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[RichSBV]

There are apparently quite a few LF camera makers in the US. How about a visit to their factories for an inside look along with an interview?

Seems rebuilding and refinishing old cameras is very popular. How about an interview with some of the people out there who do that. What finishes work best for 70 year old cherry? How to do the brass work. Not so much a "how-to", but "how they do"...

Something on 8x10 chocolate Polaroids...

And digi-what??? Who cares!!!

[Jeff Morfit]

How about an article on how to properly prepare an effective portfolio for presentation. I have yet to see anyone write an article on this important subject.

How about how to get your photos ready for a photo show. What to do and what not to do as far as matting, mounting, and displaying your photographs. Too many people just slap something together without a clue as to what judges at photo shows look for in a photograph.

[MIke Sherck]

I'm more interested in why a particular photograph was taken than with what equipment it was taken with. When you profile photographers I'd like to see more discussion of their esthetic and what lures their attention to the images they take. On the other hand, you do have quite good variety in your magazine. The articles you recently ran on stock photography and gallery sales were interesting and different, if not necessarily immediately useful to me. Interesting beats useful, hands down!

I don't care for your short, 1-2 paragraph "equipment reviews" which basically just repeat the manufacturers' specifications. They don't say anything useful or interesting: there are a lot of sources for that sort of info. If you want to review equipment I'd much rather see hands-on reviews, in depth, by working photographers who've actually spent some time with the gear and who aren't afraid to point out the weak points as well as the strong ones.

I like the articles you've been running comparing different developers, papers, etc. Having an experienced photographer or printer give their personal impressions of working with materials is helpful when trying to figure out what to do next (such as the present situation when Forte paper is unavailable, or nearly so. Need to find an alternative, I guess...)

I don't care for digital much, either capture or printing, but that's a personal thing. I spend all day in front of a computer and just don't want to spend my leisure time wondering whether it's time to upgrade the beast again. Looking at the magazine racks at my local Borders, there does not seem to be a lack of magazines covering (or devoted exclusively to) digital in some form or other. (On a side note, my local Borders carries perhaps three magazines which are film-oriented photography, and a dozen which are all or nearly all digital. Why is it that film-oriented magazines are accused of being "anti-digital" and the vast pool of digital magazines are not accused of being "anti-film"? Never understood that one.)

[steve simmons]

Thanks for taking the time to respond. I have printed out this thread and am reviewing the suggestions.
Some of your ideas are in progress beginnig with the March issue. We have Charles Cramer beginning a series on color printing by reviewing recent hx of color printing. This will be an ongoing series andwill move into digital printing. We have an article coming up in May on scanning lf negs.

We do thearticles on people doing books to show the process. It is evryone's dream to do a photo book and we want to make sure everyone understands the process

We will look for leser known photographers and do more byo types of articles.

Thanks and keep the comments coming.

steve simmons

[Bob Douglas]

Steve,

First off thanks for publishing VC without it large format photography would be at even more of a disadvantage.

You've ask for suggestions (for articles). Well my pet peeve is the website login/password. I can't find my bloody little address tag, it was right here. Pls fix this and issue more permanent passwords.

Oh yeah you ask for articles. Here are some ideas to consider.

1. Interviews.
John Sexton. An intimate portrait of AA. Discussions on the fine art print.
Dan Burkholder. The future of the digital negative. Improvements in printer technologies. Update on his book.
Kim Weston. Discussions on his family the legacy, the influences. Printing techniques.
John Fielder. The photographer and the environment. His reflections on the art of seeing.
Other emerging photographers with more to tell than simply format, film and lens.

2. Techniques for selling fine art work.
Galleries
Publications
Online auctions

3. Archival techniques
Slide/negative and print processing
Mounting and framing

4. Add a section for 1/4 page photographer adds similar to Lenswork.

[steve simmons]

As an aside the March issue is our 100th issue. I never thought I'd live to be 100

steve simmons

[Mark Sawyer]

I don't know if the lead time necessary would allow it, but you might consider reviewing major exhibitions by large format photographers.

I'd also like to see a bit more criticism and opinions on philosophical/aesthetic issues. These tend to generate the most involved responses and longest threads on this forum, indicating a good level of interest in these areas.

And I second the call for more portfolios by lesser known photographers, or lesser known work by well-known photographers. (I'm always disappointed to see photographers publish the same image in three or four different books and then in a magazine portfolio too.)

Seems a little heavy on the digital side lately...

[Bobby Black]

This may seem a bit off-topic or abstract, but how about an article on "how to get there." What I mean by this is, for every great photo, a lot of time and thought went into how to traverse to that location, getting permits or finding access roads to different spots, tips for packing essentials, spotlights on possible new locales, etc. Kerry and others have touched on this occasionally, and a lot of great information on the topics of permits and access have been presented in this forum.

Maybe some real world experience, like road trip/anecdotal type stories in which we can learn from others' mistakes, be entertained with their trials and tribulations and view some great artistic photos. I know that I really enjoy sitting down with shooters who have been doing this alot longer than I have and hearing all of these great tales.

The journey is half the adventure; we are supposed to be enjoying this, right?

Thanks,

Bobby

[John C Murphy]

The reason I subscribe is because the landscape portfolios are so beautiful.

[Terence McDonagh]

How about a series on early large format cameras (boxes, tailboards, etc) from the user's perspective, not the collector's.

An article on buying and refurbishing old cameras. With the exception of the wealthy/brave/crazy folks who start with an Ebony, who didn't start with a Korona/B&J,etc. Maybe enlist Richard Ritter.

Some articles on homemade cameras and accessories. Maybe get the fellow who wrote Primitive Photography to do an article on the user's perspective of his work (the book covered more of the construction side). Another article on homemade lens would be great too. There was one about a year ago that was good, but only covered using wide-angle filters. There's a whole world of surplusshed.com lenses out there. I can't be the only nutcase. Somebody else is buying up all the oldies on eBay, etc. Even the "parts" cameras are going for $200-400.