Hello, and stupid question

[Brian C. Miller]

If I didn't have a darkroom and do wet printing I wouldn't personally bother with LF.

Well, in fact, if I didn't do wet printing I wouldn't bother with film, but that's just me. That's the fun and rewarding part of it to me. If I were going to do it all digitally I'd just shoot it digitally.

When I bought my Graflex, I was living in an 18ft travel trailer. Polaroid was my friend! I used lots of Readyloads, too. I started developing things myself when the lab I was using started messing up.

I've never had the money to afford digital at the fidelity that I want. Film, even scanned with a flatbed at home, is still ever so much better.

Steve, do you have a printer that can produce a 16x20 print? If not, then I would suggest that since you're going to send it out to have it done for you, then not to worry about it. Might as well send the film to someone who prints optically for the really big enlargements, and scan and do the smaller stuff at home.

Can you black out your bathroom? That's what I've done with mine. I have my enlarger on a cart, and I wheel it in and out as needed. The trays fit onto my sink's space, so no problem there. There's a lot you can do when you apply some ingenuity to a problem!

[Kuzano]

My process is simple and you may be interested in how much I invested.

1) Scanner, Epson 4990 which scans 4X5 nicely.... bought used for $200.

2) Printer, Epson 2200 printer, prints to 13x19 inch .. bought used for $200 and got 3 packs of glossy print paper which were worth about $50 each, thrown in. The printer actually has a paper path of 13 inches and will print from roll paper to 44 inches, approx. This is the next class of printer over 8.5x11. They generally run to $500 new for 13-19.

Film costs... buy my film on eBay. I don't hesitate to buy expired from sellers with very high, very positive feedback. Occasionally step up for current film. My last big purchase was two big boxes of EasyLoads and Quickloads. I picked up roughly 200 sheets of film, varied expiry and emulsions for $125. I still have about 150 of those sheets left in original boxes. Always refrigerated and those I've used have been fine, with exception to my mishaps.

No wet darkroom. Have the sheets processed in Portland for about BW $2 sheet and E6 $2.25 per sheet. Four day turnaround.

Postage or a tank of gas from home to Portland.

No wet processes in home or dark room. Has never interested me and no place for it anyway. Never had room for darkroom.

My system for 4x5 is stupid simple and stupid low cost compared to many I see. But, I am pleased with the results. I do hang them on the wall for all to see.

I do very little post processing. I've been a PC consultant for over 20 years and the very last thing I want to do with my spare time is Post Process on a computer.

[Tim Meisburger]

My two cents. Like you, I started knowing nothing, and without access to anyone who had any idea what they were doing, except the people on this forum. With their help and google, I taught myself. Is it worth it? For me, hell yeh... You mention your frustration with perspective control, and that was something that bothered me as well, but once you get into to it, you control that, and everything else!.

I used to shoot 35mm like people blast digital today, but truthfully the keepers were few and far between. When I started LF I began to make, not just take, photographs. A few years later, and on a photo trip I might typically shoot six sheets a day, and end up keeping more than I would in the old days shooting a hundred frames of 35mm. I no longer point and shoot. When I finally trip the shutter I have a good sense of what my final product will be, and if its uninteresting, I don't even set up the camera. Interestingly, this way of working carries over, and on the rare occasion I pick up a 35mm, or my wife's digital, I'm much more deliberative, and a better photographer.

You don't say where you live, but if its in the UK, I would say pick up a Paterson Orbital, as you can use it to develop both negatives and prints. Otherwise, a CombiPlan or tubes for negatives and a few small trays for prints. And a changing bag. Once you have your negative, find a windowless bathroom or closet, throw a small rug or towel against the crack at the floor, get a four watt bulb and a cheap safe light, and contact print your 4x5 negatives. They will be like jewels...

[Vaughn]

Thanks - that might be just the ticket. Can you point me in a direction with some more info about what's possible?...

This is the Bostick and Sullivan Alt Forums -- there are others.

http://bostick-sullivan.invisionzone.com/index.php

Or get this great book about the whole universe of alt processes:

http://www.amazon.com/Alternative-Ph.../dp/0766820777

(shameless plug -- I have a couple images in it -- platinum and carbon prints)

The choices are many -- if you want to start out simple, try cyanotypes -- two easy to get chemicals (Bostick and Sullivan, Photographer Formulary, various chemical houses) -- Ferric Ammonium Citrate and Potassium Ferricyanide. Add to distilled water, brush onto paper, blow dry and print using UV light (the sun or cobble something together with black lights). Develop in water. Yes, one can make it more complicated than that.

Blue prints are great for some subjects (ice, snow water, etc) -- but they can also be toned in various ways to get something else besides blue.

Platinum/palladium prints are another great process. (Give you negs about 50% more development -- the process likes contrast).

But 4x5 alt process prints put together in some type of book form would be very very sweet. And a "book" can be just about anything. Small intimate images in one's hands.

There is quite the number of possibilities (gum printing over platinum, for example!). And you can make enlarged inkjet negs from scanned negatives if you so desire.

All these processes do take time to master -- so what better tool than a view camera that also takes time to use and to master! I like view cameras because they give me lots of options for image management. Placing the plane of focus where I want it to be, the time taken to look at the whole image on the GG and determine not only the center of attention, but to use the sides and corners of the image to define what is in the center.

Have a ton of fun!

Vaughn

[joselsgil]

Steve,

You may want to check out Michael Gordon's site and videos. The video shows you how to develop B&W 4X5 film with JOBO daylight tank, (not very cheap). Even with the BTZS tubes, you need some wet room work area.
Gordon prints his work on archival printer paper, no wet lab other than film development.

Personally, I enjoy working in a wet darkroom. But that is just my personal preference.

You have a lot of options as to what direction you want to take. It doesn't hurt to experiment and challenge yourself.

Hope this info helps,

Jose


http://michaelegordon.wordpress.com/...development-2/

http://www.michael-gordon.com/

[Roger Cole]

You don't need a big space or even running water for a darkroom. My current darkroom doesn't have running water (yet.) I have 7 gallon water jug with a spigot ($17 from Amazon) that I fill up from the water hose in the backyard as needed, and a 5 gallon bucket for waste water that gets dumped upstairs. I set off about a 10x12' area of the basement by hanging black plastic, and more plastic overhead which helps control dust and makes a "box" I can heat in the winter. The lack of running water isn't ideal but it's comfortable, big enough for all my stuff (with a couple of tables outside the area for other things like sorting negatives, drying prints and a dry mount press for flattening them) and really works pretty well. You can use a pretty small area, even a spare bathroom at a pinch, though an area you can leave set up is VERY much better than something you have to set up and break down each time.

But if even that is too much then I suppose scanning is better than not photographing (well, for me, maybe not - I just enjoy the darkroom so much but YMMV.)