Share a tip?

[Laminarman]

....on processing or anything else analog. I must be getting old, finally returning to vinyl albums and built a vacuum tube amp recently. Now after fully embracing digital I am having a ball with my Hasselblad and developed my first roll of film in 30 years this weekend (usually just paid to have it processed and scanned). Chamonix is up next, a long dream to use large format. Learning the ropes on my v850 Pro scanner and fluid mounting stuff is here soon, so I am a hybrid guy (for now). Anyways, I forgot how damn much fun this is! Slowing down is just what I needed at this point of my crazy life. Anyways, anyone care to share a tip? On anything? Processing, shooting, film management, metering, carrying gear, anything ANALOG. Here's mine I'll share, I know, it's very weak:

I usually use diaper changing pads from the grocery for cleaning my firearms, they absorb stuff and you chuck them out. I found out they work great sink side for processing absorbing chemistry and I don't mess up the counter (I don't have a dedicated darkroom). There, that's my pathetic tip to share : )

[Steven Ruttenberg]

Decide what film your interested in. BW, slide color neg? For sure don't be fooled into thinking bw is easier than color, it is much more delicate and nuanced. Requires attention to every detail. SP-445 is a good daylight tank for developing 4x5 film. Get a good eye loupe for critical focus like a Horseman 6x.

[Paul Ron]

make sure your cable release isnt in front of the lens when shooting.

[Laminarman]

Thank you Steve and Paul. I'm interested in BW mostly. Will shoot a little color, probably negatives. I have a lot of prior experience with conventional developing and printing, but it's been a LONG time. I just am not passionate about digital anymore, I need to slow down. So I'm doing a hybrid system. I would go to full wet darkroom but time and space don't permit it right now. I'll look up that SP445 tank Steve, thank you. I am now shooting Arista 100EDU, Delta 100 and FP4 all developed in Rodinal (120 film) to see what "look" I prefer and which film. Then I'll try to hone in on technique and utilize one film and mover over to 4x5 when I get the camera. I like Rodinal because it lasts, is easy to mix, and looks nice. I am open to other developers however. The cable release tip is great Paul, and I'm well aware of it. Ask me how I know : (

[Paul Ron]

hahahaha its amazing how much you will slow down. i take 4 holders out with me now. i come home with 2 exposures instead of my usual MF 10 frames from my RB67 which i always considered a slow day.

then i went over to the dark side, digital, n came home with at least 100 shots on a slow day. well, im back on mothers milk again, 4x5.

yeah that stupid cable release showed in a few of my 75mm shots. almost as stupid as pulling the dark slide with the shutter in preview wide open.

rodinol works great.

[Mark Sampson]

Expose your b/w film at 1/2 the box speed. Develop 10% less than the manufacturer recommends. Simplistic advice, to be sure, but a great starting point.

[Laminarman]

Paul, I used to use 4x5 a bit years ago, and worked with 8x10 a few times with a (now) well known photographer overseas. It was an ALL DAY affair to get a picture for me. Frankly it wasn't enjoyable because the camera was a monorail in a suitcase and it couldn't be carried far at all, and I was trying to do landscape. I don't mind digital at all, but my last trip to Yellowstone I came back with 1,100 photos, of which 1,050 were just not worth having. Nowadays everyone is a photographer which is OK. I will enjoy screwing up from time to time because honestly I enjoy the time alone as much as anything else.

[Jac@stafford.net]

Always carry a spare cable release. I don't know why but I lose them so often. Last year I revisited a spot to make another photo and there was my cable release on the ground.

So today I have a garden full of 'em.
Here is a recent bouquet.

[Corran]

Always carry a spare cable release. I don't know why but I lose them so often. Last year I revisited a spot to make another photo and there was my cable release on the ground.

Ha! For some reason, in 2018, I started losing releases. Having never done that before, I somehow managed to lose about 10 of them. Luckily some kind person in CA sent me ten of them free when I offered to buy some of his excess.

I'll try not to lose these here in 2019...

Uh, tip...well for a new 4x5 user, my tip is to practice, practice, practice! If I don't shoot LF regularly I get out of practice and make mistakes. Often times I've seen those who don't shoot often never really stop making mistakes.

[Laminarman]

Expose your b/w film at 1/2 the box speed. Develop 10% less than the manufacturer recommends. Simplistic advice, to be sure, but a great starting point.

Very solid advice. I think I do this inherently and adjust on the fly, I don't know why I don't just rate it slower in my meter. I meter, expose 1/2 to one stop more and cut development back "a little" Not scientific but it's always worked in the past. I forget a lot of this since going digital.