Large format shooters on deviant art

[George Kara]

I was just introduced to deviant art (deviantart.com) and think it is a wonderful sight. It is like the worlds' visual swap meet. There is everything from just learning draftsman types, to very skilled photographer/painters etc. It is great and there are a huge amount of people viewing and commenting every minute.

It would be great to have a group of LF people set up camp over there as well and introduce many of these vital and interested people to the sheer beauty of LF shooting. There are so many of you here that could really turn young and old people on to the magic of this wonderful craft.

Many of you are very skilled and would make a fantastic addition to this growing community. I contribute there but primarily as a painter. It is set up where you can exhibit whatever you are interested in posting of your work.

Check it out and tell me what you think.

George

[Sylvester Graham]

Hmmm, I think theres a fundamental difference between there and here. The average age of most posters.

Like it or not (and I'm not saying it can't change) LF tends to appeal more to middle to old age white men.

[Dr_Faustroll]

I'm not sure I can agree with you when you point to a tendency for LF to appeal mostly to the older crowd. I think there is actually a growing number of younger people finding their way to big film, particularly among members of groups like deviant art. I don't know if I can really get away with calling myself 'young' anymore - I'm turning 30 in a couple of weeks - but I have waded through the greater trend, and now that I have found my way to 8x10, I plan on never heading back. I think Deviant Art would be a great place to promote LF photography; once its members became familiar with the benefits and the beauty of the medium, it could certainly catch on with a good number of them.

[walter23]

Lots of people could probably be turned onto LF, not just middle aged old white men.

[Dave Wooten]

I am into LF and am only 61....

[Frank Petronio]

Who says we aren't deviants?

It is a fun site

[Tim Shawcross]

I upload stuff occasionaly to deviantart. Haven't posted anything there for a few months though. I'm 27, and I've noticed that while there are a lot younger people using the site, there are people in my age bracket (and older) as well. There is some great (though mostly digital) photography there, but also a lot of not so great stuff you have to sift through. Checking out the 'favourited' sections will give show the best stuff (generally). I have a mix of large format (most of my recent postings) and digital up. Only problem for me is that it can be additicve posting stuff - so I haven't always carefully veted the stuff I've posted. This has meant recently I've been going through my gallery trying to get rid of some the not so great shots that are in there. It's still an ongoing process :)

Tim

http://saxtim.deviantart.com

[domenico Foschi]

WHite men?
How did you get to that conclusion?

[Duane Polcou]

WHite men?
How did you get to that conclusion?

Really. What a racist, sexist, and dare I add, inaccurate comment.

In my experience, nearly all fellow LF photographers I have met are young Asian women, usually in pairs, in dire need of my mentoring skills.

But what is man, if not for his dreams?

[George Kara]

Duane - wake up - wake up. You are having a nightmare! :>

[Sylvester Graham]

Also, I think there's a question of income here... sure, you can get a used 4x5 and a crap lens off ebay for $250, but for the most part LF is more expensive than digital/smaller formats. And older, retired men have more money than young people.

I'd say, sure, there are going to be young people who see LF as an avenue to distinguish themselves from the crowd, but those are far and few between, not in terms of wanting to be original, but in terms of choosing LF as the way to do it. It's a) less convenient to transport/use b) more expensive c) requires a specialty scanner to get to PS.

[Michael Graves]

My 22-year old daughter will be delighted to know this. She was all over the 5x7 view camera I got her for her birthday. She's been shooting with me for over a year now. And lately my 16-year old son has caught the bug. Now I can't get my Crown Graphic away from him.


Hmmm, I think theres a fundamental difference between there and here. The average age of most posters.

Like it or not (and I'm not saying it can't change) LF tends to appeal more to middle to old age white men.

[George Kara]

I think it is all about being 'exposed' to something you have not experienced. I believe large format is much less expensive overall than any decent digital set up From an initial cost point of view.

$ 1,500 should get you a decent set up. Young people are amazing and even if one person catches the bug it is well worth it. My 18 year old daughter loves large format by the way and loves to do portraits with the Arca Swiss and Cooke PS945 lens. She is a lucky girl to be shooting with that stuff - but really dislikes digital after shooting so much film.

[Joseph O'Neil]

...a few totally useless points.....

- my 16 year old son seems to like using a Crown Graphic;

- I find LF photography is actually cheaper than 35mm, 120 or even digital in the long run, it just appears to be more expensive;

- all white men with grey hair are deviants, didn't you know that?
:)

[Asher Kelman]

...a few totally useless points.....

- my 16 year old son seems to like using a Crown Graphic;

- I find LF photography is actually cheaper than 35mm, 120 or even digital in the long run, it just appears to be more expensive;

- all white men with grey hair are deviants, didn't you know that?
:)
At OPF (http://www.openphotographyforums.com) registrants are checked. 60% are not accepted. We have just a small core of LF photographers who are sufficiently confident to help spread the word. The key is to show images and discuss the images at some length if possible. V little gear talk. But we are a small community, more focused to the narrow idea of photography as a path to work to get a very good image. Yes a lot of digital but film too. We just need a few more LF evangelists. My idea is that growth of LF outside of a specialized forum like APUG or LFF might help. We have one guy rebuilding LF cameras and supplying to new converts. I'm re-awakening my film work.

Just a few dedicated LF evangelists who can show how magnificent real film can be, could do a great job. Anyway, just thought I'd mention that, although OPF will never compete with LFF, APUG, Leicafora etc, the spread of the word about film to people who only know digital is a great idea.

I'd not have posted this, except if "Deviant Art" can be mentioned, I hope this is OK too!

Asher

[Sylvester Graham]

Ok, yeah.

But so far the only youngsters people have mentioned getting into LF have been their own children, children with access to LF equipment and someone to teach them how to use that equipment and be passionate about it.

Two rolls of 35mm HP5 = $8
50 sheets of 4x5 HP5 = about $45

I'll stop hijacking now.

[Asher Kelman]

Ok, yeah.

But so far the only youngsters people have mentioned getting into LF have been their own children, children with access to LF equipment and someone to teach them how to use that equipment and be passionate about it.

People spend big bucks on photography. The new tilt shift Hartblei is $5,000! The cost is not the issue, rather education! here (http://www.openphotographyforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3906). If photographers who only know digtial need such capability, then LF is a viable option. That one lens would pay for a LF camera and lens!

Asher

[Ash]

Lol Domenico, you're causing a fuss :)

I'm white, ginger (well, currently blonde), male, straight and young too. A few of those should fit the stereotype? ;)

[keith english]

Two rolls of 35mm HP5 = $8
50 sheets of 4x5 HP5 = about $45

But the kid would shoot those two rolls of film to get one picture. We would shoot one sheet of 4x5.

[orwellswift]

Two rolls of 35mm HP5 = $8
50 sheets of 4x5 HP5 = about $45

But the kid would shoot those two rolls of film to get one picture. We would shoot one sheet of 4x5.

My thoughts exactly, I can't remember how many rolls of 35mm I have wasted just to get a couple printworthy negatives. With large format I am confident that I can shoot one, maybe two sheets, and be able to print from one if not both. As well as I definately pay the price in lack of quality when shooting lesser formats.

And in response to previous responses to youth and large format shooting, I started out shooting 35mm like everybody else and then I found an old 120 crown graphic in my grandparents attic and never shot 35mm again. As a side note, I taught myself how to use the camera. After that my interests in fine art photography expanded simply because my tool offered me so much more to work with. I have since gone to school and have been exposed to using 4X5 which I absolutely loved and even more recently have purchased my own 8X10 rig using money from various part time jobs.

The moral of the story is that I am 24 years old and on my own initiative I am bale to produce the kind of work that I love at the best quality that I can give.