Large Format Landscapes

[mathomas]

I think it's fantastic. I mistook the framing when I stopped scrolling at a point that made the frame a perfect square, so I understood eventually to keep scrolling. The picture stands just fine as framed, and can even stand a different format (square!) so I think you've got two perfectly good images here!

Thanks for your comment. Sorry for my tardiness. I've been traveling and replying to this forum with my iPad is a pain :-). I was really happy to have achieved great depth-of-field in this image. Makes me feel like I'm "getting it". Now if I'd only stop making stupid mistakes like pulling the dark slide with the lens open, I'll be golden!

I think you're right that this image works as a square (either top or bottom). Things don't usually work out that nicely.

[krishmandal]

Now if I'd only stop making stupid mistakes like pulling the dark slide with the lens open, I'll be golden!

I've been shooting for a long time and while LF is something I let go of for a while, and just got back into recently, I still makes "stupid mistakes." The thing is, this format takes patience, and sometimes quick thinking, two things that take a lot of practice if you want them to be present at the same time. There are a lot of factors to consider, and a process that you must create for your own camera, and your own style, and it all gets muddied up once you get the "oooh, ooh, oooh!" feeling that your image is about to be taken away from you because the light changes, or the wind picks up, or someone comes by and says, "Nice camera, mind if I watch while you work?"

I was photographing a rather simple shot in NYC but the camera was tilted up at a skyscraper. I get a lot of attention on the streets because of the LF camera. And it happened. Someone spoke to me, and I blundered. I pulled the dark slide on the wrong side of the cartridge, and stood there holding the slide and talking to the person. And then I realized I just ruined a sheet of film. I guess you can say I was driven to distraction by all the attention someone gave me because of my camera.

[Jerry Bodine]

Mistakes are not stupid. It's just that they exist in many forms and are so opportunistic (if that's a word) that they can manifest themselves in more than just one at any time. Developing habits of operational sequences can help, but there are no guarantees.

[mathomas]

...

I was photographing a rather simple shot in NYC but the camera was tilted up at a skyscraper. I get a lot of attention on the streets because of the LF camera. And it happened. Someone spoke to me, and I blundered. I pulled the dark slide on the wrong side of the cartridge, and stood there holding the slide and talking to the person. And then I realized I just ruined a sheet of film. I guess you can say I was driven to distraction by all the attention someone gave me because of my camera.

Mistakes are not stupid. It's just that they exist in many forms and are so opportunistic (if that's a word) that they can manifest themselves in more than just one at any time. Developing habits of operational sequences can help, but there are no guarantees.

When I started into this, my boss, who has a lot of experience in LF, enumerated a number of mistakes that I would make. I shot the first N sheets with no mistakes, but I was cautious because it was all very new. I feared that once I became more confident I would then run a larger risk of making mistakes. I also do YouTube videos, mostly on photography. I've noticed that worrying about video while I'm trying to set up an LF still shot would "take me out of my head" and risk mistakes.

So, on my last shoot while on vacation in KY, I was documenting it for YT and also feeling excited at the surroundings and possibilities. Predictably, I screwed up three sheets: pulled the dark slide with the lens open 1x, and metered but didn't set exposure before shooting 2x (I was able to re-take all). It will be interesting to develop all the sheets to see what other boo-boos I might have made.

I will say that, mistakes or not, it was one of the best times I've ever had. I was completely alone in a beautiful deep creek bed with waterfalls and cliffs and slow-running water. I took a lot of mental pictures, regardless of whether the actual negatives are any good.


Shooting in Howard's Creek, Clark County, KY by Mike Thomas, on Flickr

[Arkasha_from_Russia]

Hi all
Morning light on Black Sea, Crimea, Russia.
Nagaoka 4x5, Telekongo 400 f32 Tmax100 Xtol 1+1

[koraks]

Stunning! That's a magic moment, captured in a magic way.

[Rory_5244]

Wow! Fantastic!

[krishmandal]

Wonderful and emotive image, with very little "discourse." Love it!

[Corran]

Exploratory image from a new location. Going back this weekend hopefully.

Linhof MT, 58mm XL + CF, T-Max 100, FX-39:

[Arkasha_from_Russia]

thanks guys!