freeline-104 - Flipbook - Page 188
KRIS FORD
n i ce! So you are Kris Ford t h en ? ” “ T h a t’ s r i gh t ,” I s a i d , “ Pa s s
m e the landing net please.”
From the early days, I ha d ke p t a f i s hi n g d i ar y i n a s m al l
n o tebook. It was very handy, b ut o n c e I a c c ep te d t ha t a c ame ra
was a great accessory to ca rr y i n my ru cks ac k , i t wa s a bi t o f a
l i a bility for photographs. A fo o l s c ap ri n g b i n d e r wa s a cq u i re d
a n d the co ntent of the note b o o k tra n sfe r re d ve rb a t i m i n to i t ,
t y pewritten. The notebook (s ) re ma i n e ss e n t i a l to t h e ru c ks a c k
to this day. For many years, t h e ty p e wr i te r a n d “ K r i s Ca rp D i a r y
a n d Records” joined me o n th e b a n k wh en I wa s f i s h i n g l o n g
s e ssions. As for cameras, I s t a r te d o f f w i t h a Ko d ak I n s t a m a t i c
– b etter than nothing, but o nly j u st . A s ke tc h p a d a n d c h a rc o a l
m i ght have been better in t h e r i gh t ha n d s .
I n Going Bros I had met a c a r p a n gl er c a ll e d D i c k Gay n e r wh o
was to bec ome a friend an d re ma i n s s o to d ay. He wa s a l s o i n to
p h otography. A Pentax ma n as I re ca l l, h e p o i n te d me towa rd s
t h e SLR (Single Lens Reflex ) c a me ra s, a n d t h i n g s i m p rove d
ra dically. Sadly, quality eq ui p me n t d o e s n’ t g u a ra n te e q u a l i t y
re sults. That sounds eeri ly fa mi l i a r s o me h ow, a n d tr us t i n g
o t her anglers or passersby to p h o to g ra p h c a p t u re s be c a me to o
m uch of a gamble, so tripod a n d re mo te c o n t ro l qu i ck ly b e c am e
e s sential. Being decades b efo re d i g i t al wa s eve n a wo rd , f i l m
was the main limitation wi t h o nly 1 2 , 2 4 o r 3 6 s h o t s ava i l a b l e ,
a n d then the processing wa s a ch a ll e ng e .
Having discussed fish and c a p t ure s a n d a p p a re n t ly im p re s s ed
by them, Dick introduced m e to t h e B r i ti s h Ca rp S t u dy G ro u p
( B CSG), recently formed by Pe te r M o h a n . W h a t a revel a t i o n
t h is was to be. In 19 71 , m e et i n g o th e r c ar p a n gl e rs o n t h e
b a nk was a rare occurrence . T h ere we re p ro b a b ly o n ly 2 0 - 30
c a rp anglers in Essex at th a t t i m e. I s t an d to b e co r re c te d o n
FREELINE 58
