot cycle, but nope.... they fiercely hang on to CB. They're an interesting bunch. It's as if they've segregated themselves and make a distinction from Ham radio themselves. They don't seem to want it in the main.

Genuinely lost in time... an anachronism.
 
Pookeyhead said:
No.. not yet. I think the second shot of the bike though... the more I look at it, the more I think it's just all eye candy. Too pretty... it's distracting.
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Funny that, as I never saw 'pretty' with the second image(or at least that was not something that hit me ). I did however think the first image was a 'perfectly' well taken one.

*Edit*... all this pondering and debating over images that fit, or not, has certainly made me re-think how I look at my own images... it's been really helpful.
 
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god this thread has brought back so many memories for me i started using cbs in 1979 back in the am days met a lot good friends met my missus on it and a few mates met there partners on it to in the later cb faze i tended to use ssb more spoke to fellow cb'ers and ham radio ops to from around the world, went on many many eyeballs (meets) some times late/early hours in the morning i think i still have QSL cards from some of the contacts from over seas plus got free membership of some dx groups i have had t shirts, fossils, etc sent to me and the odd photo i used to talk to a photographer from france now and then when there was good skip (propagation) im on a few group/pages on face book
 
No. 1&2 work for me they bring back memories of CB days. The shot of the van sums up the way vans or cars with large whip aerials could be found on the evenings in car parks and lay-bys on mountain roads. Like the bike shot nice clean surroundings let's you concentrate on the topic.
I used CB, marine and as an amateur user work under mi1fcb.
Not just the internet but mobile phones killed of the popularity of CB.
 
Interesting series and attention grabbing pictures.

My wife and I used CB for two or three years, from when FM sets became legal, mainly to keep in touch with each other and to chat to friends. There was an element of caution around Devon back then, due to an infamous incident when an illegal AM user parked right under the Haldon Hill microwave mast and blotted out the emergency services over half of South Devon. Being seen with a microphone in your hand, for some time after that, would get you a hard look from any passing copper. :)
 
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This project takes me back to the 80s of my youth when my friends and I used to "borrow" an older brother's CB radio to talk to people around the world. I think that you've captured the timelessness of this group of people who're still dedicated to this medium in an age where global communication is so easy. Nice work so far, David.
 
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