Poll: Why do YOU shoot large format (4x5 or bigger)

[joem]

i'm with David and Oren but probably a bit sicker, just ordered chemicals and such to coat some paper.

Anyone have an 8X10 enlarger they want to almost give away?

[Duolab123]

One biggest reason for me is it's fun. My favorite large format (is it?) not counting my precious miracle find Deardorff V8, is my Fujica G617.
Fixed lens, wind the film, cock the shutter, guesstimate focus, set the aperture and speed. I found another miracle find, an 8x10 and a 5x7 Zone VI VC enlargers, Metrolux II timer. Had SKG modify one of the 120 carriers to 617. Most fun I've had in years, I was on crutches, had to do something. I drove around taking pictures out the window of my car with that big old ugly Fuji.

I'm so lucky to have found these things over the years. I don't need booze anymore, I have a hobby that I think about all the time. So blessed to have this passion.

I am trying to get a new (unnecessary ) inkjet going to make digital negatives. I almost tossed it in the creek. I will get there. In the mean time I will just go print my 617 negatives to relax.

[Duolab123]

None of the options listed.

I like the qualities of contact prints made on ordinary silver-gelatin paper. So I use as large a camera as the prints I want to make, subject to the constraint of how much I have energy to carry and fuss with at any given time.

Now that, in the grand scheme of things, silver-gelatin prints are more or less an "alt process", you could say that this is just a variation on Vaughn's theme.

This is so true. Mostly I contact with VC paper and use dichro head for light source. Every now and then I get out my Arkay Speed Dodge contact printer with Fomalux contact paper. Mighty fine, tone with Selenium. Got to get out the Kodak Blue Gold toner, see how blue black I can go.

[pepeguitarra]

I chose LF after being in 35mm analog and digital for over 50 years. I discovered Scheimpflug and fell in love with the way the View Camera works. Most of the choices in the poll apply to me, but the main reason is: I have to try what I have not tried before. The other reason is: I have over 20,000 shots in Flicker, and few people see those photos, very few of them can be consider good ones. With 4x5 and soon 8x10, I shoot very few photos, spend some time thinking about it, apply the principles of design for composing each picture, develop my own film, and soon will start printing in the dark room. At the end, I will have three or four photos that will be seen by many and will hang in some wall.

[Laminarman]

I chose LF after being in 35mm analog and digital for over 50 years. I discovered Scheimpflug and fell in love with the way the View Camera works. Most of the choices in the poll apply to me, but the main reason is: I have to try what I have not tried before. The other reason is: I have over 20,000 shots in Flicker, and few people see those photos, very few of them can be consider good ones. With 4x5 and soon 8x10, I shoot very few photos, spend some time thinking about it, apply the principles of design for composing each picture, develop my own film, and soon will start printing in the dark room. At the end, I will have three or four photos that will be seen by many and will hang in some wall.

That is my issue with digital. I took about 1,000 photos in Yellowstone, I can't say that many, if any, are truly worthwhile. BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG. Maybe it's an inherent weakness I have, that I can't slow down with my D810. Not disciplined enough. Kind of like, well, I had one Pliny the Elder, might as well have two..or three.. : )

[rdeloe]

I shot exclusively film (large format) for some years. Then exclusively digital. And now large format black and white (some of the time) and digital (also black and white) much of the time. It's all photography to me. Both my digital and film photographs now end up printed on the same printer (an inkjet that uses a monochrome inkset).

We're very fortunate to be photographing in a time when we can mix and match different ways of making pictures. The thing I like about photography as an art form is the indexicality of the medium -- the camera records what's in front of the lens. We can mess around with that while making the picture, and after (in the darkroom and on the computer). Nonetheless, that's where we all start. I came back to large format recently primarily to ground myself again. In my digital life I find myself using techniques that take me further and further away from the essential "what was in front of the lens" side of photography (e.g., focus stacking). I'm not some kind of purist that thinks only a "straight out of the camera" picture is a proper photograph. It's simply that working with film again is a way to stay firmly in touch with the indexical nature of the medium. I like having that option.

[Laminarman]

GREAT post rdeloe

[Doremus Scudder]

When I moved from 35mm to medium format I found that I ended up with the camera on the tripod most of the time, cursing at it for its lack of movements. Moving to lightweight 4x5 was the solution. Once there, I never looked back. I'll not go larger, either, since I carry my kit in the field over rough terrain a lot; small and lightweight is really important to me.

I also like the larger format for quality. I hate visible grain and love detail. 4x5 is a good compromise for me, giving me the quality I like at a size I can carry.

There are things I can do with film and darkroom printing (in black-and-white) that would be more difficult with digital. These days, it's almost cheaper to make darkroom prints than digital.

I love the simplicity of the process as well. The simplest tools require the most skill.

Best,

Doremus