A nice 3 hole 4x5 hard rubber developing tank with 4x5 holders to go with it. It holds a half gallon of solution in each partition, just right for developer, stop & fix all in the space of an old six volt battery. That is because the side of it has the label "B.F. Goodrich Commercial". It IS an old six volt battery. I brought it home & tried it and it works well. In checking I have found out they are available at battery recycling plants in our area for almost nothing and at old junkyards for nothing. They are impervious to most photo chemicals, heavy & solid enough so they are almost impossible to tip over and best of all, they work.

A really cheap way to get a 4x5 sheet film processing tank.

At a yard sale I got a nice large tray that fits a Kodak tray siphon very well. Makes an excellent print washer and has curved sides, not sharp edges or corners inside to dent the corners of prints as they rinse. It is a tupperware container. I got it for 30 cents and it is big enough to hold 16x20 prints with no problem. If I had four of them I would have saved a fortune on film developing trays, so maybe I will start hitting the yard sales from now on.

For mixing Rodinol developer and some others that take high dilutions I get used syringes from diabetic friends. Makes it easier when I measure out small amounts of developer or photo-flo. I can get all I need for nothing.

The nearby University of Utah surplus sales shop is a good source for 'high end' gear. A good refrigerator to hold my film & paper was $40. A full darkroom sink by Calumet Photographic, 9 feet long with water taps, filters, temperature control unit and cabinets built in, went for $175. It had been cut off the wall at the copper pipes for the spigots & the drain pipe had been hacksawed off as well so all that was needed was to hook it up & you were ready to go. I called a friend who bought it.

Right now darkroom gear is going for pennies on the dollar, thanks to digital. If you ever wanted your own darkroom the buys have never been better. Some photographers & institutions are giving stuff away just to get it out of the place and you don't even have to help clean a barn to get it.

Too many photographers, especially new photographers, think they have to have new gear to take a photograph. So it is 'get out of college & go in debt'. You don't need $30,000 to get started. One decent camera that works & some gumption and you can get started. If you think you have to have a fully furnished & equipped studio for most work you will be making some banker rich for years to come. At least until you go bankrupt. A lot of common items will work well for photo sets if you look around.

Many solid pro studios don't own any brand new gear. Older cameras that work are the norm, not flashy new Hasselblads in 'designer colors', even if it would be nice to have them. Old 8x10 and 4x5 Calumet cameras. Even old Burke & James are still used in some studios. If it works it is used.

Gobos & scrims hand made from tinfoil & window screens, reflectors made from foam-cor & bedsheets. Mirrors to direct light into small recesses and a closet full of second hand store junk as props. Yes, brand new is nice but isn't necessary if you have the talent and the creativity to recognize potential props & equipment when you see it.

An expensive new bag designed to weight a light stand can just as easily be made from a 25 pound sack of rice, a bag of sand or now-banned lead shotgun BB's. Extra tools in a plastic bucket with the canvas tool pouch attached make for waterproof tool & gear holders on location. One added benefit... they don't look like what someone carries photo gear in and are less likely to get stolen.

If you have a high end studio, spend the money on what makes the client comfortable & inspires confidence. If it is a new Hasselblad, go for it. But few top professional photographers started out with fully equipped studios. They built a little at a time and learned what worked. Take a look the next time you are in a professional commercial studio and you might be surprised at what you see. In some cases you will go away marveling at how good the images really are from someone with gear that isn't 'as good' as what you may own.

A lot of studios & professional photographers get or make what is needed as they need it. One friend built a 40 foot light modifier for less than a tenth what it costs from a major supplier. It works well enough that after he was done he sold it for five times what it cost to make & is still in use years later. Another owns one basic 4x5 view camera & rents extra lenses he doesn't use often. He shoots nothing but chromes & doesn't even have a darkroom. The camera is an old Calumet he bought years ago for about $130. He regularly turns out top commercial work with this camera most wouldn't want to touch.

Other friends, top sports shooters, have to compete and their gear consists of a 600 f/4 AF lens & fast motor driven bodies. But they take care of it & plan on keeping it for a long time to come. They use it because it works and many are buying them used as the AF wars are constantly bringing to the market new equipment. They use what works and get it where they can. Others still use manual focus, but the emphasis is on good glass as it always has been. Above all, it has to work in good weather and bad. It has to do the job. Small modifications & taped lens hoods & monopods with GI cartridge belts laced with 35mm film canisters do the job. It works and if something can be made to work better, it is used.

Old ammo cans to carry film in rather than expensive camera cases. GI jackets in the field for the extra pockets. Mickey Mouse boots to wear to keep the toes warm on the sidelines or while shooting elk in a winter snowstorm. If it works, it is used and many things may be tried & thrown out because they don't work. Too much is designed to appeal to the 'I want it' crowd while most professionals & serious amateurs stick with the 'I need it' necessities in the field or studio.

Just because you can't afford that new shiny pack or photo jacket or exposure meter holster doesn't mean you don't photograph. Get what works even if it isn't 'made for photography' and use it. If it works, get two of them so you will have a spare. Don't turn away just because it isn't made by a photo company. After all, BF Goodrich doesn't make film developing tanks but the film still develops well in the old battery case.

There is a lot to be said for talent & familiarity with what you have, coupled with not making excuses to keep from taking pictures. Waiting until you can 'afford it' is an excuse you don't need.