TOP is interested in hearing from photographers who still do LF contact printing

[Monty McCutchen]

First and foremost I have to admit to being a bit humbled to being included in TOP’s selection. I’ve been a long time reader and no matter my age, I never tire of that feeling of being included by those you’ve long looked up to, whatever the field or endeavor might be—and so to Mike I’m thankful for that. AS to Bob teasing me, yes its true, I’ve been lucky enough to get to know Bob and his wonderful studio up in Toronto through various business trips there. We’ve become quite close. This past Christmas I gave him a step ladder so we could start having eye to eye conversations. All the good natured teasing aside, my pt/pd printing has been greatly improved under his constructive feedback. I’m grateful for his continued support.

Congrats to all included it was fun to see all of the excellent work.

Best,

Monty

[Merg Ross]

A talented bunch here! Great to see your work. Congrats to all.

Merg

[David Karp]

Hi Dave,
I just found this thread entirely by accident--clicked on a "came from" URL in the TypePad stats.

Alas, I basically hang out nowhere. It's all I can do to keep TOP going. It's much more work than it looks like, and I'm beginning to slow down a bit as I age. (I was 48 when I started the site 12 years ago.) And while I do have a c. 1903 Rochester Optical Pony Premo No. 6 whole-plate camera in the living room / front hall, it's there for show--I've never taken a picture with it.

At this point in history I wouldn't want the Pony Premo used. It's in fantastic condition for its age--essentially perfect, although it's not a York Peppermint Pattie because like most things that are 115 years old it can't be said to pass for new. But it's such a remarkable "survivor" that it would be a shame to start adding wear to it at this late date. I bought an ostrich-plume featherduster just to dust it!

I learned in about 1987 that I'm not naturally a view camera photographer. I think it demands a certain temperament. You have to be able to "previsualize" as AA put it--know what your picture is in advance. It still boggles my mind that Joel Meyerowitz shot 400 sheets of film to get the 100 pictures in St. Louis and the Arch...a 25% hit rate. Amazing.

I have about the opposite temperament--I like exploring, experimenting, note-taking, trying different things, and I have to admit I'm better suited to grab-shooting, snap-shooting, looking at things this way and that, playing around. Howard Bond and I used to debate 8x10 vs. 35mm and he would say he just wished more people would use LF when it's appropriate. With me, it's not that I don't take pictures I *wish* I had taken with a view camera...it's just that I never know in advance which ones those will be! What I found out was that halfway through setting up for an LF picture I'm ready to move on to the next thing. Pretty consistently. We all have to go with our strengths. (Sigh.)

To say I have a great deal of admiration for LF photographers is putting it mildly, though.

M.

Hey Mike,

You don't have to be a view camera photographer to hang out here! But I know that you don't have lots of extra time. In the end, we all just love photography.

I got some good work out of my 100+ year old Whole Plate Improved Seneca after it received a new bellows. Funny, most of my best work with it was using the 5x7 reducing back! Just a matter of chance, I think. Probably, it will soon be time to send it on to a new user though -- I have a new Whole Plate rig for my ARCA-Swiss monorail. On the other hand, I am thinking about how I might turn it in to a Whole Plate/5x7 enlarger!