View Camera Sept/Oct 07

[steve simmons]

The Sept/Oct 07 issue of View Camera is on its way out. Here is the TOC and a cover

6 Montaucks Ditch Plains
Photographs and Text by Joni Sternbach
14 Grid-Portraits
Photographs and Text by Stu Levy
20 Siobhan Arnold: Personal Work
Photographs and Text by Siobhan Arnold
26 Steven Fey: Crafting a Life in Photography By Eric Biggerstaff
34 Larry Vanier: Working Quietly By Ted Harris
40 James Galli: 8x10 Portraiture and Antique Lenses
By Janell Hughes
48 A Still Life Assignment
Photographs and Text by Janell Hughes
50 Using BTZS to Calibrate Your Printing
by J.B. Harlin
54 View Camera: 2007 Kentucky Conference
Photographs and Text by View Camera Staff
56 Bostick & Sullivan: APIS 2007 Conference
Photographs and Text by Janell Hughes
58 The V8 Diaries
Photographs and Text by Kevin Klazek
60 How To Load a Film Holder
By Janell Hughes
62 Printer Roundup - Fall 2008
By Ted Harris
67 Working with the Model
Photographs and Text by Steve Simmons

[Ron Bose]

Looking forward to Jim's article ...

[Jorge Gasteazoro]

What the heck is a "grid portrait"?......I guess I am going to have to buy the mag. Any way you can send me an issue to Mexico?

[steve simmons]

We can either send a hard copy or you can subscribe to the pdf version and download it.

You can go onto our web site

www.viewcamera.com

and go to subscribe and get either version using Paypal

thanks

steve

[Jorge Gasteazoro]

I rather get the hard copy. Hate reading on the computer. I guess I will have to call.... thanks.

[Kirk Gittings]

It looks like a memorable issue. Can't wait.

[Charles Hohenstein]

I'm very much looking forward to Jim's article.

[Jorge Gasteazoro]

Hmmm.... I am confused. Is the author of the BTZS article the same J.B. Harlin who one year ago wrote this piece?

http://jbhphoto.com/articles/hubub1.htm

if it is, then I wonder how he plans to explain the procedure without graphs and numbers!?!......

[steve simmons]

There are several charts and graphs in the article.

steve simmons

[keviesten]

Looking forward to Jim's article ...

[steve simmons]

The electronic version of View Camera's Sept/Oct 07 issue is going up on our web site today. The hard copy is on its way to stores, subscribers, and our foreign distributors.

I have included some samples of a few of the articles.

steve simmons
www.viewcamera.com

[Jim Grimes]

Looks like this is the Janell Hughes issue.

[steve simmons]

Janell was an intern this summer and did some writing for us. She was involved in 4 of the 14 articles.

Here is the current issue's TOC

6 Montaucks Ditch Plains
Photographs and Text by Joni Sternbach
14 Grid-Portraits
Photographs and Text by Stu Levy
20 Siobhan Arnold: Personal Work
Photographs and Text by Siobhan Arnold
26 Steven Fey: Crafting a Life in Photography By Eric Biggerstaff
34 Larry Vanier: Working Quietly By Ted Harris
40 James Galli: 8x10 Portraiture and Antique Lenses
By Janell Hughes
48 A Still Life Assignment
Photographs and Text by Janell Hughes
50 Using BTZS to Calibrate Your Printing
by J.B. Harlin
54 View Camera: 2007 Kentucky Conference
Photographs and Text by View Camera Staff
56 Bostick & Sullivan: APIS 2007 Conference
Photographs and Text by Janell Hughes
58 The V8 Diaries
Photographs and Text by Kevin Klazek
60 How To Load a Film Holder
By Janell Hughes
62 Printer Roundup - Fall 2008
By Ted Harris
67 Working with the Model
Photographs and Text by Steve Simmons


steve simmons

[Peter Lewin]

Its 3 weeks since this thread started. Has anyone seen a hardcopy yet?

[Eric Biggerstaff]

I have mine here in Denver, got it last Thursday.

[steve simmons]

Peter

You sub expired with the July/August issue.

You can call 800-894-8439 m-f 8-5 to renew

thanks

steve simmons

[Diane Maher]

I am expecting mine sometime this week.

[QCC]

arrived in Atlanta today, look forward to reading it.

[Robert Skeoch]

I'm shipping the Canadian ones out this week.
-Rob
www.bigcameraworkshops.com

[Diane Maher]

I received mine yesterday.

[Kerik Kouklis]

Arrived in N. California yesterday.

[P. Yee]

Arrived in northeast Indiana last week.

[Scott --]

Nothing here yet... :(

[Ted Stoddard]

Arrived in my box yesterday in South Florida ... this might be my favorite issue great job Steve and crew...

[Jan Pedersen]

Any on the news stands yet?
Will get a subscription after this issue.

[steve simmons]

Yes, try Barnes and Noble and Borders.

Would welcome a sub

call us

800-894-8439 m-f 8-4 mountain time


steve

[Robert Skeoch]

If you get the magazine in Canada, and your subscription is through me... the magazines were all mailed out today.
-Rob
www.bigcameraworkshops.com

[Andrew_4548]

A quick question on the issue (mine landed this week in the UK :-) )...

On the conference pictures page, there's a picture of someone (captioned as Bruce Barlow / Richard Ritter) demonstrating a technique on a camera. I'm after some info on the cord on the tripod - is it a standard accessory for the tripod (Ries?) or something cobbled together from camping store bits?

I've recently got hold of a Berlebach tripod and they supply a metal chain to fasten on to the legs - the cord seems more elegant / easier and quicker to adjust and it doesn't make you sound like the Marley's Ghost from Scrooge when you walk ;-)

I can get hold of some cord if needed but am having a bit of trouble typing a decent term into the web to describe the adjuster block to find a supplier - it's not the same as a tent guy rope adjuster as it takes both cords. It looks like something you'd use to keep your 10-gallon hat on but a bit more solid - any ideas?

Thanks,

Andrew
UK - so not easy / cheap to get hold of Ries stuff...

[Robert A. Zeichner]

A quick question on the issue (mine landed this week in the UK :-) )...

On the conference pictures page, there's a picture of someone (captioned as Bruce Barlow / Richard Ritter) demonstrating a technique on a camera. I'm after some info on the cord on the tripod - is it a standard accessory for the tripod (Ries?) or something cobbled together from camping store bits?

I've recently got hold of a Berlebach tripod and they supply a metal chain to fasten on to the legs - the cord seems more elegant / easier and quicker to adjust and it doesn't make you sound like the Marley's Ghost from Scrooge when you walk ;-)

I can get hold of some cord if needed but am having a bit of trouble typing a decent term into the web to describe the adjuster block to find a supplier - it's not the same as a tent guy rope adjuster as it takes both cords. It looks like something you'd use to keep your 10-gallon hat on but a bit more solid - any ideas?

Thanks,

Andrew
UK - so not easy / cheap to get hold of Ries stuff...

Not having the magazine, I don't know exactly what you are looking at, but I imagine that this might be of help. Check it out.

http://www.msegrip.com/mse.php?show=product&cat=410&products_ID=26557

[sanking]

It is Friday, September 28 in South Carolina. Latest issue of View Camera has not arrived here as of 9:25 pm.

Given the fact that some folks in US reported arrival in early September the delay in arrival to this locations is unacceptable.

Sandy King

[Greg Lockrey]

I haven't recieved mine yet either, but then I'm in the Tundra.

[Sanjay Sen]

So, I am not the only one. :) I live in Jersey, but I always get my issues very late. The last issue was so late in arriving that I lost patience and read the entire mag in Barnes & Noble. I received the current issue only two days back, so hopefully you will be getting yours soon.


Best wishes,
Sanjay



It is Friday, September 28 in South Carolina. Latest issue of View Camera has not arrived here as of 9:25 pm.

Given the fact that some folks in US reported arrival in early September the delay in arrival to this locations is unacceptable.

Sandy King

[tim atherton]

I haven't recieved mine yet either, but then I'm in the Tundra.

Hey - it's already arrived in the Bookstore newsstands far north of you... picked one up this afternoon at Chapters in Edmonton :cool:

[Greg Lockrey]

Hey - it's already arrived in the Bookstore newsstands far north of you... picked one up this afternoon at Chapters in Edmonton :cool:

You go far enough north and then it's south again.:D

We are always a couple days late here since our mail is routed through Detroit first.

[sanking]

You go far enough north and then it's south again.:D

We are always a couple days late here since our mail is routed through Detroit first.

Well, it is not that far from Albuquerque to South Carolina. USPS mail takes no more than 2-3 days. Direct by car over I-40 is less than 24 hours.

Sandy King

[steve simmons]

Believe me, every publisher in the US would love for USPS delivery of periodicals to go more quickly and smoothly.

View Camera is printed in Kentucky and sent periodical rate (formerly called 2nd class). The issues are grouped by distribution area and trucked to USPS distribution centers around the country. For example, the distribution center for much of the west coast is in Oakland, CA. Since copies have already arrived in CA, CO, and much of New England it appears that some areas, that may be closer to KY, are getting slower service. For this I apologize.

If anyone does not get their copy in Monday's mail please call us and we will send another copy directly to you.

800-894-8439 m-f 7-4 mountain time

steve simmons

[Mike Castles]

Not sure this helps any, but it made it to North Texas this week...and looks pretty good to me, hope to spend some time reading more of it this weekend.

[Andrew_4548]

Robert, thanks for the link but they're like are available for tent guy ropes and rely on tension from both directions of the string - not easily possible with the tripod setup :-(

Here's a quick scan of the picture:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/Apple/LF%20stuff/tripod.jpg

It shows a twin cord fastener - effectively like on a 10-gallon hat but a bit more sophisticated...

[Charles Hohenstein]

Mine still hasn't arrived, so I might go to Barnes and Noble today and have a peek.

[Jon Wilson]

I renewed my subscription for 2 years last week and received this issue Saturday. Excellent service and a most excellent issue....especially the article where Jim Galli is interviewed.
Thanks. Jon

[Charles Hohenstein]

Well, I managed to have a peek at the new issue at Barnes and Noble, and if the rest of the issue is as badly edited as the Jim Galli article, I will be extremely disappointed. Jim's pictures were great and the interview was interesting, but the proof-reading errors (especially in the captions to the pictures) were inexcusable in a print publication. This was a serious problem with View Camera in the past, and for a while it seemed that Steve was making progress in that area--but it looks as if my hopefulness was premature. There is simply no excuse for this kind of negligence in a periodical that wants to be taken seriously.

[steve simmons]

The issue is seen by a proof reader. Obviously we need to help this person with some technical names but we have made improvements - significant improvements - in the last 18 months. This is not negligence. I find errors in magazines like Time, SI etc. Mistakes happen.

View Camera is still an excellent magazine and full of useful info that can not be found anywhere else.

BTW
some people would consider this a run-on sentence and poorly composed

This was a serious problem with View Camera in the past, and for a while it seemed that Steve was making progress in that area--but it looks as if my hopefulness was premature.

Editing is not always a cut and dried science.

Again, mistakes happen.

steve simmons

[Greg Lockrey]

Steve, maybe you can't farm out the proof reading to Taiwan. :D

(It's my Monday:eek: )

[Merg Ross]

This is a rather sad thread. I thought it might address the content of the current issue. Instead, we have the same old tired complaints of late delivery. And, of course, the typos.

I am not here to support Steve, but let me say that for more than fifteen years I have looked forward to the next issue of View Camera. The current issue, which arrived about 60 days after the previous issue, is no exception. It includes work that I might not otherwise see; that is why I subscribe and support View Camera.

It is easy to crticize and look for perfection; but with photography being a visual language, I will accept the typos and late delivery.

I agree, the Jim Galli portraits are very good.

[r.e.]

I find errors in magazines like Time, SI [Sports Illustrated] etc.

You're joking, right?


View Camera is still an excellent magazine...

Hey, if the publisher says so, I guess that it must be true.


Editing is not always a cut and dried science.

Just how complicated can it be to use a spell and grammatical checker? I mean, you've been failing at it for years to the point where you are your magazine are in the view of many people a laughing stock. How many more years' practice do you need with a spell/grammatical checker to get mastry of it to the level of a ten year old?

I'll say one thing, you have some nerve blaming years of embarrassing writing and editing on your current proof-reader.

As for your decision to draw a comparison between View Camera and Time and Sports Illustrated, and your assertion that your magazine is "excellent", despite that fact that the quality of the writing and editing would get a high school kid a grade of C at best, I can only conclude that your last several years of denial continues. Just more of the same.

[steve simmons]

How many more years' practice do you need with a spell/grammatical checker to get mastry of it to the level

mastry is usually spelled mastery

where you are your magazine are in the view of many

I would have used the word 'is" but actually this sentence is so badly written it is difficult to decide what word should be used!

Now, lets talk about the content of the issue, the photographs, etc.

Any comments?

steve

[r.e.]

Any comments?

Yeah, I have a comment. I write on a BlackBerry, and have an eyesight issue, which is why my BlackBerry signature says: "This has been written on a 2"x2" screen and almost certainly has one or two typos :)".

The problem is that your magazine is edited and published as if the whole thing was written on a BlackBerry.

It's a bit much to blame your current proofreader for a problem that has been going on for years, as is the idea of comparing your magazine's technical standards to those of Time and Sports Illustrated. What planet are you on?

Anyway, as someone else pointed out, this has been discussed ad nauseum on this forum. I stopped reading your magazine three years ago precisely for this reason, and so I'm irrelevant.

[steve simmons]

"This has been written on a 2"x2" screen and almost certainly has one or two typos ".

I missed this on your signature. Where is it?

You misspell words and write incoherent sentences and then dare to criticize View Camera for errors you don't even see because you don't read the magazine.

I agree, you are irrelevant.

We've had readers since day 1, advertisers from very early on, and more submissions than we can publish. We get new subscribers every day, and readers who let their sub lapse come back and asked for the issues they missed, etc., etc.

Are we perfect. NO. Will we ever be, probably not. But we work damn hard to be the best we can. We show the work of the known and not known, we review new and used equipment (who else reviews used equipment?????), we do CMYK black and white reproductions for the portfolios (who else does this?????) and we show basic how-to articles that demystify what some want to make complicated. View Camera, and my book Using the View Camera, have helped thousands of people for the last 20+ years. I get pm's and phone calls daily thanking me for the book, the magazine, and the workshops I do. These people won't come on here because they are too busy enjoying their lives and because they don't want to risk being skewered by those who seem to enjoy being nasty for the sake of their own private thrill.

Enough of this.

Does anyone want to discuss the photographic content of the issue and the techniques involved in making those images?

steve

[Merg Ross]

Steve, exactly my point.

[Sanjay Sen]

Steve, your magazine is not perfect, but it is pretty darn good. And the only one of its kind that is dedicated to LF photography that I know of. That is what makes me so impatient to get my hands on the mag. I wish it were a monthly!

In the current issue, I loved the Larry Vanier & James Galli photographs. The Grid-Portraits article looks interesting (I haven't read it yet) and it is something new to me.


Keep up the good work!


Best wishes,
Sanjay

[steve simmons]

I do take the impatience to get the issue as a compliment. I will talk to our printer, who has an in-house mail facility - about the slow delivery problem.

thanks

steve

[Mark Sawyer]

View Camera is the only journal covering our form of photography, and if it ever disappeared, I doubt another like it would evr take its place. It's also quite small by commercial publishing standards, done as much for love of the art form as for profit, I suspect. It's more "professional" in appearance and editing than much, much larger publications. And I suspect the management at Time would be happy if their worst problem was the occassional minor typo... (And yes, they have them too...)

Regarding Jim's article, Jim should have the loudest compliment or complaint. But given the tone the thread has taken, I don't know if he'll chime in one way or the other...

I'll just observe that my collection of View Camera magazines has a permanent spot on my bookshelves and even years after publication they are perused regularly. And each new issue is appreciated.

Thanks, Steve!

[Michael Graves]

Steve, ignore the miscreants and keep putting out your magazine. When their magazine gets better reviews than yours, then they can be hypercritical. But until they can put up, perhaps they should shut up. But I'm sure you're used to all this, as long as you've been around.

[Kirk Gittings]

One of the things I love about the web (not) is the anonymous snipers. it reminds me of the 6th grade when we would shoot spitballs at the teacher when their back was turned.

[Bill Kumpf]

View Camera is the only photo magazine I buy regularly. I will browse other offerings in the store but usually return them to the self.

I look for information, techniques, equipment reviews, and content that simulates me as a photographer. View Camera Magazine provides that. The Conferences are even better.

Besides, I remember way back when, a “C” in high school English was good.

Keep it coming, Steve.

[Jim Galli]

First of all, I'm enjoying my little minute of fame. ;) Thanks Steve.

Second, I've tried my hand at authoring magazine articles for Aggie's little start up and it aint as easy as it sounds. I'll write something, read it 10 times, think to myself, this is a spark of brilliance, then come back to it later (like after it's published) and think to myself, what rubbish.

Janell was an intern on the learning curve. We try not to kill the preacher because the first sermon sucked. She'll get better. The only error that did upset me was that my website address was wrong even after I corrected it on her proof. Presumably folks who don't frequent here would never find me if they wanted to.

No issue here in Tonopah. Did I subscribe in time for this issue, or will it be the next? Also, really nice form if VC would mail out maybe 5 issues to the folks who are contributors. We contribute at no cost and then spend a fortune buying half a dozen or more mags for all the relatives and people in the pictures that want one.

Thanks to Juergen who mailed me his issue so I'd have one. What a great gesture.

[Michael Graves]

Steve? You don't give contributors copies?????? Even my computer book publisher does that! C'mon man, even my worst short story got me a contributors copy.

[steve simmons]

Yes, we do.

steve

[Eric Biggerstaff]

Jim-

Just let Andrea know in the office that you need a few copies, she always sends me a few when I have something in an issue.

Steve -

Keep up the good work, there are more of us who appreciate your efforts than don't.

And yes, I may be a little biased as I have an occasional article in VC but by and large it is a solid publication and I have been buying/subscribing to it LONG before I ever contributed to it.

[PViapiano]

Besides, I remember way back when, a “C” in high school English was good.

Typos show a disregard or an uncaring attitude toward detail. As many LFers and other photographers know, that detail is what it's all about. It's what separates a good photograph from one that is merely acceptable. A cavalier attitude in this respect carries over into all aspects of life if you let it.

Yes, View Camera is an amazing magazine that is getting better with each new issue, but making excuses for it by saying it's the images that count and not the rest, is hogwash. Just own up to it, say it'll be better in the future and then go out of your way to make sure it is better.

Yes, mistakes happen. I expect those mistakes when I read message forums because of the nature of the medium (quick typing, getting the thought out quickly, brevity), but not in a published print magazine. LensWork has had a few in recent months and it definitely takes away from the perception of the magazine as a serious and intelligent publication.

Perception is everything...

[Blacky Dalton]

Keep up the good work Steve! I have every Issue of View Camera Magazine starting with the very first. I really believe that if all of your supporters would make themselves known, the whiners would be trampled in the dust! But I am sure the majority of your readers are too busily absorbed in your magazine’s content to even notice the errors. At least I am. I could give a flip about spelling or punctuation if I am interested in the subject.

For all the literary perfectionists, let me call your attention to the current issue of Lens Work (#72), specifically the first comment in “Bill Jay’s EndNotes.” Atta-Boy Mr. Jay!!!

I will shut up and get back to work now,

B Dalton

[Brad Rippe]

Thanks for such an informative magazine Steve, I really appreciate the work it must take to produce it.
-Brad

[Rick Rosen]

Steve,

Your dedication to a medium and a format that most in the industry would call dead and buried is very much appreciated by this old lover of getting under the dark cloth and enjoying the world revealed on the ground glass.

I know the magazine is very much a labor of love and it shows.

Rick

[PViapiano]

Just got mine at the local Borders. It's a really nice issue with great portfolios.

Jim Galli's photos look superb in print...!

[Peter Lewin]

First, I'll just add my name to that growing list of subscribers who want to let you know how much we enjoy the magazine, which should be obvious from the long threads that it always seems to generate!

But a real question related to Stu Levy's grids in this month's edition: Many of the adjoining photos seem to line up almost exactly, i.e. rather than overlapping when making multiple images meant to line up (as when I shoot several images intending to make a panoramic image by joining them), Stu seems to line up many image edges rather precisely. Any hints on how he does this? I would also think that the mechanics aren't that easy, unless he is using a center column to raise and lower his camera (i.e. resetting the legs and re-leveling would seem time consuming, for example while Jay Dusard is sitting stationary on his horse. Anyway, Stu's work was one of the relatively rare times when I got really interested in the technical procedures, so any thoughts would be welcome.

[Charles Hohenstein]

I still haven't received this issue in Indiana.

[steve simmons]

PM sent to Mr. Hohenstein

steve

[Jim Grimes]

Steve, I haven't received my copy yet. Any chance of having one sent out US Mail?

James

[steve simmons]

we will send one out Thursday

thanks

steve

[steve simmons]

Mr. Grimes

your magazine is going out today



Mr. Hohenstein

If you can call us at 800-894-8439 m-f 7-4 mountain time we will get your subscription situation straightened out.



thanks

steve simmons

[Tom Diekwisch]

Got my copy on Friday (Chicago). I thought it was an absolutely beautiful issue and informative throughout. Jim Galli's portraits were superb. I also really liked Larry Vanier's images (thanks, Ted Harris). Steve Simmons' article on working with models was insightful and worthwhile. I also likes the grid portraits. For me it was easy to overlook the few typos. I felt that the typesetting had improved and the overall presentation was more appealing and homogeneous. Overall, an awsome statement for large format photography. Keep them coming, Steve! Tom

[darr]

I have been a subscriber for many years. I would be lost without my issues of View Camera. Yes, there can be a few typos, but I have to admit, it is the content and the contributors that keeps my interests and not looking for grammar or spell check errors. I moved in July about 500 miles north of my previous location. I placed a change of address with most everyone as soon as I could. I screwed-up and lost my July/August issue to the USPS forwarding system. I called VC last week to order another July/August issue and to say I had not received the current issue either. Andrea took my new address and confirmed it with me and sent me both magazines free of charge. I received them this past Thursday and I finally got my VC fix. One more comment before I sign-off:

:) Steve you run a class operation!:)

[Jim Galli]

Steve, I couldn't find the cover credit for this issue. Am I just blind? Thanks. Love the cover BTW, right up my alley. jg

[steve simmons]

Thanks for the comments.

The credit for the cover photo is right below the cover photo.

steve

[Jim Galli]

Thanks for the comments.

The credit for the cover photo is right below the cover photo.

steve

DOH! Told ya. Blind as a bat.

[steve simmons]

Thanks Jim and thanks for letting us show your work.

steve

[jetcode]

DOH! Told ya. Blind as a bat.

well for a blind man you sure know how to frame a portrait :)