how old are we?

[Renato Tonelli]

I'm not telling! Not until at least 50 women post their age as well. I mean, what's up with that?!?
No takers, heh? OK, I'm 53 and have been doing large format on and off for about 20 years.

[FRED COLE]

Thought I'd add a few years to the mix; I'm 85.
Fred Cole

[cmilleraz]

23 with a 4x5 in the mail. well see what becomes of it...

[DavidFisk]

[QUOTE=Jim Jirka;244339]Old enough to do some things, but not old enough to get caught.;)



Old enough to know better; young enough not to care.....

[Vaughn]

Well, I can't remember if I have posted here yet or not.

I am 53 and I have three 10-year-old boys to keep me from thinking too much like an old fart. It also helps that I run the teaching darkroom at a university -- these college kids were not even born when I started college! Keeps me on my toes.

I started photographing in 1976 when my dad gave me his old Rollei TLR after he moved up to the top of the line Instamatic (the 804). Learned to print using the employee darkroom at the Grand Canyon in 1977. Then took photo classes at the university where I discovered I was using the Rollei like a view camera, so I switched to 4x5 in 1979, on to 5x7 in 1989 or so, and to 8x10 in about 1994.

Vaughn

[kevin kelly]

Feel 17, look 57, Actually 39!

Just took up 5x4.

The years keep getting faster!!!

KK

[Chris Fergus]

32 by age... 40+ by looks... still a teenager at heart!!!

I've taken the plunge and have ordered a 5x7 just this week, no guts no glory as they say...

[tombob]

i'm 20, and i started wiht LF 2 years ago with a monorail and later linhof technica V when i was at college, i've just bought my 1st one of my own (Wista 45DX)

[DarkroomDan]

I'm 65. I've been a photographer since the mid 60's and got my first large format camera in '78.

I am surprised by the results of this survey - I would have expected the median age to be higher.

[Bobby Ironsights]

me-30
gf-25

us-4x5 crown graphic

[Daniel_Buck]

I'm 24 (most take me for early-mid 30s though, not sure if that's good or bad!), I'm probably one of the younger folks on here, and no I'm not in a photography class or college, haha! Photography for 5-6 years, 4x5 for... I guess about 1/2 a year now. And I love it!

Maybe a poll would be easier to read? with 25 some odd pages of folks posting up how old they are, it's difficult to get an overview (I assume that's the purpose of the thread!) From the pages I have skimmed, I gather most are in mid 30's - mid 40's?

[Ron Marshall]

48 years old, began 35mm at 13, 6x6 at 40, 4x5 at 45, 5x7 at 47. May get to 20x24 if I live long enough.

[Dan Ingram]

47. My Crown Graphic was made the same year that I was.

[rls]

I'm 38. Using mostly 8x10, but recently exposing a lot of film with the 4x5 and scanning to make enlarged negs via the digital route for pt/pd.

I have a few favorites of course, but haven't yet met a format I didn't like!

Cheers, Rob

[rod454]

57 and I just started with 4x5. I bought a Shen from Badger and some lenses off ebay and some other stuff from both. I've always been interested in photography having used 35mm. film cameras years ago ( I just had an F2 refurbished). Used to think about doing some print work. Maybe I will now. So we'll see how it goes. There certainly is a lot to learn.

Sincerely,
rod

[Doug Dolde]

60 and it sure went fast so far.

[archivue]

I'm 36, and i've start using 4X5 when i was 18... but i will be please to replace all my stuff (6x9, 4x5 and 8X10) with an arca RMD... and a hight end back... i just need to win the lottery !

[john collins]

56. Rollfilm backs and Polaroid on 4X5 for years, just went to sheetfilm.

[Ed Richards]

57. Started shooting football games when I was in high school with a Speed Graphic, roll back (Royal X), and a strobe as big as a house. 35mm for years, some 4x5, then got serious again with 4x5 about 2.5 years ago.

[Photobackpacker]

60 on the 27th of December. I have been shooting LF for nearly 30 years. Now if I could only find a good backpack...............................

[Brian Vuillemenot]

I think some of us weren't born yet when this thread was started...;)

[Martin Miksch]

54, shooting 35mm for 12 years, MF for 6 and 5X7 for 3.

[jnantz]

wow, it has been nearly 6 years since this thread was started.
so ... i guess i am almost 6 years older than before ...

john

[Sylvester Graham]

We should throw this thread a birthday party every year.

[JBrunner]

41.... I think...

[Sandeha]

Born yesterday.

(Well, 54x365 yesterdays ago. Plus a bit.)

[Colin Corneau]

38. Been shooting since I was in high school, but really only just started into LF...hopefully I'm not too old to grapple with a steep learning curve.

[John Kasaian]

6 years older than when this thread was first posted. Mercy, where did the time go? :eek:

[Stephen Willard]

56, but I pose the maturity level of an 18 year old juvenile delinquent.

Consider this fall when I got caught poaching photographs on some rich land baron's Colorado ranch. I was rudely expelled for all the visual damage I was doing. So I went down to the local hardware store and purchased 13 stainless steel locks including a 12' hawken chain. I then added (or donated) a lock to every chained gate on the ranch and threw the keys to the wind. The main gate was a bronze motorized sliding gate, and I securely donated my 12' hawken chain and lock to that gate as well. It was by all means a total lock down. I figure if the SOB did not want the public domain on his land then the pubic domain did not want the SOB on our land. So I locked him in where he belongs.

Hail to the juvenile delinquent!

[kev curry]

The tender age of 40 with a mere 11 month of 5x4 under the belt!
Power to them there locks and chain:D
Power to the right to roam as it is here in Scotland:)

[Skorzen]

I'm a just a kid at 23. I played with some cheep camera since 12 or 12 but finally bought my first "real" camera, a DSLR about a year and a half ago. That led to the purchase of my first really real camera (35mm) about 6 months after that, and now I have been shooting 4X5 for about 4 months.

It is inspiring to see how many years of experience are represented here.

[Christopher Nisperos]

I'm...23.
- played with some cheep camera since 12
- bought my first "real" camera, a DSLR about a year and a half ago
- first really real camera (35mm) about 6 months after that
- now I have been shooting 4X5 for about 4 months.

It is inspiring to see how many years of experience are represented here.

What's also inspiring is to see that you're headed in the right direction! Keep it up.

Best,

Christopher

. . . . . .

[orwellswift]

24, and a proud owner of a beautiful 8x10 Deardorff and a Saltzman 10x10 enlarger.

[ondebanks]

I'm 36, shooting medium format for 15 years; 645, 6x6, 6x9. Looking at getting into LF these days, so I recently joined the forum. Currently shooting mainly 6x9cm and quarter-plate Polaroid with a Mamiya Universal Press. Ok, that's not exactly LF, but it has nearly all the same technical and operational aspects! (Compare a Technika 6x9 to a Technika 4x5 and you'll see what I mean).

There seem to be a lot of us here in our mid-30s...not quite the age profile I was expecting - my pre-conceptions would have added about 15 years on to that - but it's very encouraging to see it.

[Wayne Lambert]

I'm 70. I started in photography at 13 working in a small-town photography studio processing "drug store prints." (In those days people took their film to drug stores to be processed; some portrait studio in town did the processing.) 100 tiny prints in a
2x3-foot tray of Dektol pulling them out as fast as I could before they got too dark. If they got too dark Mr. Humphrey made me stay late and do them over. Now you know why some of those old drug store prints are not always of the best quality. And I won't even talk about the fixer. After a year I moved up to the local daily newspaper as a cub photographer where we used Speed Graphics and I learned to print wet 4x5 Super-XX negatives in an Omega enlarger when time was short. Out of the fixer, a quick swish in water, and then into the negative carrier, where you cropped, focused, and exposed fast before the water began to pull back off the negative---the enlarger was not a pretty sight and electrocution was always a real possibility. You also learned to always make sure the Speed Graphic's focal plane shutter was open before you made an exposure with the leaf shutter. You learned that the hard way. That's probably enough of this. I'm sounding like my father who walked 5 miles to school in chest-deep snow every day between November and April. That was a long time ago photography, but I thought it might be interesting to some. Nowadays I'm still carrying my 8x10 Deardorff and working in Mexico and the Rockies. I just don't carry it very far from the road. And I carry it and the Majestic tripod separately.

[lee\c]

very nice web site Wayne. I really like the Mexico work.

lee\c

[timbo10ca]

33 until January, which will also be my one year LF anniversary

Tim

[seawolf66]

67 And Am Wondering Where The Heck Time Went To! How Many Left To Go?

[lenser]

57 and I've been shooting large format for longer than many who have responded have been on the planet. Started with a brand new Calumet CC-400 with a delightful 165mm Caltar lens and a c-2 roll back plus 4x5 holders when I was seventeen. I was already shooting Canons and had added a complete Kalimar 660 system for weddings and portraits. Dad helped me buy the Calumet system with a loan, but I had been shooting for the two local papers and the high school yearbook and paper as well as selling prints to friends and doing a few weddings, so I made it all happen one item at a time.

Still love the large format shooting and hope it will go on for another decade or two.

Tim
www.cameraworksassociates.net

[cobalt]

I killed the dinosaurs. I gave them cigarettes. That's how old I am.

[Wayne Lambert]

lee\c,
Thanks for your comments. I'll have some more portraits up eventually. Large-format portraits have a wonderful quality, as abundantly shown by Kerik Kouklis' portrait thread. I see you are from Fort Worth. That is my natal city, but I grew up in the Panhandle.
Wayne

[lee\c]

Hi Wayne,

I make large format portraits also. Presently I have one print of Trudy Fair cowboy singer in a juried show in New Mexico at the Hubbard Museum of Western Art. I agree that the quality is wonderful.

lee\c

[Monty McCutchen]

Lee's large format portraits rock! Especiall his cowboy series. Now if I could only get him to sit for my wet plate collodion project on beards and mustaches then I could really sing his praises!

Monty

[lee\c]

Hi Monty,

thanks for the nice words. Anytime we get together I would be honored to sit for a wet plate collodion since I have a 'stache and a part time beard. 20x24 pt/pd portraits that Monty makes also rock, to coin a phrase.

lee\c

[Mike Castles]

Will 2nd Monty's praise of Lee's cowboy work. Some of the best West Texas cowboy work I have seen and would not hesitate to compare it with some of the best out there. A wet plate of Lee, huh Monty...that would be really cool.

[lee\c]

thanks Mike.

lee\c

[Brian Vuillemenot]

56, but I pose the maturity level of an 18 year old juvenile delinquent.

Consider this fall when I got caught poaching photographs on some rich land baron's Colorado ranch. I was rudely expelled for all the visual damage I was doing. So I went down to the local hardware store and purchased 13 stainless steel locks including a 12' hawken chain. I then added (or donated) a lock to every chained gate on the ranch and threw the keys to the wind. The main gate was a bronze motorized sliding gate, and I securely donated my 12' hawken chain and lock to that gate as well. It was by all means a total lock down. I figure if the SOB did not want the public domain on his land then the pubic domain did not want the SOB on our land. So I locked him in where he belongs.

Hail to the juvenile delinquent!

What good is this behavior going to do?!? Why didn't you just ask for permission to photograph, and perhaps offer the landowner a print or two in exchange? Even if he or she says no, there's plenty of other public land to photograph in Colorado... This kind of behavior compomises future land access for all photographers, and makes us all look real bad! (Not to mention that all the money you wasted on locks could have been spent on film and processing!)

[fourbyfive]

Too old to remember if I already replied to this thread.

Anyway, 38 yrs young and have been shooting 4x5 for about 3 years.

Bored with digital SLRs already. Very happy to see there are many 30-40 yr olds and younger shooting/still shooting large format.

[PaulRicciardi]

New to the forum as a poster but I've been lurking around here for the past six months or so when I picked up large format. I was 17 at the time I picked up LF, 18 years old now.

[Gary Tarbert]

Yeah i am probably your more typical LF shooter age at 49 , you know just wished i had picked it up sooner instead of of wasting my cash on all the best glass i could afford looking for that magic bullet in smaller formats.cheers Gary

[Preston]

I just turned 59 in October and I'm still mobile enough to carry my 4x5 and it's associated bits and pieces into the mountains, but I am a young goofball at heart!

-PB

[Richard M. Coda]

47 and been shooting 4x5 for 26 years and 8x10 for 22 years!

[Jan Pedersen]

53 huhh almost 54 fairly new to LF but deved my first film some 35 years ago with big break in between and some digistuff.
Film and wet chemistry is how i want to create my envision of the world. There's nothing like it.

[Lonely Boy]

38......feel likes I am already 68!

[Nathan Weitzman]

22, just about to move to columbus and have been shooting seriously for the extraorindarily short time of 2 years, 4 weeks of it 4x5.

[Captain_joe6]

Just hit 21 and already as a birthday present got myself a 4x5 Graflex Series D. The more I use LF, the less appealing 35mm becomes.

[eddie]

Just hit 21 and already as a birthday present got myself a 4x5 Graflex Series D. The more I use LF, the less appealing 35mm becomes.

21! no shit! sorry i had you pegged for older......NOW me on the other hand, i am sure everyone thinks i am much younger....and very handsome:)

e

[Jim Fitzgerald]

57 in October of this year. The same month I finished building my first camera and tripod. 8x20! Hell it only weights 14 lbs! looking for a backpack for it and the 11x14 I'm building. I've got my second wind. Keeps me young and strong lugging them around.

Jim

[Jim Ewins]

I'm glad my B&J 8x10 is light weight. Turned 75 a few weeks ago.

[Jamesgott]

im 23, and a sophomore in college. wish i hadn't taken off time in between high school and college.

[electrisha]

I am 27 and in Los Angeles. I am looking for a small group of people to go out and shoot photos with. I am having trouble finding a younger crowd to shoot with, not that the older crowd isn't fun. Maybe a group to grow with instead of being taught to. Hey and maybe some other women, i have and even harder time finding other women photographers.

[butterflydream]

Too young to die, to old to rock'n'roll.

46, isn't this right age to start LF?

[Ralph Barker]

Too young to die, to old to rock'n'roll.

46, isn't this right age to start LF?

Any age is the right age to start LF. :cool:

[butterflydream]

Any age is the right age to start LF. :cool:

That was the point. :)

[Rob_5419]

Sugggar.

I'm sure I've already posted here, but I can't remember if I really have.

I'm 65 (retired, thankfully!). It still amazes me when I hear that there are other photographers out there aged 70+ who know how to use the internet. In a few weeks time when I read my post, I'll be amazed to see that someone aged 65 can use the internet and then oops, I'll realise it was me...

[Bill Kumpf]

This tread is almost as old as the internet……………

[Richard Martel]

I'm 35 but I'm held hostage in a soon to be 70 year old body. Holy $#!^ Batman 70!!!

Having fun all the way!

Regards,
Richard
Florida Key's

[Howard Tanger]

Hi Rob: I'm 72 and just starting wholeplate photography with a new Ebony.
Howard Tanger


Sugggar.

I'm sure I've already posted here, but I can't remember if I really have.

I'm 65 (retired, thankfully!). It still amazes me when I hear that there are other photographers out there aged 70+ who know how to use the internet. In a few weeks time when I read my post, I'll be amazed to see that someone aged 65 can use the internet and then oops, I'll realise it was me...

[Rob_5419]

Really sweet camera Howard. An entry in style!

I thought of the Ebony, but I'm still dithering over a custom whole plate. It'll probably take me another 7 years before I run out with my current one.

Any other mature whole platers lurking around?

[Dick Hilker]

A few days short of 75 and a sandwich short of a picnic some days -- had my first solo show 60 years ago shooting an Argoflex, finally into LF with a Wista 45RF last year and only sorry I didn't start sooner.

[MenacingTourist]

I'm 38. Feels like I'm just getting started...

[draggingtheshutter]

19 years old. love large format. from a quick scan it appears that i may be the youngest.

[Valerie]

A lady never tells her age.



42 (my mother gave up on making a lady out of me a long time ago) ;)

[ajbirdboy]

53. Fell in love with photography, the darkroom, black and white, and the cameras in school (graduated 2001, Ulster County Community College). LF off and on since then, but a lot more seriously since meeting eddie gunks at a car show last year. I'm having a blast with it. And I'm very grateful for the forums.
Al McDowell

[Donald Miller]

Sixty five. Been doing large format since '84. Have used virtually all formats from 4X5 to 12X20 at various times throughout the years. Now concentrate on 5X7 aside from some digital work.

[Martin K]

47. Started shooting 4X5 on a Linhof super Technika when in my late teens. Took a long break with digital and now starting up again with a Leaf back on a Cambo. I know lots of you will say its not really large format but to me it feels like it is. Love standing behind a view camera and gazing over a landscape. Off to Lesotho next weekend and my first landscape shoot with the new kit!!

[seabee1999]

I'm 32 going on 33 next month. I guess I'm fairly young but I am very new to this format. Right now I'm in the process of gathering all my things. Everything is on the way and by next week I should be ready to go. For a very long time, I have wanted to shoot in this format. It will be a challenge but a good challenge.

God Bless,
David

[Kevin Crisp]

Do people need to update their response every year?

[Paul Bujak]

I am 63 and stopped complaining about lugging LF around. No one would listen or care.

Paul

[EuGene Smith]

61 now. First LF was a 4x5 B&J Watson when I was 13 - used it about 2 years then lost it in a fire. Did the 35mm gambit until I was in mid 40s and picked up a 4x5 in a yard sale & played with it for about 4 or 5 years, laid out about a decade while playing with digital stuff, and now back into LF with 4x5, 5x7, & 8x10. Loving it! EuGene

[CTSELLAS]

24 here. Am I the youngest? HAHA

[eddie]

53. Fell in love with photography, the darkroom, black and white, and the cameras in school (graduated 2001, Ulster County Community College). LF off and on since then, but a lot more seriously since meeting eddie gunks at a car show last year. I'm having a blast with it. And I'm very grateful for the forums.
Al McDowell

har har har.

i am mid-late 30s.....but i act 19!

eddie

[Vick Ko]

49 this year.

Vick

[BennehBoy]

36, just acquired my first LF camera, a Sinar P2 - can't wait to get shooting once I've got some glass!

[Eduardo Aigner]

39, using large format for at least 5.

[Gary L. Quay]

44. I've been using LF for 3 years.

[jwarren116]

24 here. Am I the youngest? HAHA

21. I got ya beat.

[J_Tardiff]

I'm 45 -- been shooting film since I was about 10, LF for the past year.

Loving it.

JT

[Jim Noel]

As my sister tells her students, "I am older than dirt!"
That pretty well describes me also.

[tim810]

I am 29 and have been happily shooting lf for 3 years.

[ari velazco]

I am 28 and only started with LF this year.

Ari

[socialcrawl]

20 years old

[jimi-the-jive]

I win! 22, and new to LF (and loving it, except for my troubles finding accurate developing times for Delta 100 on a Jobo)

19!!! do i win????

[pierre salomon]

Yes my arms are getting too short, can't leave home without my glasses, the groundglass is deemer than it was 22 years ago, back then there was no digital. Wow! am I really 53.

[wmdyer1]

I began photography 33 years ago with 35mm, graduated to 6X7cm about 22 years ago, and finally decided that if I was going to shoot architecture I might as well start shooting 4X5, 4 months ago.
I'm 51, but my inner child is only 47. :D
Bill

[Jack Fisher]

I will turn 75 this week. Began taking pictures at age 7 - ...worked commercial photography and weddings with a 4X5 Speed Graphic and multiple flashbulbs as well as a Rolleiflex in the early 1950s.

Still shooting 4X5, and all the other formats, and digital. I process B&W in my home darkroom. I used to say that photography was like a big hole that one continues to pour money into. Now in retirement it beats some of the other expensive pastimes. ...and it keeps me young and active!

Jack

[Capocheny]

Young enough to still carry an 8x10 Dorff around every so often;

Old enough to realize that lugging 4x5/5x7 is easier on the back;

And, wise enough to know that arguing with fools is a waste of time!

Cheers

[Stefano]

Hi

I'm 39 years old, I started with 35mm when I was child(8-10 years old) , when I use a 6x6, but my vision was more for a large format. So I bought my first camera 4x5 more a less when I was 20, but when I met a large format photographer was using a 8x10 and I lloked at ground glass, I must buy it, and so 5 years ago I bought a 8x10 and now I use a 8x10 and 8x20 camera.... What's the next step? :D

Stefano

[Guillaume B]

19!!! do i win????

You save me !

25 y old, for 3 year with 135 film, 6 month with a 120, and when the post service would find my parcel, may be the 4x5 age will start :d.

[jpkirk]

I will turn 75 this week. Began taking pictures at age 7 - ...worked commercial photography and weddings with a 4X5 Speed Graphic and multiple flashbulbs as well as a Rolleiflex in the early 1950s.

Still shooting 4X5, and all the other formats, and digital. I process B&W in my home darkroom. I used to say that photography was like a big hole that one continues to pour money into. Now in retirement it beats some of the other expensive pastimes. ...and it keeps me young and active!

Jack

Halleluiah… 75 and still lugging it around. I hope to be doing the same.

52, lf for four years, but I shoot all types as well. It’s a tool. Use what you need for the moment. I don’t think hauling my Toyo 45c around to shoot weddings is appropriate. Now for formal portraits??....that is a different story. Standard progression since 8 years old. Kodak Instamatic, 35mm, MF, LF. Currently lf and DSLR.

[neil poulsen]

41, and getting younger every year.

That is to say, when I reached a certain age, I started counting backwards. :)

[GPS]

41, and getting younger every year.

That is to say, when I reached a certain age, I started counting backwards. :)

I made it even simpler. I stopped at 29. Heck!

[Tomaas]

66 years young! When our ship building company started up 29 years ago, we used a 35mm camera to take pictures of our 30' boats.

Then, we used a Hasselblad when our yachts grew in size to 50'. Now, we build 100 foot luxury yachts. This means using 4x5 and 8x10 Sinars.

Being the owner I get to do all the dirty work using these fine cameras.

Tomaas

[brian d]

44 as of four days ago :( :eek:

[Waldo]

I'm 22, Ive been using LF off and on for about 3 years or so. I'm getting back into it and bought a Speed Graphic, my first LF camera.

[Hector.Navarro]

34 years old

[vonstauren]

I'm not old! How much I'm not old? A sufficient lot.

[lxdesign]

just started LF photography at 35 yrs old... so I'd say there are quite a few of us under 50.

[Navy Moose]

37 and using LF for three months.

[butterflydream]

41, and getting younger every year.

That is to say, when I reached a certain age, I started counting backwards. :)

I heard that a tribute counts age backward from certain number (I forgot but it was not a big number like 30 or 40). When a baby is born it gets this age and every year it 'loses' the age. When you lose all, you are expected to die.

[domenico Foschi]

A big number like 30 or 40?!!!!!! Big numbers are 120/ 140!!!!!

[butterflydream]

I heard that this african tribute's average life is that short. It's rare to reach zero age, and they don't have concept of the negative.

[Tori Nelson]

52 and done worrying about it (tried, but it didn't remedy anything).
35mm until about 10 years ago when I tried med. format. Got bitten by the PT/PL bug
(thank you Jim Noel) and moved up to 4x5. That was great until a friend let me use his 8x10 for a shot at a workshop we were at. There's nothing like looking through a big gg for the first time. I was really lusting for his 7x17 but decided the 8x10 was big enough. So about 7 years ago I bought my Deardorff and three years ago got an 8x10 Canham too. Now I'm setting up my DeVere 5108 in my new darkroom and am afraid I may have lost my mind completely. It's really nice to know I'm not alone. Cheers!

[robert fallis]

70 and counting, time to do things at last..

bob

[Rob_5419]

Nice one Robert.

I'm a few years behind you and I'd agree: at last! Time to do what I've always wanted.

[John Kasaian]

I'm quite a bit older than the last time I saw this thread resurrected! :rolleyes:

[Robert Skeoch]

I turned 49 yesterday.... had a great day too.
Started off shooting a portrait of a TV Fishing Show host for a national magazine.... we hiked out to the local trout stream and I shot using both the Rollei and Ebony 8x10. Was up to my knees in mud... what a blast.
-Rob

[Richard M. Coda]

48 Today!

[Michael Wynd]

I'm 52. Shot 4x5 from '84 till '07 and now 8x10. Took the 8x10 for a little stroll in the Otways near home yesterday. Just over six K' for two shots. A good average.
Mike

[Iron Flatline]

40.

NEver shot LF or MF, but want to. Joined this forum to learn more, but still feeling extremely overwhelmed.

Been shooting with SLRs and Rangefinders for 22 years, been all digital since 2000.

[evan clarke]

40.

NEver shot LF or MF, but want to. Joined this forum to learn more, but still feeling extremely overwhelmed.

Been shooting with SLRs and Rangefinders for 22 years, been all digital since 2000.

Don't be overwhelmed..buy a view camera, a meter, some holders, some sheet film, point the thing at the subject, focus so it looks good on the GG and expose. It's not rocket science and it's great fun...EC

[gflanslo]

27 and I've been into LF for about a year. My cambo see more use then my medium format or any other gear. For me there is no substitution.

[Dmytro Lyakh]

28, and haven't shoot a single sheet of film yet... But can't wait when I will be able to do it (in a month or so).

[Michael Cienfuegos]

65 in September. I've shot 35, 120 and recently acquired a Kodak 5x7 2D which need restoring. I guess that it will be my big jump into LF. It isn't in too bad condition, but it needs a bellows. My next project will be to make a bellows.

[Robert Glieden]

26 - shooting 4x5 since the first of this year - no looking back...

Head over heels in love,

Rob

www.robertglieden.com

[willwilson]

27 - I started taking pictures when I was 19 with a Coolpix 950 (the one that swiveled). I have been BW wet darkroom only for the past 6 years, mostly 4x5 some 8x10.

[Brian_A]

27. I've been shooting 4x5 for a few years. I started with 35mm Nikon gear, then moved to digital. Then, I had a friend of mine introduce me to the wide world of large format. Now I shoot both digital and LF. I love the features that both have to offer, so I can't say that I'd get rid of either one. I tried to sell my field camera, but once I had enough people ask questions about it (And subsequently pulling it out to check on the questions) I decided to shoot more with it. Wow, what a mistake I almost made.

-Brian Akerson

[ViewIIguy]

I'm 23! Just getting started in to it myself, can't wait till I have a whole load of nice pictures to show off to you all!

-Will

[drew.saunders]

Thirty-ten. I'll be thirty-eleven next week.

What's the name of that big river in Egypt again?

Of course, the obvious answer to the question of "how old are you?" for many of us is "too."

Drew

[Michael_4514]

I'm actually 21. In base 26 anyway. I've been doing LF for about 5 years, everything else for about 40 years before that, more or less.

[John Voss]

Notice how no one ever says "I'm so and so going on...." after about one's 13th birthday?

[Ben Syverson]

I'm 27, going on 28... :) I've been doing LF for a couple years, and photography for 10 or 11.

[Photojeep]

I didn't go through the previous 38 pages so I may be repeating what many have said but I am 50 (for about another 30+ days) and have been shooting large format for 35 years and teaching it for 5 years.

Let's hear it for all the mid-century folks! :D :D :D

[Oren Grad]

Notice how no one ever says "I'm so and so going on...." after about one's 13th birthday?

I tell people that I'm 9 going on 80. ;)

What's indisputably true is that I'm more than six years older than I was when I first laid eyes on this thread... :eek:

[jetcode]

Don't be overwhelmed..buy a view camera, a meter, some holders, some sheet film, point the thing at the subject, focus so it looks good on the GG and expose. It's not rocket science and it's great fun...EC

it's as easy as a point and shoot .... not

[Vick Vickery]

62 now, alot older than I was when I first posted to this thread! :)

[John Alexander Dow]

I am 60, strictly amateur, and have used LF for six years, black and white only. I have taken lots of pictures but only get about on or two pictures per year that really please me

[chinapaul]

I'm 39 now,and I've been doing LF for about 13 years.I take b&w photos,also take colour photo sometimes.

[Vick Vickery]

Gee, wizz...I'm a heck of alot older than I was when this thread started!! :)

[Jim Noel]

I am on my 80th trip around the sun. First LF camera was a 4x5 Speed Graphic in 1937 (age 8). Now I use everything up to 7x17 which happens to be my favorite.

[Richard K.]

I am on my 80th trip around the sun.

OK 80 trips around the sun, but how old are you?!? Hmmm....did these trips start in the 60s?:rolleyes: :)

Jim, you are an inspiration; I'm depressed (or was, rather) since I've recently become a sexagenarian...but to read that you're out there with a 7x17....that's just great! Bravo!:D

[jon.oman]

I'm 57, and have been doing LF off and on for about 35 years. I'm just setting up a new darkroom, to use it again!

Jon

[Mike Hansen]

I'm 57, and have been doing 4X5 for about four years. I have used 35mm for 30+ years , and finally realized, that bigger is better. I have just recently started making prints in a darkroom.

Mike

[Akki14]

I'm 26 and I've been using a 4x5 speed graphic for 8 months now.

[p_markowski]

I'm 37, an serious amateur of small format and medium format for 15 years, and LF for 2 years++with no end in sight. In fact, my children (3 in total), 2 of them under 7 years old know what a negative is, the 3rd is 18months dosen't care, yet.

[Jess C]

Cincuenta y dos.
I have been involved in photography for 35 years. Large format since 1985, primarily 4x5. I also like to shoot medium format.

[pragelato]

52.
I have been involved in photography since 1974. Large format since 2008, only 4x5. I also like to shoot medium format.

[John Kim]

16; high school student.

[chris78cpr]

I'm a 23 year old photographer thats always used smaller formats but has just recently got the opportunity to get involved with the larger formats. Starting with 5x4 and then i'm thinking of moving up to 10x8.

Chris

[AJ Edmondson]

66 next month... large format since 1962. 8x10 until recently but it seems now that I am retired that I gravitate to the 4x5 for most of my outings (or maybe I just gravitate). Thought I would never leave 8x10 but nowadays the 4x5 really seems to work for me (could it be that my vision is getting smaller??? nah).

[Bob McCarthy]

Was 60 when this thread started, now I'm not.

Large format. I've had two tours. First in late 70's. Last tour began 2 years ago.

I shoot a barbell, Leica M2 on one end, Technika on the other. keep looking for the bubble levels on the Leica. Keep trying to handhold the Technika at 1/15th.

Bob

[Gudmundur Ingolfsson]

how old are we?
I am 56. I have taken photographs since 1956. With a serious interest since 1958. Started shooting 4x5" in 1968 in photography school in Germany since it was mandatory. Got my first 8x10" in 1982 and an enlarger for that format in 1983. I like the big pice of film the more I use it longer. Recently I started potographing digitally because of clients demand. I still like film better, the bigger the sheet the better the results ! My camera for snaps now is a 6x7 cm one.
Gudmundur Ingolfsson is online now Report Post Reply With Quote
How was this post revived? This was me close to seven years ago but I feel neither older or wiser now at the age of 63.

[Stefan Findel]

57. LF since 1975. Before that all 'Nikon and Kodachrome'. Now all BW.
I like the idea of the Japanese Wabi-Sabi aesthetic, simplicity.

[pegaz]

25. LF since last year. I found it amazing and demanding, what gives overall better results.

[Peter De Smidt]

41.

[falth j]

Approximately....

2,131,315,200 and getting older by the second...

but then again, who's counting?

[Cymen]

31 and started a couple months ago.

[Gem Singer]

This thread began on my seventy-second birthday.

It's now seven years later, and I'm still doing large format photography.

How old am i? You do the math.

[Mike V]

Wow, I knew Id be one of the young ones!!

was 21 at the begining of this year!

[C. D. Keth]

Wow, this old thread just keep being dug up. I'm 23 now and have been shooting large formats for about 5 years now. I started when I was in film school (for cinematography) and saw all the photo major lugging those 4x5 monorails around. I got an old 5x7 from Jim Galli and made some terrible pictures with it. Then I sold that to get a 4x5 shen hao and made some so-so pictures with that - at least they were less awful than before. Then I sold the 4x5 thinking that large format was too expensive and wasn't keeping my interest well enough. What would you know, last fall I got the bug again and bought an 8x10. I just finished refurbishing that camera last week and will be shooting the big stuff shortly.

[Andrew O'Neill]

Good for you Gem! That's very reassuring to hear.

[Derek Kennedy]

Im 40, and I just got into LF. Im so new to LF - I havent even exposed any film yet!

Film is on order, 4x5 camera is here waiting impatiently.

[imagedowser]

68, just got my first 8x10. started at 14, lucky to have had the guidence of my father who taught color and commercial at NY Institute of photography in the late 50's... been using a Zone Vl 45 & Korona 57, along w/ Leica & Nikon. Live next to Ashokan Res. bet Woodstock & Rosendale, NY.

[Richard K.]

Next month this thread will be SEVEN years old...I've gone from quinquagenerian to sexagenarian (not nearly as glamorous or lust inducing as it sounds!) in that time...:)

[Helcio J Tagliolatto]

I enjoyed reading the posts since 2001. All getting old!

Hélcio Tagliolatto

50 years old
Mental age 15
Body age 60
Liver age 200

[Jim Noel]

I began using medium format (4x5) when I was eight (8) years old. At that time nothing smaller than 8x10 was considered large format which I did not began to use until I was 10 or 11 years old.
I am now 80.
All my film was, and is, developed by inspection in trays.

[Jim Jones]

I'm three years younger than Jim Noel, but didn't get a LF (4x5 Newton New Vue) until the mid 1960s

[Steve Gledhill]

60 next month - started LF in 1994. Total of 2007 sheets of 4x5 in my files so averaging around 134 sheets per year (varies wildly including zero) of the good, the bad and the ugly.

[Barrie B.]

Greetings from Melbourne , Australia : I started shooting black and white film ( 127 size ) in 1943 , I had to see/saw the film in a tray in the dark . In 1951 moved up to 35mm , in 1983 I purchased a H /Blad which still gets a good work-out , Have been a 4" x 5" Wisner owner since 1997 using Kodak Tri-X mainly.
I am 74 years old ...............
Black and White film forever !!!!!

[Karmelo Martin]

I'm 36 starting with LF now.

Kar

[brian d]

45 today
LF about 3 years now

[csant]

39 (and counting…). Started in LF last fall. :)

[CatSplat]

23, just starting out in LF.

[rdenney]

50 for about four more days. My first large-format experience was at age 18 (not including helping a printer with copy film at age 15); my first 4x5 camera came to me at age 25 or so. I bought my current 4x5 camera at age 30 or thereabouts. I might figure it out given another 20 years.

I developed my first film at age 15 and have done, well, lots of it since then.

Rick "who always prefers to be in the field" Denney

[julie nightingale]

52 now. Been shooting since I was 15 with my fathers old Voitlander. High school teacher encouraged me to pursue photography. Went to school in Santa barbara, Brooks. Been shooting ever sinceLong career with many commercial studios and lots of fantastic memories. Love 4X5 the most but got rid of all cameras. Only have the 8X10 left. Getting ready to sell it I think. I might be moving in another direction with my work, not sure.

Boy technology has sure pulled a fast one on us old timers! But it is still good.
JN

[Hollis]

27, been shooting LF for 12 years.

[jason1388]

21. shooting on a wisner 4x5 for 2 years

[William McEwen]

I'm 48 -- the age Julia Margaret Cameron was when she received a camera as a gift and started her amazing career. I've been shooting LF for 26 years, 8x10 for the last 20.

[Athiril]

23, just bought my LF, been on my RB67 for a while, and doing my own C41 + b&w

I really love Film -> Digital workflow when the entire process is DIY.

[cobalt]

Too, and not enough.

[John Kasaian]

Older, balder and slower than the last time this thread was exhumed.

[jnantz]

43 40/73 ( 43.5479 )

[jamesklowe]

20, /started 2 years ago.
and as of today i have been signed with a gallery!

[David Williams]

I'll be 60 in November. Started with a Brownie Hawkeye at age 12. Moved "up" to a Kodak 126 Instamatic at 16. At 17 I got serious and got the wide angle and telephoto auxillary lenses (along with the snap on viewfinder and dandy carying case) for the 126. My first 35mm was a Minolta SRT-101 I got in the BX at Kunsan AFB Korea in '69. Developed my first roll of black and white there, too, at the hobby shop darkroom, and was hooked. I'll never forget seeing that first image magically appear in that tray...
Over the years have owned and used a Rollei TLR, RB67, Bronica ETRSi, Contax RTS, Nikon F and F100, Crown Graphic, Calumet CC401, and several stereo cameras.
Went digital with a Nikon D70 several years ago.

Returning to LF after a few years.

Still have that first Minolta - with my name engraved on it so I wouldn't sell it.

[sidmac]

58 and lucky to retire your. Did a lot of lf in the 80's and am just getting back into it.
Sid

[Doug Dolde]

Too God Damn old. I hate being old.

[David Luttmann]

Man this thread keeps getting revived.

And this time.....I'm 40. DAMN!!!

[Preston]

When I was born, my hair color tone was about Zone III. Now, at 61, it's about Zone VII.

Time really is a bizzare concept until you try to walk a trail you used to run!

Welcome to all you youngsters who are doing LF! That bodes well for the future.

:-)

-P

[dave wagstaff]

When I was born, my hair color tone was about Zone III. Now, at 61, it's about Zone VII.

LOL I like that!!

[400at1600]

28. sort of feel like a youngster.

[jvuokko]

I am 36. Used MF gears from the age of 18, then got first LF gears about one and half year ago.

[paulr]

God, every time this thread pops up I'm a year older than the last time.

Maybe these are the more important numbers...
-first learned to use an LF camera (sort of): 19 or 20
-did most of my LF work: 26 to 35
-puttering around with a borrowed hasselblad, editing and printing and trying to complete and show some projects: 36 to 41

[starvingjack]

19 and still in the "chasing silver bullet" phrase. :(
Its like a knee-jerk reaction to new "wts" posts.

[Michael Cienfuegos]

I'll be 66 next month (Virgo). Started with an Agfa-Ansco Shur-Flash box camera about 1954. Went through a number of different cameras until my early twenties. I bought a Topcon RE-Super when overseas in 1968. I still have it, along with a Mamiya C330, Nikon N-80, pre-Anniversary Speed Graphic, Graflex RB Series D 3x4 and RB Series B 2x3 Graflex's, Toyo G View. And a lot of other stuff. Still managing to find time to use all this gear. :)

[Ron Lee]

68 here and up to a 6.5x8.5 and hope some day to graduate to an 8x10. Been at it since Columbus landed at Plymouth Rock......hope to learn how to one of these days.

[Jim MacKenzie]

42 today. Started with a hand-me-down 126 camera from my mother, and not done yet. Most recent purchase: a Shen Hao 4x5.

[John Jarosz]

Born in 1949, took up 4x5 in 1979, 8x10 in 2006 and 8x20 in 2008.

I wrote it this way so when someone looks at this thread in 2015 it will be easier for them to figure out my age at that time. :-)

John

[John Kasaian]

Another year older and deeper in debt, as Tennessee Ernie Ford would say....:)

[Anthony Lewis]

I will let you all know my age when I turn sixty, in a year or two.

[dellos]

I'm 30

[The Lazy Painter]

I'm another young'un at 28. I got into LF photography about a year ago, before that I was a devote digital photographer (canon 30D and 5D).

[21tctrade]

23 :p I feel very happy to be here

[snuck]

34, and getting older... uuuugh... I can't believe this is the first post I've made in a while...

[D. Bryant]

about 7 years older than when this thread started.

[Mike1234]

^^^ Lol!!

[Richard K.]

NEW RULE:

Anyone 40 or under can just post their age as "young", "what's Kodachrome?", or U40. :) No point in further depressing the assorted cinqua, sexa, hepta, octo and nanogenarians amongst us :( ! (with apologies to any centenarians out there!)

[Bryan Lemasters]

sigh........50

[Ernest Purdum]

The earlier information I provided is now obsolete. I'm 80.

[Ken Cravillion]

I started with large format back in college (age: low 20's). Sold it a few years ago and now am 30 and just bought a DLC, 6 lenses and stuff and am going to get back into it again...

[iamjanco]

Well, if I was measuring it in dog years, I'd be 7.7142857142857142857142857142857 years old. And if I was a celestial body in the same orbit as Pluto, I'd be 0.21774193548387096774193548387097 of my way around the sun. But I'm not, alas, and certainly not a las.

[Vizzy]

I'm 38. Got into photography about 5 years ago ... a bit later than most. Got bitten by the MF bug late last year and quickly progressed on to LF. So I have only 6 months experience in the latter. At some point I hope to pickup my Nikon D90 again! Just that there's no comparison to a well exposed and processed LF negative/slide. Bliss!

[Math]

20, but it seems to increase by every 365 days or so.
Started out with LF (4x5, 9x12) this year, but have been doing 35mm and medium format (6x7/6x6) for two to three years now, and I enjoy it tremendously.

[Imaginara]

37 here, and i only started with my current line of work 2 years ago (Fashion photography mainly but also a lot of textile).

I did a stint with medium format (Rb67) and film cameras back when i was 14-15 but stopped due to cost of materials.

C:a 20 years later i got my first digital camera and got back into the photography madness. Now i shoot LF (4x5), Medium format (6x7, 6x45, 6x6) and digital 35mm.

And i enjoy every second of it :D

[Renato Tonelli]

:D Funny how this thread keeps popping up. I am a year or two older now...

[ThePhilosopher]

I'm 27 and I've been using LF for all of 2 weeks now (loving every moment of it too). I've been behind some kind of a lens on and off for about 11 years and have been running a portrait/wedding studio for the last two years in addition to my day job.

[sidmac]

27? I.ve got Wratten Filters older then that and I bought them new!!:D

[John Clifford]

69 . . . no comments . . seriously, the great thing is . . .
1 No more expensive purchases for this LF hobby! Make do with what I have got. I can't use what I have got properly anyway.
2 I have about 8-10 years of carrying power left. Suddenly an immediate trip to Ankor Wat makes sense.
3 I think I have a plethora of world class negs that I have overlooked. So I can print until 85 years of age.
4. I can bathe in selenium without worrying about the consequences.
5. I don't have to worry about the permanence of my prints.
6. I don't have to worry if I will become a brilliant photographer. . .I won't.

I have it made!

[Bryan Lemasters]

Still 50................

[jbenedict]

I'm 53. Been doing photography off and on since I was about 10. I have been doing large format for about 20 years, including 4x5 and 8x10. I've worked in other formats also, including 6x6. I taught photography in an American high school for about 15 years and it darn near ruined photography for me. At first, it was a class with interested students and a reasonable number in the class- about 20. I once had a class with 5 'special education' kids (kids destined for a sheltered workshop) and they were fantastic. Some kids of that ilk really shine with learned processes and picked up developing and printing quickly. Few of them could write with any fluency *but* they could take pictures of their world, make a collage and verbally tell the story of their life and times. It was great... As time went on, it became a dumping ground for kids who really didn't want to be anywhere and the 'good' kids avoided the class.

I'm trying to get cranked up again. The dearth of color processing centers doesn't really concern me. As long as there is one usable B&W film and one usable piece of paper and bulk chemicals of all types are available, I'm good to go.

Don't care about digital although I realize that it is really is the way to go for snapshots and for professional profit. You're welcome to do it.

It may get down to me, Weston, an 8x10 camera and contact printing and that is fine with me.

Jeff

[Richard K.]

It may get down to me, Weston, an 8x10 camera and contact printing and that is fine with me. Jeff

Fine with you? Some people would call this heaven on earth!! :) :D

[Steaphany]

I'm 52 but knew large format was my ideal medium since high school. ( 1970's )

I only recently realized that it's affordable

[rhyno]

im a young'n at the age of 21

[welly]

I'm 36 and picked up my own first camera (ie. the first camera that I bought and belonged to me) only 6 years ago! I've got a few years to catch up on.

[Professional]

I am 29, my first true still camera was in 2005, since that i grow my gear list, and i am just learning and having fun the hardest way.

[Hoang]

I'm 19 and don't even shoot film, much less large format. I just love seeing the amazing work produced by everyone here.

[J Ney]

I'm 28... and still cutting my teeth in the LF world.

[csant]

Anyone 40 or under can just post their age as "young", "what's Kodachrome?", or U40.

So I have to learn about Kodachrome within the next two months, I guess… :D

[GeoffreyO]

43 in a few weeks. Dabbled with LF in my early thirties, now completely hooked :)

[Matt Ellison]

This thread my be helpful: http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?t=56127

[Gary L. Quay]

Another year older. Now 46.

--Gary

[Reinhold Schable]

According to my records, I added 4x5 to my medium format arsenal back in 1979.
I was a young whippersnapper of 44 back then...

I've graduated to 8x20 in my crusty old f@rt years...

Reinhold

[unkgowa]

The ripe old age of 16..

- Harry

[John Barston]

40 - just got started in LF.

[Gudmundur Ingolfsson]

When this tread started I was 56. This was 8 years ago.

[Bryan Lemasters]

Still 50. Oh, wait. No, that's impossible. I must be 51.

[Roger Thoms]

Hey I'm still 50 and will be for another 365 days!!!

Roger

[Michael Clark]

59,just like Jack Benny. Or was he 39,Hmmm can,t remember,although I know there was a 9 in there somewhere.My violin,s around here somewhere.

Mike

[cconte]

**54**

[Gem Singer]

This thread started eight years ago, on my 72nd. birthday.

You do the math.

[Armin Seeholzer]

Gem now you are 80 and still going strong with LF!!!
I take my hat of, for you!

Cheers Armin

[ashlee52]

57 now.

Started with 35mm in 1967, MF in 1968 and a Speed Graphic about a year later.

On and off since then. Took wonderful family photographs with MF and LF when my kids were young. Went digital mostly to do sports photographs of my kids about 10 years ago. Unloaded almost all the film cameras "before they completely lost their value" about 7 years ago. Moved and sold the unused darkroom gear about 5 years ago. Then, of course, I've ended up buying it all back again. Now 2 Deardorffs, a Chamonix, lots of MF cameras, 35mm and digital. The good news is that all the film gear has gotten so cheap I can have everything I lusted over as a teenager. Crazy how cheap much of it has gotten. I bought a perfect condition Bessler 45 enlarger with 3 lenses a few weeks back for $250.

Looking at Flickr it is my impression that film is making a huge come back. But what is "film" and what is "digital"? After all I'm seeing all this wonderful film work as a digital image on my screen.

Has anyone noticed that real photo paper is cheaper than the paper for photo printers? A chemical B&W print probably costs 1/3 what a digital print costs in ink and paper.

It's all good.

[Glenn Goldapp]

56. Started 35mm in 1967 - we called it miniture format. 2 1/4 in 1968. I was told by my dad it was small format. Got a sinar in 1972. Back then it was medium format. Never turned back. I must agree with Aslee52. Things are so cheap. I bought a Beseler with Arista VCL 4500 and fully loaded with carriers and lenses for so little I am embarrassed to say. And it was like new. I now buy lenses I only dreamed of way back when. Have not really printed digital so I have no idea what the cost is. I don't believe I will ever leave big film. I enjoy my 8x10 Sinar F the most.

[joncapozzi]

19. I started shooting photos at 15 and started shooting 4x5 about a year and a half ago. I'm shooting mostly 35mm with an M2 and some other Leica gear, MF with a Rolleiflex and some other assorted TLR's and shooting 4x5 with my Tachihara. I use all of them and they compliment each other perfect. I don't see myself ever setting down my cameras.

[Daniel Stone]

22

working now mostly with 4x5 and 8x10.

I'm in for the long haul :)

-Dan

[emmett]

47 started LF at age 13 in 1976 working with an 8x10 Sinar in my uncle's studio. I didn't get my own 4x5 until 1981.

[Eric Constantineau]

34, is there a relation between age and diagonals :-)

[Liam:]

19, just started lf photography. Looks like there is a few younguns, any in the UK fancy a meet?

[Caivman]

I'm not too far behind Patrick, but i'm 27 and aging quick.
Been shooting since i was 14-15, but only recently caught the L.F. bug. Looks like it'll be the end of me.
lol

[ypres.bass]

In month I´m 24. With LF since 12/2009.

[Roger Cole]

Holy necro-posting Batman! A thread stared in 2002, last active in August, resurrected yet again.

Well being relatively new to the group it might be interesting to go through this thread and see which regulars may have posted, but I've no time for that now so I'll just answer the question: I'm 47. I wasn't really sure when I got into LF, as I've been out of it for at least eight years now. I had been thinking it was the mid 90s, but I checked the dates on some negative envelopes - 1997. I might have started LF in 1996 but I'm not sure.