Hey

[noahnott]

LF is so much fun! I've taken 2 photos (of the same thing) so far...but I'm hooked (sort of). I like to look at the camera, mostly...looking through the viewfinder is fun. You know...all that good stuff.

So anyways, my school has two crown graphic cameras that nobody has used for 10 years. I asked my photog teacher if she had a speed graphic (jokingly) just for fun...was not expecting "yes" as an answer.

...well, she didn't say yes, more like, "well...actually...i think we might."

So I gett to use a crown graphic (donated to the school a looonnngg time ago) till the end of the year since nobody else is using it...good stuff. It's in fairly good condition, except that the shutter blades(?) are starting to bend...but I still don't see any light passing through them. Even so, there is another lens on the other camera I can always use.

So, yeah, I had a loop laying around my house, I have a spot meter, and she handed me some film expired in 1974! Good stuff.

I developed two sheets so far...good as new (as far as I can see). I accidentally overexposed two stops since I thought it was t-max 100, not tri-x (400). The photos turned out fine! I must of metered wrong or something (yes, I loaded so the emulsion side is facing out). I used 6 sec exposure instead of 4 thinking 2 seconds would be a good estimate for the recip-whatever failure. I don't know - I'm so used to using a histogram.

Also, the film expired in 1974...pain in the rear to load. It's not a sheet and then a piece of paper, another sheet, paper, and so on. It was in this plastic casing with paper tabs...not expecting that. So I just pulled on the tabs in the darkroom and just fiddled around with it..scratched some of the negatives...more good stuff. I still have no idea what the plastic thing is, but I got another 2 sheets loaded onto the little loader things (i think you people call them boards?).

So far my success rate is like 50%...the other 50% accounts for film I messed up with, or accidentally not closing the shutter before taking the actual photo.

Anyways, just saying this whole LF is fun stuff - much more fun than digital because now I have to actually 'think' about the photo before taking it.

Oh, http://noahnott.blogspot.com is my website. I'm a fan of high saturation color images.

I have do have a question: if I use cheap filters, and stack them (low end hoya's, tiffen's, etc), will it hurt the image quality so bad that I could probably get a better image quality from my digital camera?

Thanks for reading/skimming,
Noah.

[Gordon Moat]

I think Hoya filters are actually quite nice, as long as they are somewhat clean. When you stack, you might get some weird false colour effect . . . unless you are shooting B/W films. Anyway, welcome here . . . stick around a while . . . and enjoy the journey.

Ciao!

Gordon Moat
A G Studio

[noahnott]

Hey, thanks. I will be shooting B&W. I was looking at the prices of Provia 4x5 and...

...no, not my thing. Besides, I'd have to send it off to get developed/printed, that's like half the fun.

[Ralph Barker]

Welcome to the LF Forum, Noah.

Pssst. 8x10 is even more fun!

[SamReeves]

Welcome aboard. A nice selection of images on your blog BTW.

[John Kasaian]

Welcome! I learned to fly tail-draggers in Yakima, WA. You're fortunate to have a photo dept with such nifty toys & a Teacher that'll let you play with 'em!!

[noahnott]

Thanks for the welcomes!

I'll confirm what you said: It IS nice to have a photography department that is (sort of) hooked up with a nice teacher. But then my dad said his high school's photography class used speed graphics instead of 35mm. (maybe my dad was bologna sandwiching me?)

I do feel kind of guilty using up all of that developer to just develop 1 sheet...last time I was going to pour it in a cup so I could use it again later - but I forgot and poured it down the drain. Who knows, I might buy some of my own developer b/c my dad wants to start using his camera again.

Oh, and, about them tail-draggers ... i've always wondered how you see the runway when taking off in them.

There's a glider club in wenatchee that my dad and I belong to...that's how i get most of my aerials.

See you later,
Noah.

[Ernest Purdum]

About tail-draggers, you don't see the runway in front of you until you lift the tail. You have to keep lined up by using peripheral vision

Taxiing can be worse. S-turns constantly.

[noahnott]

Eeek...

...sounds safe.

[Capocheny]

So far my success rate is like 50%...the other 50% accounts for film I messed up with, or accidentally not closing the shutter before taking the actual photo.

Noah.

Greetings Noah,

Nothing that hasn't happened to most of us at one time or another. It gets easier as time goes on.

Cheers