Why LF doesn't seem to be working for me

[marfa boomboom tx]

Are you a Formatographer, or a photographer?

Get over the "format" part of your work, then you can get to the 'other' part, which is where the boomboom is.

[John Kasaian]

Are you a Formatographer, or a photographer?
Get over the "format" part of your work, then you can get to the 'other' part, which is where the boomboom is.

So true. The camera is a tool. Use the tools you enjoy working with.

[Brian Ellis]

I find large format photography takes up less time than digital. Sifting through 100s of photos on a computer (that I've already spent best part of 8 hours during the day in front of) and then spending time editing them to make some reasonable sense of the image as opposed to shooting three or four sheets, developing them in the bathroom and scanning them in. It takes far less time in my opinion and mostly keeps me away from the damn screen.

Certainly there isn't the immediacy of sticking a digital P&S in your pocket and heading out but then I'm not sure, for me, if that's much of an advantage.

If you do decide to sell up your film and have anything in the way of 4x5 film, give me a shout! 4x5 down here isn't cheap and a little difficult to get hold of!

"Digital" doesn't require that you make hundreds of photographs in an outing. That's your choice as to how you use your digital camera. If you don't want to spend hours in front of a computer editing hundreds of images then you need to learn to be selective in what you photograph. There's also nothing that requires you to edit everything you photograph. After a day of photography with a digital camera I might have 30-50 photographs. I go through them quickly and in about five minutes I've cut it down to maybe 10-15 photographs I think are worth working on.

[Ed Richards]

As someone who once shot a lot of Kodachrome and now shoots some digital, you can treat them the same way. Set your camera for JPG and manual mode, and it is just like shooting slide film, except you do not need to wait for them to get back from Kodak. Check your exposure with the LCD, delete the bad ones as you go, and come home with the equivalent of a box of slides.

When my kids were small, LF got to be too much of a hassle and realized I was not taking any more pictures. Sold my gear and did not get back in for 20 years. Your life situation may change in the future and it may feel right again. Unless you need the money or the space, keep your gear - it is not like it is going to become obsolete.:-) Then the threshold for giving it a try again is low. I probably would have been shooting again sooner had I kept my gear.

[Brian Vuillemenot]

LF is not for everyone. There's nothing wrong with using whatever camera best fits your vision, be it 12X20, 8X10, 4X5, MF, or digital SLR.

[gth]

Since September I've managed to expose only 6 sheets of LF film. Work is killing things. Constant 10 to 12 hour days leave me so tired and with so little time for photography. What little time i do have on weekends I just find it impractical to shoot LF. I lack motivation to deal with the hassle of the format. Trying to shoot LF often stresses me out whereas I get a big buzz shooting my slrs (film and digital). Shooting lf is time consuming and expensive. I lack inspiration for projects or themes that I feel merit the use of LF. Last week i had a week climbing Scottish hills, a welcome break from work stress. A beautiful landscape but not one easily photographed in lf unless there with the express purpose of photography. I was there to climb and hike. No way could I have hauled lf kit all week in Highland winter conditions. Thank goodness for big pockets in goretex jackets and a canon digi p&s. I wonder what the point of having 150 sheets of 5x7 in the fridge is if I never get round to shooting it. As for printing? It's been months since I've been in the darkroom. I haven't even scanned the few sheets of LF that i have shot this year.

Perhaps when I retire i'll have the time and patience for large format. Right now I feel about ready to sell my LF film to someone who'll shoot something worthwhile with it. Cameras and lenses i'll keep as one day I might get to really use them properly. In the meantime I'm just not feeling LF.

For all the forum members here shooting great stuff inLF. I don't know how you manage it. Credit to you.

Man am I tired of all the negative kvetching about LF and 8x10 in particular. If you can't handle it why pollute this forum? What is the point of angst..... about digital, about it-is-to-heavy, i don't-have-time, it's-to expensive bla bla bla. If you're not into LF anymore go somewhere else..... and be happy.....