another newbie delurks

[katie cooke]

Hi. I've been lurking and reading for a couple of months, but only just signed up.

I've been using large format for almost two years now with pinhole cameras but have only just started using lenses with LF film this last week.

I know that flowers, and close up flowers in particular, are a hellacious cliché, but they are less likely to grumble about sitting still for ages or threaten to wander off to the pub when you're still messing about learning new techniques than my prefered victim, er, muse. That said, any feedback and advice would be welcome because this feels like a steep learning curve. These, from my first few days of playing, are made with a 101mm wollensak raptar, in a Toyo 45CF, on FP4+, and are neg scans because I've not made it to the darkroom yet (though with minimal photoshopping, except for adding duotones.)

some of my pinhole stuff is here: http://slowlight.net

cheers,
katie (in Edinburgh)

[Walter Calahan]

You transend the cliché. Beautiful.

[Ron Marshall]

Beautiful shots! Welcome to the forum Katie.

[Colin Graham]

Lovely, thanks for posting them.

[Sylvester Graham]

Edinburgh? I was JUST there. Wonderful city, although I came for the countryside.

[Rory_5244]

wow!

[Frank Petronio]

pretty amazing newbie

[Ralph Barker]

Welcome to the de-lurked side of the LF Forum, Katie.

Lovely flower photos, BTW.

[Michael Jones]

Wow; newbie only in the sense she just signed up. Wonderful images!

Mike

[katie cooke]

thanks for the kind welcome, chaps!

I think I've had a monster dose of beginner's luck so far in this first week with my new toy. Now I just have to hope that luck sticks. Having been almost purely pinhole for two years (except for some medium format lensed portraits with an old rollei) I'm still reeling in shock with the incredible fine detail that's possible.

And, if all goes well, I'll have a 210mm lens showing up in the post in a week or so, so I can use this camera on people without having to be right up in their nose. Again, flowers don't get jumpy and self-conscious when you do that, so they seem like a perfect thing to practice with.

[Benno Jones]

Welcome! Great shots! I think an International League of Flower Photographers needs to be formed so we can re-educate the masses (or at least the people who curate photography shows) as to the merits of our favorite subjects...

[Donald Qualls]

Welcome, Katie -- good to see you using glass with big film at last. :) Hope you're recovering (or at least coping) well...

[Diane Maher]

Although I'm neither a chap nor into shooting flowers, those are nice shots, Katie. Welcome to the forum! :)

[Sandeha]

With petals like those you'll soon be due for a second publishing in B&W. ;)

Glass can be fun.

[Brian Ellis]

I'm not much of a flower photographer myself but I at least pretend to know excellent photographs when I see them and these are certainly excellent. Congratulations. I bought a book a few years ago called "Flora Photographica - Masterpieces of Flower Photography" by William A. Ewing which you might find interesting and instructive if you plan to pursue flower photography. It contains some of the most incredible flower photographs I've ever seen, from 1860 forward, all in black and white or alt processes, plus fascinating text. Highly recommended for anyone but especially anyone seriously interested in flower photography.

[katie cooke]

Thank you all for the generous words and welcome.

Diane: sorry, that was careless of me. I use "chaps" as an all-inclusive non-gender-specific term, and something like "you guys" just sounds silly with an English accent. I wasn't suggesting that there were only male chaps round here...

Donald: I still owe you huge thanks for coaxing me through my first film developing sessions over on f295. And recovery is slow, but progressing nicely.

Brian: that book looks wonderful. Thanks for the recommendation; it's gone straight onto my library reservation list!

[Donald Qualls]

Donald: I still owe you huge thanks for coaxing me through my first film developing sessions over on f295. And recovery is slow, but progressing nicely.!

Glad to hear you're coming along. I haven't shot any pinhole in about a year, but I'm burning huge amounts of film (for a broke amateur) none the less -- right now, I'm in the midst of scanning four rolls of 35 mm shot for a local paper, home processed in C-41. And hopefully soon I'll be able to get the chemicals to try to work a similar transformation on E-6 as Dignan NCF-41 developer has worked on C-41...

[Michael Jones]

If you think these two posted images are good, click on the link to her website. Holy cow... Strong compositions, IMHO.

Mike

[Diane Maher]

Thank you all for the generous words and welcome.

Diane: sorry, that was careless of me. I use "chaps" as an all-inclusive non-gender-specific term, and something like "you guys" just sounds silly with an English accent. I wasn't suggesting that there were only male chaps round here...

Donald: I still owe you huge thanks for coaxing me through my first film developing sessions over on f295. And recovery is slow, but progressing nicely.

Brian: that book looks wonderful. Thanks for the recommendation; it's gone straight onto my library reservation list!

No problem. :D

[Rory_5244]

Good grief. Is that all natural lighting for the portraits? Well this certainly brings my lack of creativity and lack of vision squarely into focus. I got to shake things up; take some creative risks. But don't worry, I won't be posting any self-portraits. :eek:

[Uri Kolet]

Stunning images, Katie; welcome from Vancouver in the Canadian Rockies.Cheers, Uri
P.S. Last year this time I spent two weeks in Edinburgh and the Outer Hebrides with a fellow LFer from my Orchestra; imagine my surprise when we flew past Stornoway on Tuesday enroute London-Calgary and saw the lighthouse we'd driven to. Just grand!
Scotland was my best holiday ever; I'll be back, with a lot more 4x5 film.
P.P.S. Your photographs of flowers have convinced me to stop trying to kill my wife's house plants.

[katie cooke]

Blimey! Thank you!

Rory: double-checking on my site, yes, the vast majority are natural light (e.g. all the portraits are natural light, all but the first two self-p are too, and the first eight of the balancing act series.) Of course, this does mean that my portrait sitters have to be still for, um, up to 15 minutes though usually just three or four, which explains why I am my own most frequent subject, why I have to bribe pinhole sitters with copious quantities of wine, and why my site is called "slowlight".

amilne & Uri: Edinburgh's wonderful, isn't it? I only moved here last summer, and still have a lot more exploring to do, and a lot more film to use when doing so. I've not been to the Outer Hebrides for more than ten years, so I am way overdue for another trip!

[kev curry]

Katie your self portraits are really something.
Best of luck with the rest of your journey!

[eddie]

HEY! nice to see you behind some glass! nice stuff. post some more. do not forget your lensless buddies.....

eddie

[eddie]

HEY! nice to see you behind some glass! nice stuff. post some more. do not forget your lensless buddies.....

eddie

[Marko]

Katie, I really like your images. Great composition, tonality and motives, of course, but it's more how they feel than how they look - they have soul in them.

Welcome. :)

[Jim Galli]

Katie, welcome! I took a drink at your site and it is wonderful. Hope the glass doesn't spoil your vision. I'm quite partial to the ones that share your last name ;)

[Kerik Kouklis]

Hi Katie!! Great to see you here. Beautiful images, as usual.

(I had the pleasure of meeting Katie last summer in Glasgow and she is a very talented artist with a great spirit.)

[dominikus bw]

wow... your flowers ang phinhole pictures is stunning...
I think I wanna try a pinhole...

[seawolf66]

Kathie: Welcome to the LF format , it does not what type of camera only the end results that count: Good work; and keep growing: