Hello from Dubai

[gerald.d]

Hi all -

Just thought I'd pop in and introduce myself to the forum with my first post.

I guess I'd better get the a/s/l basics out of the way first:

43/m/Dubai (UK expat).

Very much an amateur photographer - I only realistically get around 6 hours a week to devote to my hobby.

I only really got "properly" into photography a little under 2 years ago when I bought a Canon 5D Mk II. Like a lot of people, I enjoyed snapping away when I was a kid, but I lost the interest in my late teens, and didn't really do any photography until I moved out to Dubai in 2008. Getting the 5D made me look at things a little more seriously.

Whilst I enjoy the flexibility of digital, I've got this deep nagging suspicion that I should make the move into LF this year. I selected what I feel are my favourite top-10 images that I took in 2010, and was not surpised to discover that 8 out of the 10 were taken with the Canon TS-E lenses (I've got the whole set).

Heres a link to a Smugmug slideshow of those 10:

http://gddxb.smugmug.com/Other/2010-Top-10-images/15268142_HBjhF

As will be evident if you look at those and others of my photos on Smugmug, I'm primarily interested in architectural and landscape photography. That, coupled with my love of the creativity Canon TS-E's, is what is primarily driving my interest towards LF.

I also have interests in very high resolution gigapixel photography - I created a 45 gigapixel image of Dubai from 4,250 shots from a Canon 7D/400mm lens combo last year, but that was maybe a little excessive. More recently, I prefer to create images in the 1-3 gigapixel range. One of my gigapixel images of the Burj Khalifa is due to go on permanent display at the Liberty Science Center Skyscraper! exhibition in New Jersey shortly.

I'll probably pop into more relevant forums to ask the specifics - I've been doing light research into LF photography over the last few months, but I'm considering starting out with a Walker Titan 8x10. I am however slightly concerned about sourcing and developing 8x10 film here in the UAE.

Clearly I've got lots to learn, and am looking forward to picking up lots of hints, tips and advice from everyone here!

[cosmicexplosion]

the journey of a thousand miles begins...welcome!

[Vick Vickery]

Welcome to group therapy! You seem to have a pretty good eye...will be interesting to see how it translates in LF! :)

[Andrew O'Neill]

If you are going to be working with black and white 8x10, then just develop yourself. I've never worked in colour, so couldn't help you.
Cheers and welcome to the forum!

[Jim Michael]

Gerald's gigapan of Dubai has been the most popular image on gigapan.org for some time - http://gigapan.org/gigapans/48492/

[gerald.d]

Thanks guys.

I've been doing a lot of reading on the forum - so much to learn about!

Something I haven't been able to track down here are any "noob" threads - threads collating the sort of questions someone such as myself, who is totally new to LF, would typically be looking for answers to**.

One thread in particular that I found very helpful was this one - dumping 8x10 and sticking with 4x5. anyone regret? (http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?t=68198), as I actually came here with a camera already in mind (Walker Titan XL 8x10), but wasn't sure whether 8x10 would be a sensible starting point for me.

Now that thread has convinced me on that particular subject, I think I'm ready to dive in with a whole bunch of questions.

Ever respectful of forum etiquette, is it OK to ask what may come across as extremely dumb questions in the appropriate forums, or would I be best using this thread to get some of the basics out of the way?

Regards,

g.

/edit
** Ahh. Just discovered (a little late, I know!) all the articles off the forum. Splendid stuff :)

[jorge rubia]

Hi Gerald, I'm also new here. Great shots of Dbx with them t&s lenses... I think you will love that 8x10 beast... Just let me know who processess 8x10s in Dbx... I often work there and often thought of shooting LF of the urban landscapes at dusk/dawn, but process kept me from bringing my beast out there. Get that 8x10 ! I think your work will benefit immensely from that shallow depth of field it will give you... Plus the beauty of that image on the fresnel...just one question: Were most of the top/ish shots without a chopper? Those top graphic shots really iwork well on that "miniture" genre photography... Well done... And be prepared to get a real beast tripod to support the LF camera at those oblique angles... Could be dangerous for pedestrians :eek: Thank you for sharing:)

[gerald.d]

Just thought I'd drop by with an update.

After much deliberation, I decided not to go for the 8x10, and am getting the 5x7 instead.

Seems like a good compromise between 8x10 and 4x5, takes the Canham 6x17 adapter, and provides the great wide angles with the Schneider 72XL that I'm looking for.

Everything should be arriving in about a month's time, and I can't wait!

@Jorge - not sure what you mean with your question? Do you mean was I in a helicopter for the shots? If so, the answer's no - all high shots taken from buildings.

[Professional]

Welcome to the forum, Gerald.

I am sure you will enjoy here!

Congrats on LF path!

[Andrew O'Neill]

Hate to say it, but you'll wish you had gone with your initial choice of 8x10. Can't beat those big contacts. And as perfect as the 5x7 format is, there are few film choices out there. Good luck, have fun, and ask as many questions as possible.

[gerald.d]

Hi all -
Thought you might be interested in another update.

This week I've taken my first shots with the Walker, and have hit an immediate snag! It seems that nowhere here can develop 5x7 B&W for me, and I really don't have time to get into developing myself. I shot 12 sheets of FP4 that are now sitting around doing nothing until I can find a lab (probably in Europe) to send them off to.

So, I decided to shoot something I can get developed - 6x17 panos using the Canham back. Loving the whole process of shooting entirely manually, and I was delighted that my first two test rolls - one B&W, one colour - actually exposed correctly. Obviously very early days yet, and I've got a lot to learn.

Ran a couple of scans with the V750, and tomorrow I'm going to be getting the B&W below drum-scanned (Heidelberg) to compare the sort of quality difference I can expect via the two scanning methods.

A bit of a pain is that we're now full-on steaming into the summer months, so its a pretty lousy time to be trying to shoot the kind of stuff I'm interested in due to poor air quality, but for those interested, here's a link to my very first shot:

http://dubai.posterous.com/photo-rescan-of-that-first-bw-6x17

Given the problems of getting 5x7 B&W developed here, I've ordered some Velvia that hopefully should be here in a couple of weeks, so it will be interesting to see how that works out!

/edit
@Andrew - I kind of get what you mean, but I think I actually made the right choice. I'm really interested in the 6x17 pano format, and that's much easier to get along with using a 5x7 as a base, rather than an 8x10. Now that it looks like I'm going to be shooting more 5x7 colour than I originally thought, the cost difference between 5x7 and 8x10 makes a lot of logical sense.