New vision, what tools.

[Doug Paramore]

Jeff: I think using a LF camera makes one a better MF or 35mm photographer simply because LF makes you slow down and pay attention to what you are doing. There are no motor drives or pentaprisms in LF, so you learn to shoot what is important instead of zipping through a roll of 35 and hoping for the best. Every LF photographer I know has set up a shot, studied it on the ground glass, and walked away without making a shot. You soon learn to recognize good images. However, I don't know if changing to LF would really solve the problem you are having with being dissatisfied with your images. You may need to give your images a good, hard look. If you like one, why? If you don't like one, why. You will learn more from the good and bad images than from th so-so images. Really pay attention to why you like or dislike an image. Does it need better printing, better composition, or was it a crap image before you took the picture. A LF can make some beautiful images, but so can a MF and 35mm. For what it is worth, I would get into LF through 4x5. It's cheaper and other than being able to make bigger contacts, it's about as good. There are many more film choices with 4x5 also.

Regards,

[Doug McFarland]

I've had this happen as well, but for me the solution comes from the darkroom. You took the image because you saw something there, but perhaps it's just not coming out on the print. For inspiration I open a book like Eddie Ephraums "Darkroom Techniques for Landscape Photography" and wish I was shooting 35mm. Nothing wrong with going up to 5x7 - that's what I shoot - but you probably have some really nice images that need coaxing in the darkroom.

... and sometimes I pick up my $15 120 6x6 Holga (not the pentax 67) and take the full frame images to 4x4 prints mounted in 8x10's. It's a great feeling of creativity that often rejuvinates me and resets my "eye".

good luck - doug

[Chris Partti]

If your problem is with creativity, I think it's unlikely that buying new gear is likely to solve it. If you're making boring negatives now, moving up to 5x7 is likely to result in bigger boring negatives. I'd spend the money on a really good workshop aimed at creative issues.

[shaman]

If you buy the 5x7, I suspect your next question will be "New tool, need vision"....LOL. whenever I feel in a creative slump, I go the opposite way - take out a cheap point&shoot camera and fire away. Several rolls an hour: shoot everything you see and sort it out later...

On the other hand, why not try 5x7? Buy used, sell it later on eBay. I recently made an attempt at LF, but found it too slow for my style. But I also agree with Glen, what helped my compositions the most, was being able to see the image on a ground glass (as opposed to looking through a camera). For you it may be the ground glass of a LF camera, for me it's the waistlevel finder on my Hassie... Good luck!

[Paul Schilliger]

Jeff, nothing wrong with your quest. But don't be too radical. I remember the fl ames up to 3 meters high from my transparencies (did not even keep the good ones). As a result I didn't touch a c amera for almost ten years and when I picked up again, it was because I had seen some large format photographs and I went that way. The first results were encouraging, probably due to a genuine thirst for achievement, but then aga in, things started to settle down very quickly. Ten other years have passed now. One has to always strive for emot ion. A Linhof Technika 5x7 or 4x5 could be a good starting point. Mastering the output process as said previously is a vital step.

[Robert A. Zeichner]

Jeff, I bought a nicely restored Century Grand 5x7 a few years back with a B&L convertable Protar. The whole package was $450, complete with a newly installed bellows. Problem was the camera was set up for plate holders, not film. I did some calculations and made an aluminum focusing shim that I insert between the gg and the lens just like a film holder. I focus, pull the shim, insert a holder and shoot. The results are wonderful. With holders, a case, some filters and a bunch of other odds and ends, I don't think I had $650 in the whole kit.

[Mark_437]

Jeff - You asked: Has anyone done this? Did it help your photography?

I think most of us have. I know I did, and yes, it helped immensely. Quite the opposite of some posters, snapping away with a 35mm or MF camera wasn't working for me. Going to LF is more than just an upgrade in image quality - it changes the way you approach photography in general. And the good news is that with vintage LF gear, you can (in a practical sense) rent it for next to nothing for a year to see how it works for you. (i.e. you can usually get your money back out of it if you decide to sell your equipment.) So follow your muse - get an old 5x7 or whatever and have fun. I'm betting you'll love it.

About creativity, we each have to find our own way. For me, I find myself always scouting for images even when I don't have my camera with me. Two benefits of this - I know where to go when I set out before sunrise early Sunday mornings instead of wasting time and light, and, more importantly, it really seems to improve my "vision". In effect, I'm "photographing" every day, or at least involving myself in the most important aspect of it. Dorothea Lange said it best - "A camera is a tool that helps you see without a camera."

Good luck!

[james mickelson]

Ok. I've heard and seen this before so here goes. Why!? If your compositions don't thrill you with your current system, then no format is going to change that. Period. If you just want to get a different view of the world, format isn't going to do that. Period. The composition is in your mind. Left or right I forget. Format is what you use to forge your ideas into something you can hold. If you can't make good images with 35mm you won't make them with 5x7 or 16x20. The answer is sitting on your shoulders. Now that we have a basic understanding of the real problem, I'd suggest two ways to work through them. First, and easiest, go some place and find the images that turn you on. Libraries are full of books with all kinds of images. All sorts of different genres. Or go to galleries and look at prints. The web is also a great place to explore creative ideas. The more you emerse yourself in photographic creations the more ideas start to blossom in your own creative mind. Great images are created everyday with everything from pinholes to digital imaging devices. Second, go find out what grabs you and go do that. Landscape, street, still life, portraiture, weddings, self images, abstracts. It's all out there waiting for you. But you have to find it. Find what turns you on. Take a creative workshop. There are many of them. Get into a camera club or get together with other photographers who shoot lots of film. Open those creative juices. Go ahead and drool. Just don't think changing formats will all of a sudden make you a creative individual. 5x7 is a very nice format but limits you to contacts or computer scans. 4x5 is doable for not much money. But 35 and MF are very versatile. Get a 4x5 speed graphic and shoot hand held with a modern flash if you really want a challenge. James

[Jimi]

Jeff,

For my own part I have found that "improving by consuming" i.e buying a new lens or a new camera doesn't really hasn't done anything radical for me in sense that I would make better pictures. I have tested (and use) 35mm, MF and LF. But I have to say LF has affected me most and it still teaches me new ways to see things.

Photos that don't pop, won't pop in any format. I have struggled with pictures, which I have done in all of the above formats and it won't come through. My line of thought is maybe you need to take a vacation, a course or something to bring new juice into the creative system.

Think long and hard on what you want to tell, and how you want to express yourself, through what medium. And be true to yourself: if you feel that might you express yourself better by doing 5x7 LF photo, by all means do it. We all have to learn by ourselves and find our own ways. Good luck!