Matt, I'm like you -- I can't stand to draw attention to myself. Unfortunately, using a big camera is like carrying a neon sign that says "Look at me!" To avoid people, I try to shoot during weekdays (if I have the day off from my job), when most people are at work or in school. I also try to shoot very early in the morning, especially on Sundays. Most people aren't early birds.
Matt: There is certainly a case to be made for MF with modern emulsions. A 6x7 neg can make a print that is hard to pick out next to a 4x5 neg print in moderate enlargements. That is not the point. The camera is a tool to make images, and you may be better suited to MF cameras. I am not. I like the whole LF process, and I love the control it gives me. I also like to shoot with the old Rollei at times. Personally, I rather enjoy people coming by to chat and looking at that "ol' timey camera" on the tripod. I usually let them take a quick look under the darkcloth at what I am looking at. It has never cost me a shot, and I have learned of some neat places to shoot from the locals. The LF gear on the tripod seems to say to them that you are serious about your photography, and the locals want to help out. If I need to get the shot right away before it changes, I ask them to give me a couple of minutes to get the shot then they can look at the ground glass. Two of my better selling photos have come about because I took the time to be cordial and listen to what they were telling me. I look upon a shooting session as fun, and sharing it makes it even more fun. I have never had anyone interfere with what I was doing, but I have had them help.
The wilds of the Idaho Bitteroot Mountains just minutes away? AND YOU CAN'T GET MOTIVATED!!?? Wanna trade places??? What destinations I have that are minutes away form my house in the great congested city state of NJ are a few lighthouses, beaches, strip malls, strip bars, and maybe a firehydrant. How about lugging around an 8x10, a 4x5 around NYC and shooting the great canyons and skyscrapers of concrete, neon and glitter, all the while looking over your shoulder for for muggers or terrorists?
Appreciate what you have and get out there and make pictures!
I love to shoot LF, but don't often have the time or energy to do it. My 4x5 can sit on the shelf for months or a year between sessions, but so what? Shoot 35mm or MF when you want, and 4x5 when the need strikes. There is no moral issue here; the cameras don't care and you shouldn't. Some people are a bother, but the ones who show an interest and curiosity are worth all the rest.
I tend to divvy the photography into 2 categories. Shots for me, just for the pleasure of the quality. Most are never seen by anyone else. I just enjoy the experience. And of course project or job shots. I'll be darned if I'd grab anything bigger than a Nikon to go make a picture that some magazine is going to print at 3X4 inches. I'm just finishing a series of 14 20X30 color prints of Nevada places and people are falling on themselves over the quality that my old Mamiya 6X9 produced. But then there's the "other" pictures. Just for me. No rules, no deadlines, no one else to please. Someone else mentioned "mood." When those days finally come when I just get to go play, I'll throw 4X5, 5X7, 8X10, and most of the lenses I own in the truck and head for the high country. Then I just set up whichever meets my mood for the moment. These are obviously not week long back country trips. Typically a morning walk with one format, and then some afternoon things with another. I do enjoy "the process" and lately it's the 5X7 that gets used the most.
So if your photography is for your own pleasure, take the system that does that best for you. If it's for sales, take the system that's going to get the job done.
I'm not a camera gear collector but there's a few reasons that I never sell anything and one of them is I never know what I need...very often when I go for a trip I pack 35mm + MF + LF... and sometines I come back without shooting a single frame...in my opinion it's not "lack of motivation" because I don't force myself shooting for the sake of shooting... I shoot because I like what I see... Of course LF take more time and energy to haul and set up and dealing with curious humanoids...
Motivation, interest, flame etc.. etc.. you name it...do die down a bit time to time... when it happens just let it pass... if you like to switch gear then do it (but don't get rid of it... you never know), as mentionned above they are tools...don't feel bad because you should use "this format" instead of "that format".. A.Adams use MF... so?...
Matt, I think i hear you saying that large format doesn't feel right for you, but you are experiencing some feelings of "peer pressure" to stay with LF. In other words, maybe someone has planted in your mind the idea that you're not a "real" photographer if you're not using a view camera. If this is true, I urge you to pull that idea out of your mind and flush it down the toilet!
The way I see it, using a view camera is a royal pain in the butt for a whole bunch of reasons (weight, cost of film, time required to take a photo, the attention the camera attracts, to name a few). And so the ONLY reason to put up with those drawbacks and use large format is if there is some specific need to have large negatives that relates directly to the personal vision you are trying to communicate. If you don't need large negatives, or if your work is better done with a smaller (or handheld) camera, then there is no reason to be working in large format.
Here's an analogy: You sound to me like an oil painter who is saying "I've discovered charcoal drawing, and love it, and I never really liked oil painting, but I'm not sure if I'll still be a real artist if I quit oils and take up charcoal." The obvious answer is, go for what works for you; the soul will carry through more clearly if you choose a medium you are comfortable with.
And, when all else fails, consider Henri Cartier-Bresson, arguably the greatest photographer in the history of the medium, who took every photograph of his career with a handheld 35mm point-and-shoot.
Matt, I have been using LF for about 30 years. When I use the 4 x 5 I am shooting for me. I'm not trying to please an art director, a finicky client etc. I am shooting for me. The quality of the images obtained with LF are superior in every aspect when compared to MF or 35. Believe me I have used them all and nothing delights me more then the finished quality of a fine print made from enlarging a 4 x 5 or contacting an 8 x 10. Should you lug the LF equipment, hell no!, not if you don't love it.
Your remarks remind me how much I like my Press camera.. I can set it up in less than a minute since I keep the short column on it, it has a rangefinder so I can focus very fast, and a sportsfinder, and I only carry a few items besides, and ones not a focusing cloth. I carry a hyperfocal chart I made for every aperture and can handhold the camera or use it on a monopod quite easily. It all fits in a cheap normal size adult backpack with a Domke insert for the extras, and it's ready to go at all times. Now I don't shoot it all the time, but it's there for my Sunday morning outings, which are mostly to get me out of the house and into nature. As far as the passerby's are concerned, I love to talk, and find it a great time to hand my cards out. Maybe you just need to simplfy a little from an equipment point, and find thru conversation that those passerby's might just be a little more important than the picture your taking?
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