Hello and some questions - from an almost converted LF photographer in Sydney

[deldridg]

i just plain do not like at all one bit, not even for a second, the digital look blown up.

small it all looks similar to me, digital printing has come a long way, and i cant see pixels in small prints, amazing really,

but poster size and yyyyyyyuuuuuuuuukkkk


you can achieve great things, but you must be prepared to wrestle!

Yes, I must agree with you on that. Certainly not always, especially these days but often digital prints can tend to the clinical, character-less, doctored or just plain bland [ducks and hides...].

Some film shooting character once said that they had decided to leave the digital work to the proctologists!

Cheers,
David

[deldridg]

Hi David, from another Southerner -- this one based in Cape Town, so warm greetings on this beautiful winter's afternoon!

Thank you for posting such thought-provoking questions. As a relative LF newbie, they've made for an interesting reflective exercise, both looking at others' answers and thinking about my own:

...


Also, David, I propose a toast to your supportive wife, along with my patient and supportive partner, who puts up with my endless photo-mumbling

Have a great day / evening,
Hal

G'day Hal - you live in a beautiful city. I remember a few years ago walking up Table Mountain with a sack full of gear - XPan + lenses, 2x35mm bodies and another 3 lenses + tripod. What a view though! I can see you marching up there with a huge tripod and massive 8x10... Hehe

Hey thanks for your kind words and eloquent response to my ramblings. I'd love to see some of your shots - your country has many similarities to ours** and I'd love to experience some nostalgia through your lens (**other than our 'dangerous' creatures are more likely to sting you than eat you...).

The post shooting side of the equation worries me too - not being able to scan the big 4x5 easily (without taking them to an expensive lab) worries me and I don't have easy access to a lab (or the skills) required for printing them. My scanner will scan up to 6x17 (Microtek 120tf) so have been looking at a 6x12 back that can go into whatever 4x5 I purchase. Aaaagh - more decisions, learning and $$$!! Good luck with your LF enlarger!

As for toasting our other halves - yes, by definition, they are long suffering but as with mine, I'm sure your partner is always very grateful to have such a lovely record of your lives together!

Cheers and thanks,
David

[cosmicexplosion]

PS

you can get by cheap with contact prints.... i have a dark room for hire

[Ray Drueke]

Hi,
Welcome to the world of LF. I hardly feel correct making that statement since I've done so little in that format.

I noticed you mention more than once using hand tools to create furniture. You also mention soft focus images.
I also enjoy both - I always try to use at least one hand tool in every woodworking project I undertake. Sometimes I make (shop) furniture, sometimes I make a music box, I always make sawdust.

I recently went to a week long photography class here on the East coast of the US (Maine Media Workshops) and learned the difference between taking a picture and making an image. If you move anything into or out of the frame or even within the frame or change your position you are making an image.

I'll try to attach my 1st LF image to this post but the value (or reason) for the image is:
I built the camera (4x5 monorail) and the tripod,
I built the shed in the image,
I built the light post in the image, and
I created this image.

Then I found Jim Galli's work and I really enjoy it. Now I just need to find the time to create more 4x5 images.
As others have said, the process of creating the image in the camera really slows me down and I enjoy that.

Welcome to this slippery slope!

Ray.

(Now how to attach that image...)

[DrTang]

well..lets see


#1 everyone else is taking pix withtheir little look at the screen o nthe back digitals and I'm out thre with a big old 'obsolete' camera taking pix - - I like to be different


#2 I don't know..never thought about it... maybe

#3 check and re-check

#4 all my photos end up in boxes in my closet

#5 well.. I must enjoy them on some level as I keep taking them

[deldridg]

Hi Ray,

thanks for your response and wow - your work is beautiful. Clearly you enjoy the satisfaction that painstaking effort brings and it's also clear to me that you don't have a couple of under 3's to occupy your head-space and woodworking time! Fortunately they are a good excuse to make images!

What a treat to be able to combine your passions as you have done. Thanks for the post (and the incentive...).

Cheers,
David

[deldridg]

Hey Dr Tang,

I too have a closet full of boxes full of images (along with too many terrabytes on too many hard drives...). I also like the idea of doing something different to the crowds along with being immersed in the process (ie. such as the passion for woodworking) and I suspect that will be the same for working under the hood.

Cheers and thanks,
David

[Alan Gales]

Well David, with all our responses I hope you realize that large format is not an evil god but a warm friend. Now all you need to do is to buy a large format camera and lens and in the immortal words of Pawlowski, "Grow a pair and go shoot!".

Welcome to the forum. I think you are going to fit in fine!

[Robert Oliver]

it's about the process to me... I find it way more enjoyable.

I'm still excited every time a watch a print develop in the tray or get to see a negative for the first time out of the chemicals....

good luck!

[deldridg]

Well David, with all our responses I hope you realize that large format is not an evil god but a warm friend. Now all you need to do is to buy a large format camera and lens and in the immortal words of Pawlowski, "Grow a pair and go shoot!".

Welcome to the forum. I think you are going to fit in fine!

Hi Alan,

I just popped down to my computer to tempt myself into taking the plunge and saw your words... A couple of clicks later and voila! One mint Schneider APO 150/5.6 Symmar MC is mine, all mine! So thank you for 'tipping me over the edge'! I'm close to doing the same with a Schneider 90/5.6 APO Symmar... Yikes!

The next step is to commit to a camera - I'm 95% ready to buy a Chamonix 4x5. Mmmm - looks so good and reads so well.

So I have one foot through the door and thanks for giving me the right words ("grow a few")!!

Cheers,
David