A new proportion...

[Henry Ambrose]

"Then again, a few years later, when the perspective of time has lengthened, all stands in a different setting. There is a new proportion. There is another scale of values." -Winston Churchill, on the death of Neville Chamberlain.

Forgive me the overblown introduction but I've just posted for sale most of my wonderful 4X5 outfit. What at one time I thought was the perfect kit for shooting architecture doesn't fit so well in our modern world. For the past year no one has wanted anything but digital files and the best way for me to make them happy was to use my Canon digital stuff. My view camera is better but the digital is good enough to get the job done.

This has been coming for a while but it still seems strange to send it on its way. It was good while it lasted. Check out my for sale posts if you are interested in some great 4x5 gear.

I'm gonna go drink a beer.
A little wake.

[David A. Goldfarb]

I was wondering what was up with the big sell off. Well, now that work isn't LF any more, you can invest the proceeds into something impractical like a whole plate camera for personal work.

[Henry Ambrose]

I'm keeping my SW45 and a couple of lenses - my 135mm Sironar S and a 90mm I suppose - at least for now. Or might end up with a 90 and a 150, I dunno. I like everything about shooting with that camera and I love the results.

[ASRafferty]

It's always so striking to see theory play out in practice. In the "science of management" and its literature, the migration has been from the "pursuit of excellence" to Jim Collins' notion of "good enough." (Collins coined the concept in the context of moving forward even when we don't know as much as we'd like to in order to control for all the variables. But the expression does speak for itself, and conveys the sense of the role of efficiency in economics, and choices that artists have always had to make if they want "patrons.")

Henry, I think your comments are both poignant and valuable for thinking about the implications of art going in search of customers. Just as buyers often make "substitutions" that involve compromise in order to get a better price, so do sellers in order to make the sale. Your post certainly gives the lie to bromides about sellers of anything caring not at all about quality -- they may care passionately about excellence, and have daily choices to make about what they do, as you describe here.
I suppose it's why interest in Ayn Rand's books has never evaporated.

Your post is an example I'll share with my business ethics students, to show them how UN-"cut and dried" these issues are... thanks for sharing it.

[Henry Ambrose]

Wow Amy,

All I can add is that it is certainly easier being certain. I was certain for quite a while that I was doing it "right". But the old right and the new right are different. And I'm now surprised at how long it took me to jump.

[ASRafferty]

You know the saying, Henry: "If it were easy, everyone would do it."

[Frank Petronio]

Being freed of having to deal with a full-on architectural kit may be liberating Henry.... one camera and two lenses may make better photos than having a whole slew.

[Henry Ambrose]

My "full on architectural kit" is now a Canon DSLR and a few lenses. I really only use two on most occasions, maybe three. And we still need light so that part of the kit didn't change.

[David A. Goldfarb]

And we still need light so that part of the kit didn't change.

You mean you can't just make it all up in Photoshop?

[Henry Ambrose]

I'm not so sure I miss the tools as much as I miss the attitude of putting my best effort into it. Its a different version of effort I suppose, as it still requires attention to detail and willingness to reach. Its a different reach now.