My first attempt at LF

[Josh]

I'd firstly like to thank the people on here who've helped me over the last few weeks wrt to issue with my camera, which it turns out, there were none.

I've just developed my first few photos from my camera, and the results are amazing. Only quickly rephotographed them, so I'm haven't seen them in all their detailed glory, but wow. I also realised I screwed up a lot of bits. I didn't use the developing tank right, so I scratched some parts of the film. I didn't add any soap to the last wash to remove the streaks, so there are streaks, and I didn't account for reciprocity failure in one of the exposures.

I also felt super awkward faffing about under my dark cloth with people walking by on the street, but no-one seemed all that interested in what I was doing.

The resultant photos are not great pieces of art, but hopefully the beginning of a fun little exploration in seeing the world 20 square inches at a time. I've planned on photographing a some buildings in my city which are important to me, or well known land marks.

I think most of the issues with the pictures are in the quick scan I did (I just photographed them in the bathroom against a white tile). I'll have to work out a way of scanning them properly. If anyone has any feedback I'd be excited to hear your tips.

[lanactoor]

Congrats on your success! I think everyone who works with film photography shares the magical feeling of seeing their images spring into existence during the process. Below is a quick brain dump of my perspective on working with film.

In my journey, the first step in the creation of images was becoming a competent technician; that is, competently operating the camera (somewhat excluding exposure... more on this below), successfully developing the film, and then whatever the next steps may be in creating an image that can be shared and experienced by others. i.e. what you've demonstrated above. Experimenting with different film types, developers, and development techniques (push/pull etc) will help hone these skills. If you want a real thrill, try processing film someone else has shot

Next I was able to focus on the skills that I think really make a true photographer: exposure and composition. There is an overlap with the technician aspect here of course; you need mastery of the camera to be able to compose effectively with the movements a large format camera offers. From there, composition informs then choice of exposure, which ultimately points back at the technical aspect of how you choose to process the film. Being a skilled, technical [large format] photographer will give you an unmatched ability to create high-quality images that will freeze a moment in time forever. Being able to control the light helps

The final aspect, which is much more murky than the previous two, and that some profess to follow more than others, is that of artistry. Arguably, you don't need to be a technician or photographer to produce 'artistic' images but I think that a skilled technical photographer possesses the tools to create durable works of art, be they documentarian, emotional, or abstract. This wasn't always considered the case, particularly in the early days of photography, and perhaps even now when everyone you know carries a camera in their pocket and is nominally a 'photographer'.

As for feedback on your images, I feel that the streaky one evokes some sense of the place and time while the rocky lichen shows a decent exposure and technical processing of the film to accentuate the texture of the subject. The watermark on both of them is distracting and somewhat cheapens the images, I feel, as you experienced when shooting the photos: no one else is more interested in them than you. At least at first.

[Josh]

Thanks Lanactoor,

Yes I still need to learn a lot. I think I'll try to keep up some kind of schedule, and getting more into the feel. You made some interesting philosophical points.

I'm not a fan of watermarks either. However, I put one of the pictures on facebook, to show a friend and - as you might know - facebook legally owns all photos which you uploaded. I know they don't care about any of my work, but it would be annoying if a massive company like facebook were to use my photos for anything.

I do need to do a lot of experimenting with films and developers. I'm just amazed by how small the grain is, even on fomapan. Thanks for your comments .

[howardpan]

Congratulations on your success. You will make lots of mistakes, but that’s also an opportunity to learn something new. I hope you get a chance to make physical prints in the darkroom. I think you will really enjoy the output.

[Peter Lewin]

Josh, you are off to a good start. At this point on your learning curve you simply need to expose more film, our suggestions will come later. What caught my attention is that both of your images seem to be night shots, which add all sorts of extra difficulty (such as reciprocity failure, which you mentioned). I would start with easier daylight images (and not extreme close ups which need bellows factor calculations) which will make it easier to evaluate what you are doing.

[pepeguitarra]

They look good. Keep the good work.

[Josh]

I know the night shots are a little harder than needed, but in some ways, it's easier. I think the shutter on my lens is quite slow. I haven't carefully measured it, but 1/4 sec sounds a lot more like 1 sec. At night I the exposures are so long I can time them quite easily. That was my thought anyway, I'll probably try to clean and relubricate the shutter some time.

The lichen shot is actually indoors with a strobe, so it was quite nice and controlled. I really like macro photography, although, as you say, it is an additional level of complication. Hopefully, I'll take my camera out over a few weekends for some landscapes. I'm sure it's the same for everyone, but it is hard to find time to shoot around work, friends and SO. Thanks for all your comments.

I don't have an enlarger, but I was thinking of making some contact prints soon. It would be really great to old paper copies of my exposures from a completely analogue process. The whole thing is so visceral.

[ericantonio]

Looks great! Way better than my first time. Dang.