How many of you were taught (in LF) ?

[Leigh]

However, my many mistakes along the way have been educational, too.

Folks always learn from their mistakes.

That's why I'm a genius.

- Leigh

[Luis-F-S]

I started out in High School with a Pentax K1000 then quickly moved on to medium format, then went commercial to support my hobby. Like the world's oldest profession, first I did it to please myself, then to please my friends, and finally for money. In the 1980's I became aware of Fred Picker, and read every one of his Newsletters. I still use several of his tools in the darkroom, then I took one of his workshops in the late 1980's. At around the same time, I met a fellow photographer not too far from me who worked in 8x10 and 8x20 and introduced me to Deardorffs and Dagors. At that point, there was no turning back. After Freddie's workshop, I took a 2 week workshop taught by Oliver Gagliani and then the Photographing Buildings Inside and Out workshop by Norman McGrath. This was a commercial workshop, but using view cameras. I followed that by teaching B&W photography at our local community college for some 12 years until I got burned out! So there you have it, I still have the Deardorffs and Dagors and thoroughly enjoy photography, plus I've made a pretty good living at it for the past 40 or so years!

[Drew Bedo]

Taught?

I took a week-long workshop with Steve Simmons at The Santa Fe Workshops in the 1990s.

Took a week-long workshop with Jerry Spagnoli at The Montana Workshops in the early 2Ks.

Is thet "studying under" someone?

[russyoung]

As a sophomore, I was the High School year book photographer in the 1960s, Crown Graphic 4x5, grip-n-grin shots of the Science Club meeting to basketball games. Next year they switched to Yashica TLRs; that guy had no idea how easy he had it.

Senior year of high school worked after school for a commercial photographer, most ads were shot in 4x5 chrome, portraits in 4x5 Super XX, architecture could be either one. I developed B&W 120 and 4x5 sheet film and made enlargements, the portraits were always on a textured Ektalure paper (my favorite paper of all time until it was altered about 1974), contact prints on Azo, commerical enlargements on Kodabromide. Finally he gave me a Speed Graphic 4x5 which I am still using 50 years later.

Russ

[seezee]

Self-taught, but my best friend is a knowledgeable photographer so I can consult him when I run into trouble.

I went from digital straight to LF, then picked up 35mm, and most recently have started to dabble in medium format film.

[John Jarosz]

Taught using a Calumet 4x5 during freshman photography at the Institute of Design (IIT) in Chicago 1968. It was tough lugging that thing around Chicago.

[Bob Salomon]

Looks like I had a different experience. In the very early 60s I joined the USAF and wanted tones photographer. The AF gave us aptitude tests in basic and decided that they would send me to Yale to learn Chinese and train me to do high speed radio intercepts. But I had a letter from my recruiter promising me photo. So while in basic I was given a bypass specialist in photography with the understanding that if I passed it I would go to photo. If I didn’t I would go to Yale. So I passed it and, while in basic received the MOS of a Staff Sargent in photo.
The AF then decided that after basic that they would assign me to the AF photo school at Lowry, AFB which would give me a MOS of 3, even though I already had a 5.
At Lowry they paired the students up at the beginning of one week. Gave one of us a large fiberboard case and the other a wooden tripod. They then sent us out on the base to shoot and use up the film that was in the case.
The case also had an 810 Deardorff and a triple convertible lens. That was my initial exposure to large format training.

[Ken Lee]

I had one of those 4x5 Calumets, a few years later: they sold a rigid case for it, strong enough that you could stand on it to get landscape shots from a little extra height. I dragged it around Chicago too

[jamesaz]

1st camera, other than instamatic, was a KS something issued to me at Ft. Monmouth in 1971. It was a speed graphic and my introduction to photography. The kit came with a tiltall type tripod, Weston V, 4&5 inch lenses, flash gun and bulbs and half dozen holders. The case had a strap you could rig to wear as a backpack. The LF training was mostly geared for technical use. Small parts, copy work etc. LF has always been available in pretty much every professional environment I've been in but as far as being taught, I was shown the basics and given a little theory but like everything it's practice, practice, practice (and I don't do it enough).

[Robert Opheim]

Yes I went through a 2 year technical / art program at a local community college in the early 1970's - Everett Community College. It was one of two programs in Western Washington State at the time. In large format we studied: product photography, and did portraits with and 8x10 studio camera with a packard shutter shooting 4x5 film.