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Hi, LF gurus:
I'll attend a 4x5 workshop next weekend after reading a lot of exciting webpages and newsgroup discussion. I want to get the most out of this workshop, so could you pls kindly give me some suggestions on what to do? It's a two day workshop so I guess I'll have plenty of time to play by myself. Thanks a lot.
Definitely try to shoot architecture, whether it's a story building or a skyscra per. The great thing about LF is that you're able to correct horizontal and vert ical convergence with the camera movements. I took a 10 week course at a junior college in the US and when I shot a building (full on, three quarters, and then a detail), I learned a lot about camera movements (tilts, swings, rise and falls ) than I did with shooting a simple portrait. Until I shot a buidlding, I didn't appreciate the advantages of the LF camera (other than the size of the negative ).
The other thing that I found helpful was shooting a close up, one where the came ra's bellow is fully (or nearly so) extended. At this point you have to figure o ut the bellows factor (the adjustment that you have to make to compensate for ex tending the bellows beyond the its focal length). If you don't compensate for th e bellows factor properly, your negative will not be properly exposed.
Nothing about LF is as easy as it looks in a book (and I've read the Simon, Ston e, and Upton and Upton books about LF). A LF camera can be trying when you're ju st starting - especially when you're coming from 35mm. Don't give up. Be prepare d to work a lot slower than when you shoot 35mm - it's worth the additional time to get the shot right.