I've been lurking for a while, but figured I'd wait to introduce myself until I had a LF image to post. I've really enjoyed reading these forums, and the images that are posted here are especially inspiring. I hope that I can learn to make such quality photos.
As a short bio, I grew up south of Atlanta, went to Georgia Tech, and now attend the University of Virginia School of Law.
I initially got interested in photography when my folks gave me a DSLR (Nikon D70) as a high school graduate present in 2005. I enjoyed taking it along on fishing trips or travels - especially on a semester-long trip to New Zealand, but it always seemed like a bit of a toy. Finally, last summer, I got a good deal on a Nikon FE2 to get into film photography. I've had so much fun researching and learning about film, how to develop it, and then make enlargements. The whole time, though, I've been practicing with the 35mm in hopes of moving up to LF. I finally got my chance when a kind woman in Charlottesville gave me her old Speed Graphic. I'll post a couple pictures of it tomorrow when I dig out the digital.
I got the Speed Graphic just a few days before finals started, and haven't gotten a chance to use it until now. Attached below is a copy of my first LF picture that I took and developed tonight. I used a paper negative, mainly because I haven't gotten around to ordering any film yet. Speaking of which, any recommendations for a forgiving/cheap film? Is Arista EDU that Freestyle carries any good? The price is certainly right for a student budget.
Anyways, I know this picture isn't that great, but I was pretty excited that it worked at all. It's a contorted looking potted tree taken with just a lamp shining on it. I didn't know how long to expose for, but I remember reading somewhere that paper often falls somewhere around ISO 6, so I exposed at f5.6 for about 4.5 minutes. It was developed in Ilford Multigrade developer. I scanned the negative on a cheap all-in-one HP and just inverted the image.
Tomorrow I'm going to try taking a picture outside with proper light, hopefully that'll come out better.
Anyways, I look forward to chatting with y'all more in the future. It seems like such a friendly and helpful group here.
Regards,
Sean
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You'll have a lot of fun with the Speed, though I'm not a good one to recommend film...I shoot just about all color transparancy and negative film, none of which is cheap or forgiving...just necessary for my architectural photography for most clients. I like the tree...I'd say you got a lot out of paper negative and a lamp!
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