Hi! New to LF in southwestern PA

[Winger]

I'm awaiting my first 4x5, so please be patient as I ask many stupid questions. I'm in Scottdale, PA, which is about an hour sorta southeast of Pittsburgh. Hello!

Bethe

[C. D. Keth]

It's good to have you. I grew up not far from there. There's lots of things to shoot if you look.

[Winger]

Thanks! I'm keeping my eyes open for subjects, but mostly trying to keep from getting lost so far. I moved here from MA about 3 weeks ago, where there were plenty of subjects as well as good places to buy film and supplies, so I'm adapting.

[Ralph Barker]

Welcome to the LF Forum, Bethe. And, there are no stupid questions, so ask away as things pop up.

[Macy]

Welcome!

[steve simmons]

Welcome. There are many resources for you to help you get started. There is this forum, there is the Free Articles section on the View Camera web site

www.viewcamera.com

and here is some suggested reading

User's Guide to the View Camera by Jim Stone
Large Format Nature Photography by Jack Dykinga
Using the View Camera that I wrote.

Try your local library

All/any of these will give you a lot of background knowledge about large format photography.

You ar also welcome to e-mail me with any questions. You can send me a Private Message though this forum. Just click on my name.

Good luck

steve simmons

[Winger]

Thank you all, especially Steve. Your book was already suggested by someone, too. I'm looking forward to the adventure.

[C. D. Keth]

Thank you all, especially Steve. Your book was already suggested by someone, too. I'm looking forward to the adventure.

If you like landscapes, Gettysburg is a nice place to explore and not too far. Altoona is an interesting old industrial town, as is Cumberland, MD. If you want some of the more pristine natural beauty in that area, drive north to Forest county and check out Cooke's Forest State Park. It's the only area of untouched forest east of the Mississippi River, I've been told.

[Andrew O'Neill]

I'm awaiting my first 4x5, so please be patient as I ask many stupid questions

Ask away! We all do...

[gene LaFord]

Hi ya Bethe! :D
Those of us up here in MA miss ya already. :(

gene

[Winger]

Hi ya Bethe!
Those of us up here in MA miss ya already.
Thanks, Gene! You know that if I was there, I'd be on your doorstep bugging you for help when I get my camera, right? I miss knowing my way around and knowing where I can get film developed. I'll learn this area, but MA will always have a place in my heart - so will all my photog buds up there!

[Scott Whitford]

Bethe,

Welcome to the forum. I'm very familiar with SW PA. I think you'll like it there.

I just left a PM as well.

Scott

[Scott Davis]

Welcome to LF Forum! There's plenty of neat stuff in the Pittsburgh general area. While I don't know that I'd call Altoona a scenic gem (my extended family is from Altoona, and I've been visiting it on holidays since birth), the railroad museum is cool, and there are a number of other railroad related sites in the general area if you're into trains - East Broad Top railroad still runs a narrow-gauge steam train for excursions. Closer to Pittsburgh, there's the two Frank Lloyd Wright homes, Fallingwater and Kentuck Knob, down by the PA-MD border, and Ohiopyle Falls in Ohiopyle, PA. There's some neat roadside scenery along old US Route 40 in far Western Maryland, and down near Deep Creek Lake is Swallow Falls, along the Monongahela river. For some other interesting industrial sites, go over to Wheeling, West Virginia. I've got a great little book (one of a series of books on scenic drives) on scenic and historic road trips in West Virginia, and I'm sure they make them on other states as well. When I get home, I'll pull it out and get you the title and publisher. There's all kinds of neat and funky bits of Americana out there, including a roadside diner (coffee shop?) shaped like a coffee pot, and a Swiss Alpine village that dates back to the 1800s.