LF Generation Gap ?

[nicol_verheem]

Thought I had to share this with the community:

Yesterday I was taking pictures of Avalon Bay (Catalina Island) from the pier with my 4x5 Arca. With the reflex viewer, a fair amount of rise and tilt, a cokin filter holder + ND grad, I guess it was quite a imposing setup. Standing in an area with lots of feet traffic, many passers by looked on with interest.

A ~45 yr old woman remarked "They make digital these days, you know! Slips right into your pocket". To which I just laughed and replied "different blokes, different strokes".

A ~18yr old girl (and cute at that) walk by and said "That's a rad looking camera". I was speechless.

Seems the youth of today is not as stupid as we make them...

[Michael Graves]

Thought I had to share this with the community:

Yesterday I was taking pictures of Avalon Bay (Catalina Island) from the pier with my 4x5 Arca. With the reflex viewer, a fair amount of rise and tilt, a cokin filter holder + ND grad, I guess it was quite a imposing setup. Standing in an area with lots of feet traffic, many passers by looked on with interest.

A ~45 yr old woman remarked "They make digital these days, you know! Slips right into your pocket". To which I just laughed and replied "different blokes, different strokes".

A ~18yr old girl (and cute at that) walk by and said "That's a rad looking camera". I was speechless.

Seems the youth of today is not as stupid as we make them...


My 21-year-od daughter constantly begs me to call her when I'm going on a picture-taking expedition. She then claims my 5x7 Eastman #2 as "her" camera and has made some remarkably good photographs with it. We spent Easter Sunday together shooting. I had my Toyo 810M and she had the Eastman. My wife has her own Speed Graphic outfit. Now if I could just get my son to catch the bug, I could really bankrupt myself buying film.

[Marko]

Seems the youth of today is not as stupid as we make them...

Yes, it seems our parents and grandparents were much more successful at it. :D

[Michael Graves]

Yes, it seems our parents and grandparents were much more successful at it. :D

Stupidity isn't really a generational issue. It's been around since the dawn of human history. But we always like to think that we were brighter than our forefathers, and therefore, our offspring will be brighter than us. Sadly, the ratio of intellect doesn't seem to improve from generation to generation. I'm just happy that it doesn't seem to get any less. And that there are still those of the upcoming generation that has an appreciation for film.

[Marko]

Stupidity isn't really a generational issue. It's been around since the dawn of human history. But we always like to think that we were brighter than our forefathers, and therefore, our offspring will be brighter than us. Sadly, the ratio of intellect doesn't seem to improve from generation to generation. I'm just happy that it doesn't seem to get any less. And that there are still those of the upcoming generation that has an appreciation for film.

Of course stupidity is generational - it gets noticeably refined with each generation. But it seems our kids are putting a stop to the trend, even reversing it somewhat.

:D

[Ash]

I'm 19.

[Frank Petronio]

My models like the big camera.

[Bob Bell]

I was out yesterday with a Canon 30D, 1.4x, 500/4 IS with camo lens wrap, on a wimberley gimbel, and a Gitzo CF tripod and the only person who says something is this old guy with a cane (on a hiking trail mind you) accusing me of being a federal agent spying on people when I was actually shooting a hawk hunting for food.

I don't think it matters what you shoot, if it is different than a drebel and a kit lens, some people are going to make comments.

[artedetimo]

I have had similar experiences. "Wow thats a dinosaur"; my response to the jab, "yeah the camera is older than I am. You remember these?"... the younger folk "Your looking all Ansel Adams like, cool!"

I am 29 so I am in the middle in terms of age (maybe), but I am starting to resent those weekend warrior Boomer types carrying around the $5-10k digital getups as their weekend hobbies, shooting butterflies, deer and jays and the like. It is obnoxious and such a Boomer way of doing things; like a red Ferrari. I only take out my DSLR when I have to and am embarrassed when I do... I think of myself as "consumer sellout whore" when I wave it around, and even more so when I get middle aged guys lusting over my L glass...

I am much more proud that I know how to use my LF field camera than the fact that I own L glass. One is about knowledge and respecting tradition and history, the other is about consuming, entertainment, marketing, and the latest trends. I don't think "us" young people are any smarter or stupider, just developing our own sense of values and coming out from the shadow of Boomer selloutism.

[Marko]

Well, we need to make up our minds:

- We either want to ridicule other people's choice of activities/equipment OR we want them to respect ours.

- We either consider ourselves smart OR we consider our kids stupid, regardless of the kind of camera they choose.

As for the proverbial cake, those of us talking about "kids" or "younger generation" should consider switching to bran muffin or something along those lines instead and start being nice to our kids because they will be picking our nursing homes some day...

;)

[Bob Bell]

Timo,

I am curious about your comments and whether they were directed at me? As someone who shoots commercially Pro, College, and High School Sports, Fashion, Advertising, and Wildlife, I would hate to be associated to someone trying to look good with his ferrari but someone who has the tools to provide professionally shots for magazines, newspapers and the like. Also, I am only 10 years older than you, I don't think I am a boomer although that was my dogs name :)

[paulr]

Of course stupidity is generational - it gets noticeably refined with each generation. But it seems our kids are putting a stop to the trend, even reversing it somewhat.

:D

It's generational, but cyclical: it skips generations.

Mark Twain on why grandchildren and grandparents get along so well: "They're united by a common enemy."

Someone (Yves St. Laurent??) on the definition of good fashion: "Rejecting the clothes of your parents, and embracing the clothes of your grandparents."

[walter23]

I am 29 so I am in the middle in terms of age (maybe), but I am starting to resent those weekend warrior Boomer types carrying around the $5-10k digital getups as their weekend hobbies, shooting butterflies, deer and jays and the like. It is obnoxious and such a Boomer way of doing things; like a red Ferrari. I only take out my DSLR when I have to and am embarrassed when I do... I think of myself as "consumer sellout whore" when I wave it around, and even more so when I get middle aged guys lusting over my L glass...


Hah, I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels this way. When I first got my 70-200 f/4L (which is very modest by the white L telephoto standards), I felt completely obnoxious - like I was driving a Hummer 6 blocks from my house to Walmart for a 2L bottle of diet pepsi or something. Now I just forget about it and shoot for the joy of it, and my self-consciousness over the camera doesn't factor into anything.

I don't usually judge people by their gear (good or bad), but I do find it kind of funny when I see someone with a really expensive DSLR setup taking an obviously terrible photograph. You can often tell the difference between a guy who has a big white L because it gets the job done and a guy who has a big white L because it makes him Look Like A Professional.

It does surprise me when I'm out shooting the 4x5 that it doesn't garner much attention; I mean, before I got mine if I'd seen someone shooting a view camera I'd have been hovering at a safe distance watching with rapt attention. I guess that's why I now own one ;) This seems to be most prominent with the 18-20 age-group (e.g. I've used it a fair bit on my campus where I'm an aging grad student - the kids are totally oblivious).

[George Kara]

My daughter is in her high school photography classes and clubs. I am suprised at how many of them think film is the coolest thing around. They do it all, load their own bulk film, develop etc. My daughter just made a 4x5 holder to use at school to develop her 4x5 b&w work because the school didnt have any.

Many of the kids perceive film as counter-culture. Every generation needs to reinvent. These girls also claim they "hate" digital, and each one of them is constantly taking digital photos of themselves and friends, putting them up on myspace etc.

This is a wonderful paradox that will keep the craft alive for the next generation. There seem to be quite a few girls interested which is a welcome enhancement to the current state of male-dominated photographers.

My daughter was totally turned off when we went to a local intro to large format class. There were a bunch of retired guys with beards wearing their funny little film vests. She just couldnt relate.

So I told her to bring her friends and let them shoot whatever they liked. Now she thinks LF is the greatest. And kids have wonderful eyes and can be so creative.

The future may indeed be bright under the dark cloth.

[ljb0904]

:-)

I got my big white L because I got burgled and all my FD lenses got stolen. I ended up with my 70-200/f2.8. I wish I'd been smarter to get the f4. I never bring the lens out anymore. I carry my 20D with a Tamron 18-200 for quick shots, images that don't require "big," and test shots for my 4x5. Most of the time when people see me with the Osaka, they say, "how old is that? it's beautiful" or "are you a professional?" The latter to which I usually laugh!

[artedetimo]

Timo,

I am curious about your comments and whether they were directed at me? As someone who shoots commercially Pro, College, and High School Sports, Fashion, Advertising, and Wildlife, I would hate to be associated to someone trying to look good with his ferrari but someone who has the tools to provide professionally shots for magazines, newspapers and the like. Also, I am only 10 years older than you, I don't think I am a boomer although that was my dogs name :)

No, bad timing of my post. Hey, I have one too... they do their job, but you can tell those guys who don't know what that job is. Just a reflection on the perceptions of different generations.

[BrianShaw]

I'm 19.

... and what, pray tell, is your point :p

[Ash]

I'm young enough to date most of your kids...



....and I love spending time with cameras that are older than you! :D

[BrianShaw]

Got it... and both appear to be very true statements!

[nicol_verheem]

Hehe, well, I'm stuck in the middle, in that I could date either the 45 yr old or the 18yr old.

The fact that the 18yr old liked my camera better, makes it an easy choice !

[Ralph Barker]

Hehe, well, I'm stuck in the middle, in that I could date either the 45 yr old or the 18yr old.

The fact that the 18yr old liked my camera better, makes it an easy choice !

Certainly, dating younger people often has an edge visually, but be sure to check their ID closely. That 18yr old might turn out to be 13, instead. ;)

While the younger person's comment was pleasant, I think it's a mistake to put too much stock in off-hand comments made in passing. The older woman might have thought she was being humorous or ironic with her comment, for example. Putting one's mouth in motion before engaging the brain seems to be a fairly common human fault, and one that most of us have suffered from at least occasionally.

[walter23]

While the younger person's comment was pleasant, I think it's a mistake to put too much stock in off-hand comments made in passing. The older woman might have thought she was being humorous or ironic with her comment, for example. Putting one's mouth in motion before engaging the brain seems to be a fairly common human fault, and one that most of us have suffered from at least occasionally.

I don't think it's a matter of "not engaging the brain" as much as "not engaging your brain."

We all interpret things different. I would have read the older woman's comment as a joke.

[BrianShaw]

We all interpret things different. I would have read the older woman's comment as a joke.

Who knows how significant either comment really was. Thinking as a statistician... those were comments from two individuals out of the hundreds/thousands in Avalon that day. :)

[JPlomley]

My wife and I were shooting in Chinatown this weekend in Montreal with a Mamiya 7 Rangefinder. A young chinese fellow no more than 20 years old stops as he walks by and informed us that "it is not a digital". I responded politely that it was a film camera, medium format. He exclaimed, "oh a real photographer". He peered closer at the camera and said "you do not look through lens with that". I said "no, it is a rangefinder". He replied, "ah, you have to use brain, I like that alot". Then he walked away. My wife and I turned to one another in shock, agreeing that this encounter made our day, regardless of how the images turn out. It was indeed refreshing to know that some of todays youth see photography as something more than an additional feature on a cellular phone. I figured the kids old man probably had a Leica or something similar for him to understand a rangefinder. :)

[nicol_verheem]

Oh absolutely, the older woman's comment was a joke; I took it like one and replied in kind with a friendly grin.

My point was, it would have been an unremarkable comment, like many I've had before on my camera setup, was it not contrasted by the comment of the younger girl.

I never thought I would experience "rad" and 4x5 in the same context. Like JPlomley's encounter, the comment totally made my day. I was ready to stop shooting and have a drink, but ended up loading a few more sheets for a different shot because I was so invigorated.

Moral is it was interesting to see the older generation appreciating the new, and vice versa.

[walter23]

The kids have a fascination with all things "retro". I was at a small concert Friday where the kids were playing a Wurlitzer electric piano; there was no reason for it (you could reproduce the sound with Cubase plugins or almost any modern synthesizer) other than the effect of having a neat old electric piano on stage.

It was no different when I was 20 (eleven years ago, gah). If anything, as I mentioned before, I've noticed a surprising lack of interest when I shoot around the university campus (lots of "retro" 60s/70s architecture buildings and stuff here for me to enjoy :) ).

[Terence McDonagh]

I work across the street from the International Center for Photography, and they seem to do a LOT of LF classes on the plaza above their learning center. In the last week I've seen 8x10 monorails, 4x5 wood field cameras, and yesterday 2 Graflex XL's. There seems to be a fairly regular interest in LF. I've seen classes of a doen at a time on a regular basis.

[Dick Hilker]

Having been a kid and an old-timer, I can say without hesitation that they both have their advantages in the smarts department: kids aren't afraid of new ideas and see no reason why anything could be impossible. With any luck, age and experience bring perspective and maybe some wisdom.

Having ventured into LF photography in my mid-seventies, it seems odd that youngsters with so much time ahead of them are in such a rush to do everything, including the taking of pictures, that they willingly sacrifice quality for speed and convenience, whereas those with the sand running out of their hourglasses tend to savor life more and linger over its joys. When I take field trips, I still pack digital P&S, 35mm and MF gear, but it's the LF experience I really savor.

These days, when I'm much more likely to shoot landscapes and other subjects that don't require as much agility as fast-moving ones, the LF approach is a perfect fit. Years ago, the more portable and less conspicuous cameras suited a more active lifestyle and subject matter. Maybe that's part of any perceived generation gap.

[Diane Maher]

I was out shooting with my photo club at a local transportation museum with my 5x12 and someone was walking by with their son and said, "That's a special camera." That just made my day. :)

[paulr]

I had a funny moment in the Redhook neighborhood of Brooklyn (at the time this was the middle of nowhere). Three neighborhood kids came out ... two boys about 7 or 8 years old, and their big sister, about 12. They watched from a distance, very seriously. One of the boys asked his sister what kind of camera it was. She said, in a grave voice, "it's an old fashioned camera. It's VERY expensive."

[Andrew O'Neill]

"45 yr old woman remarked "They make digital these days, you know! Slips right into your pocket".

The older we get the more synical and sarcastic we become...
My students (15-18 year olds) love it when I bring out my big cameras! They are much more opened minded.

[BrianShaw]

The older we get the more synical and sarcastic we become...
My students (15-18 year olds) love it when I bring out my big cameras! They are much more opened minded.

I've had different experience regarding age and technology. Many years ago I did research in advanced-techology insertion for military pilots. The younger pilots had no interest in high-tech advances that might increase their life expectance - they wanted to "fly the jet the old-fashioned way", yet the older experienced pilots were extremely itnerested in any technology that would let them live another day. Older = wiser is a fact!

[G Benaim]

I had a photo student in his 20s come up to talk about my Gowland, as he had only used larger sinars, and through him found my 4x5 enlarger, which his department was getting rid of. I've had older photogs give me that anti-film look, though, as though I were doing something absurd. I tend to ignore obnoxious comments and pay attention to people w real interest, except when it'll screw up a shot.

[paulr]

Older = wiser is a fact!

is it a fact, or a truism you might find in a fortune cookie?

here's an ammendment that i actually found in a fortune cookie:
"life is an excellent teacher. but you must be an excellent student."

[BrianShaw]

here's an ammendment that i actually found in a fortune cookie:
"life is an excellent teacher. but you must be an excellent student."

Okay... fortune cookie wins! :)

[Howard Berg]

I was out at night this week on Nanjing Street in Shanghai with my 8x10, shooting the neon lights, and when I came out from under the dark cloth found myself encountering a group of ~15 very interested Chinese, ranging from student age on up--although I could not speak Chinese with them, there was a magical moment as we looked at each other and smiled--they were fascinated with the image on the ground glass, and there really wasn't a generational gap.

[Ed K.]

It seems that LF is in a sort of neo-classic phase, with no real generation gap in its practice.

About the only difference I notice is that people usually are friendlier when they see a wood field camera than when the menacing dslr tele attached to a whirring, clicking black hunk of metal points their way. I don't feel ashamed of documenting things with a dslr - at least I have visual notes for another time when the situation might look better, and while I'm a boomer, I see plenty of older and younger people with about the same stuff.

There still are the younger folks born with a silver spoon and the older "pimp daddies" even in LF. The technical part of photography, or the technology/equipment war can never be won because there is always a person with more money, more time, or a different investment timing. But all the discarded high tech of yesteryear is really a great boost to new LF photographers. What cost five grand in yesterday's dollars new can be a few hundred today unless it is very rare.

I'd rather have a misdirected person tell me how their 8mp is superior to 8x10 film than hear the truthful comments about my beatup Deardorff from a talented photographer who knows about it in a way. Even as a "boomer", I can't afford a new Ebony. Alas, my DD does look beat up, and it is wobbly and loose; but it makes friends and still brings back an image when there is one to be had. It also makes other photographers, young and old, who have much nicer cameras grateful for their good fortune and great equipment.

On a recent trip, people both young and old welcomed me and my DD, which is younger than I am. Some artists even opened up their really cool buildings to let me see the inside. They were "younger", and they said judging by the camera I was using, they thought I'd be interested - I was.

Generation gaps are the distance between parties with an excuse or desire to have a difference. Most aspects of interpersonal experience are usually deeper than the questions of a person's age. The essential self is ageless, and the open mind is free.

[William Barnett-Lewis]

All I'll say is that here we are, how many centuries after oil was invented, and there is Mr. Wyeth using egg tempera.

Silver salts will survive the same way.

William

[C. D. Keth]

I'm 19.

I'm 21.

[Stephen Willard]

For the past two years every LFer I have bumped into has been under 30. I am 55.

[John Kasaian]

I just turned (grumble/mutter/sigh/cough)4. My interest in LF goes back to childhood but I just couldn't afford any of the gear until the stuff became obsolete (for commercial purposes!)

[JBrunner]

FWW if I get any derision for LF in the field, it usually comes from persons my own age, who have switch to digital, and feel some wierd compusion that I must switch as well. For some, it seems to embrace an almost religious prostelization. The most laughable comes from the a few of DSLR toting crowd(I own a very nice DSLR BTW), who wouldn't begin to shoot LF even if digi hadn't been invented, and can't begin to fathom an 8x10 contact print. I have taken to keeping a high detail 8x10 contact print in my case to show the most persistent, and it speaks to most of them in ways words can't. Many times they are simply interested in LF and are beginning a conversation from a place they know, and are comfortable with, and although it comes off as derisive, if you listen, don't bash what they do and are cordial, the conversation will move around. I am guilty of starting many down the path of the darkslide.

For kids, I have found it is different. A digital camera to a twenty something is a completeley mundane device, about as exciting as a toaster. Kids like muscle cars, and I think they like muscle cameras for the same reasons.

[JBrunner]

I had a funny moment in the Redhook neighborhood of Brooklyn (at the time this was the middle of nowhere). Three neighborhood kids came out ... two boys about 7 or 8 years old, and their big sister, about 12. They watched from a distance, very seriously. One of the boys asked his sister what kind of camera it was. She said, in a grave voice, "it's an old fashioned camera. It's VERY expensive."

A guy at a camera club with $4500 worth of DSLR, lens and flash hanging from his neck took one look at my little tachihara 4x5, and proclaimed that I must have an inheritance.
Funny stuff.

[Doug Kerr]

Hi, Frank,


My models like the big camera.

That's why the Century Studio Camera No. 10A (8x10, almost big enough to be an 11x14) is so big!

[scrichton]

A guy at a camera club with $4500 worth of DSLR, lens and flash hanging from his neck took one look at my little tachihara 4x5, and proclaimed that I must have an inheritance.

I had a press guy saying the same thing when I stood with a 1959 hasselblad and a polaroid back in the Flaming Lips concert. He seemed to think that shooting film was too expensive to be useful, plus anything under 3 fps you missed the action.

His face was even more of a picture as I shot stuff and gave it to the fans. Making people happy directly seemed a much nicer way to make the night eventful for the people there.

I must admit the best thing was most of the time I spent looking for things happening, they used to review pictures they took and missed several events and quips as the band played with the crowd. My D1x and manual 50mm f1.2 ( sorry digital I know ) Just had me calmly raising it when required and trusting myself on metering and framing. Once all my polaroid had been shot or dispensed. Plus 2 A12 backs of film and a polaroid 600 AF to which half the film went to the singer or crowd members.

Anyway ... as it all goes the film shots were used in a music magazine that month's issue. Digital ones passed on but only for web. So my cheap ass hassy and 4 years out of date polaroid did the trick :-D ( cheap as chips )

[scrichton]

plus I'm 26 and been using LF since I was 15 on and off.

Still have nasty lith contact prints from the very first use of a monorail for a day.

[Stephan.in.Belgium]

I'm 22 years old and in a photography school here in belgium. It's interesting to see that my generation are really getting back into large format film for personal work, where our teachers seem to have really cought the digital photography bug. It's just a transitional period I guess, but we're making sure large format is here to stay ;)

[steve simmons]

The college age group seems to have a real interest in lf. However, they are not doing the perfectly everything in focus rocks and trees photos. They are playing with the plane of focus and doing some very introspective work.

steve simmons

[Scott Davis]

I'm in that in-between generation that is supposed to be digiholics - I'll be 37 at the end of this year. I have always been a film guy - started with a 1958 Hassy 500C, then later added a Contax 167mt for my 35mm slr setup. Now, I still have some 35mm stuff (I'm offloading the Hassy kit since I don't use it enough), and going whole hog into not just LF (4x5, 5x7 (currently my preferred format), 6.5 x 8.5, 8x10, and eventually 12x20), but antique/alternative processes -mostly platinum/palladium printing, but I'm going to add dry-plate tintype as well. I think it is a case of being in the right place at the right time for me, to have gotten into LF during its renaissance. These are exciting times to be working in the medium, as so much neat stuff is happening.

[anasazi]

Well, we need to make up our minds:



As for the proverbial cake, those of us talking about "kids" or "younger generation" should consider switching to bran muffin or something along those lines instead and start being nice to our kids because they will be picking our nursing homes some day...

;)

Ahhh...speak for yourself...my kids won't bother with a nursing home. They'll be running my wheelchair off the cliff Leon Klinghoffer style.

[David R Munson]

The college age group seems to have a real interest in lf. However, they are not doing the perfectly everything in focus rocks and trees photos. They are playing with the plane of focus and doing some very introspective work.

steve simmons

I think you have something here, though before anybody jumps on me for making some sort of generalized statement, I'm only saying this insofar as I've seen it apply to my own life and those of my peers (I'm 25, btw). Anyway, there really does seem to be a continuous range of people shooting LF. Older individuals who have been shooting sheet film twice as long as I've been alive all the way down to high school kids and maybe younger. All use the same basic tools, but there is some difference in the overall ways they seem to be used.

When I started out, I pretty much worshipped the classic west-coast landscape crowd (Ansel, etc), and while I still love them, I found that ultimately their approach to photography didn't quite line up with what I fundamentally felt my direction was, so I adjusted my methods and mindset to something that did work for me. So now it's this mix of the foundation of the knowledge and visual philosophy that generation passed down mixed up with the psychology and aesthetics of people like me who grew up watching MTV, listening to The Cure and NIN, and who learned photography in this weird artistic limbo-time right when everything in art and photography stopped seeming to mean what we were always told it meant. Commercial photography was hanging on and collapsing in on itself, the whole digital scene erupted right in the middle of everything just when I though I had a good hold on the technical side of things, etc etc etc. But, through all of it, I shot LF. So in the in what it comes down to between the young and the old are similar tools but also a shifted ethos.

Eh, I'm rambling now. I had a point somewhere in there. I really need to start going to sleep before 3:00 AM, if only for the sake of coherency...

[Robert Payne]

I'm 21, and my neighbor is an old, retired, long-time wedding photographer.

He knew I owned a DSLR, and since I'm young, he started telling me how he used to shoot portraits on 8x10, and then told me about his RB67, and he assumed I knew nothing about any of that "old" stuff.

I basically surprised the hell out of him, since I pretty much knew just as much, if not more, than he did about everything that has to do with large format and medium format, film, and digital.

It was a good chat, and he's the one who ended up learning something - a thing or two about that thing called "digital." :)

[paulEv]

I think that LF photography, is not just a generational thing. My Seven year old loves it, the magic of taking photgraphs, and using my Full plate, 30's Gandolfi, is a source of constant joy to her. (when are we going to take pictures dad?). She has an mid 80's automatic SLR camera that she uses when I buy her film but loves the idea of seeing the image on the glass, and moving the camera to get the look she wants (with some help.). For me I use LF for the creative use of the image I can acheive. I love the process of taking the picture. She also shares this enjoyment. This discussion with her of what looks good, and what she wants from the image, has also helped me in my thinking, about the images I take.

We are both lucky to share this experience, however many people do not discover the joy of LF photography until later in life, making a journey, to come to this point, first with SLR's then on, some find a kind soul to help them make leaps forward, some are happy with the experience they get from 35mm, some with MF,and Some give up. The reasons are varied as to why people make the journey. Obviously college, and other learning institutions, encourage and teach people that other forms of the art of photography are available, and as a result they discover a medium that suits them. However, this is not a normalstarting point of photography, and so hence, naturally, people will be later in life when they arrive here.

[Orgnoi1]

I have to start off by saying I am putting on my flame suit now...

It saddens me a bit as a new LF shooter to read some of these rant and raves about another form of photography. Of course opinions are like... well you know... but quite frankly who cares what someone else is shooting with? And who really cares if they are good or not? To criticize without being constructive to help someone is wasting breath. I shoot PRIMARILY digital... and a lot of it.... I have DEFINATELY thousands of dollars in gear... does that mean I am not worthy to shoot LF or that instantly I am a bad person... the enemy... a leper... I mean seriously what gives with the attitude that if you arent shooting LF you arent a photographer? I agree that there are some people that buy gear because its there and expensive and it creates a status-quo but I wouldnt say most are like that... maybe people just want to enjoy photography... and most people werent around to shoot film in its hay-days nowadays...

I too am not what you would consider older... at the ripe old age of 35 I have been around photography over half my life. And of those 19 or so years only 4 months of it has been with LF...