Nov. 2001
President's
Message
Portrait of ...
Portrait Of ...
Laszlo Hopp
I was born in the countryside of the Hungarian Great Plains (not that great after all, a little smaller than New Jersey). A whimsical river, called Tisza, flows by my hometown. In the height of Summer you can throw a stone over it, but in the Spring, it can change half the county into a sea of water. It has generous flood plains between its levees but frequently the river overflows beyond the primary barriers, the so called "summer levees". The reason I say all this is because the landscape along the river is quite pretty. Since I could never draw or paint, my first camera at age 12 (Zorki-4, made in Russia) came quite handy to record for eternity the beauty of the Tisza. I still have a few black and white photos of a sunset above the water, or timber floating down the river, made with the Zorki, though by now, I doubt they stand as the prime example of the river's natural beauty.
"Tisza
River " - Copyright © Laszlo
Hopp
The Zorki served me well for many years, but eventually it was replaced by a real SLR camera from (then) East Germany (Practica PCL) with a great 50 mm f/1.8 Zeiss lens. My Practica with a slowly growing complement of zoom and wide-angle lenses, close-up gears, corrective filters and an external flash, soon became my favorite companion. I read books about photography and tried to make exposures based on "scientific" calculations. For a long time, I recorded the parameters of all my shots. It was fun and instructional but with today's advanced cameras (automatic light meter, bracketing, automatic fill-in flesh, etc.), this knowledge is not that useful anymore. I decided to shoot with color slides, because I was impressed how much richer the colors came out with slides than with prints.
My pictures are typically sceneries and later sceneries with my wife and two children. Photography for me has always been a hobby and so far I remained an enthusiastic dilettante in it. I feel the same way about photography as I do about my golf swing, most of my golf shots are lousy but the few good ones make me feel really good about the whole thing. Now, three cameras after my beloved Practica, I started digital photography. It is opening a new world with a whole new set of frustration and new chance for accomplishment.
I consider myself very lucky
that someone at work (A.I.duPont Hospital for Children where I work as
a pediatric nephrologist) advised me to check out the web site of the
DCC. I found here great tradition, healthy versatility and an infectious
appreciation for photography. I saw many inspiring slides and prints and
met many welcoming members with unbelievable expertise. Now I am confident
that when I arrange for my next rendezvous with the Tisza, I will make
at least one picture of her that will score not less than 12 on print
night at the DCC. ?