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Thread: How Many Pros use LF?

  1. #21

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    Re: How Many Pros use LF?

    Yes...a divided community - the trick for me was walking both sides of that path...giving each the attention and respect that they deserved.

  2. #22

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    Re: How Many Pros use LF?

    Ug, those where the era correct memories... They are part of my LF view camera history. Mixed with a long time friend who owned one of the largest color labs in SF back then...

    Not just the Foto community was divided, it was tribal in the worst way. The Foto stores were divided in similar tribal ways.

    The collectors made head spinning back then and continues to do that to this day.. Been invited to view the collection of these trophy collectors. Part of their collecting is wheeling and dealing vintage Foto gear... which continues to this day.

    Guess once you're indoctrinated into ways of practice, then actually doing the work and had to produce a specific quality level of work, all that tends to stick even the do-er with the passage of time.

    The community has become closer due to the passing of what LF and view camera commercial work once was. What remains are folks that share enough similarity with their view camera interest to get together enough..

    Part of the motivation for posting that vintage Foto source book stuff is to offer those new to this LF view camera stuff some tiny window into the way LF and view camera images once were.


    Bernice



    Quote Originally Posted by LabRat View Post
    Also, remember the 70's/80's/90's, the LF "community" was deeply divided, where the "pros" had their "time is money" attitude and was expecting a drum scan of a large piece of film and charge more for a bigger film... The amateurs would like to laugh at how most pro results were straight out of a Kodak manual, and the pros would laugh at the "amateurs" as apostles of AA and Fred Picker trying to find the tripod holes of the "rocks & stumps" club, with their woody old cameras and "zone system"... Little love between...

    Then there were the "collectors" who had a room museum full of cases of Victorian gear (they never used), and would gasp at the idea that there were "users" out there, and the "geeks" who rarely shot much outside, as they were too busy shooting resolution targets etc...

    Despite not having the industry support of yesteryear, I think the "community" is closer than it ever was before... ;-)

    Steve K

  3. #23

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    Re: How Many Pros use LF?

    I think it depends how you define 'pro'. I don't think there is much traditional commercial work being done on large format, but there are plenty of film youtubers shooting large format and earning at least some money out of it. I certainly think that the film community is producing quite a lot of interesting work now. That is more important to the survival of the medium than any narrow definition of what a 'pro' is. When the first wave of serous digital cameras took hold, there was very little good work around, at least on social media where the next generation of shooters are recruited. On the whole I am optimistic the community is growing, thanks in no small part to intrepid producing a camera that can produce excellent results for very little money.

  4. #24

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    Re: How Many Pros use LF?

    Sally Mann

    Paul Caponigro

    Paula Chamlee

    At least three I know of.

    Does William Wegman still use a 20x24 Polaroid?
    Last edited by Willie; 26-Apr-2021 at 11:36.
    ” Never attribute to inspiration that which can be adequately explained by delusion”.

  5. #25

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    Re: How Many Pros use LF?

    I suppose I don’t really understand the question. Suppliers, EK, Ilford, a few others, the camera makers and darkroom equipment makers of course. Practitioners - there are working artists. I doubt LF (or even film) is used by anyone for client-based work. That ship has long since sailed.

    I don’t think people look down on hobbyist/enthusiast/amateur status. Unless I’ve missed the point here. I don’t see what that has to do with how many people earn a living with LF.

  6. #26
    Corran's Avatar
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    Re: How Many Pros use LF?

    Quote Originally Posted by Michael R View Post
    I don’t think people look down on hobbyist/enthusiast/amateur status. Unless I’ve missed the point here. I don’t see what that has to do with how many people earn a living with LF.
    Take a gander at photography forums or groups catering to the average portrait, wedding, or commercial photo hobbyist/amateur/pro demographic and you might be surprised. In my view, photographers are the worst people in existence when it comes to community discussion and chat. I remember the old days as a guy who kinda got thrust into pro photography work out of necessity (no one in the area doing it and suddenly I was overrun with requests since I was competent) and being part of a few of these. Nikon vs. Canon arguments, passionate m43 users, pixel-peeping and yes, a budding film vs. digital debate that still gets brought up with the new generation of film users coming from digital. Absolutely mind-numbing, catty comments from an ocean of "photographers" defending their ego. It rears its head here, too on occasion. I was also part of a pro audio community for years and it was not nearly as bad. I generally dislike the photographer communities catering to digital folks mostly due to how terrible the personalities are. I imagine that was how it was decades ago too, but without the digital part.
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  7. #27

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    Re: How Many Pros use LF?

    Thanks for the explanation. I’ve never been in the client-based photography sphere so I wasn’t aware of this. The only photo forums I’ve ever been involved with are this one and APUG/Photrio. I’ve definitely seen a lot of crap and snobby nonsense but it’s predominantly the usual forum foolishness of other hobbyists with delusions.

    Quote Originally Posted by Corran View Post
    Take a gander at photography forums or groups catering to the average portrait, wedding, or commercial photo hobbyist/amateur/pro demographic and you might be surprised. In my view, photographers are the worst people in existence when it comes to community discussion and chat. I remember the old days as a guy who kinda got thrust into pro photography work out of necessity (no one in the area doing it and suddenly I was overrun with requests since I was competent) and being part of a few of these. Nikon vs. Canon arguments, passionate m43 users, pixel-peeping and yes, a budding film vs. digital debate that still gets brought up with the new generation of film users coming from digital. Absolutely mind-numbing, catty comments from an ocean of "photographers" defending their ego. It rears its head here, too on occasion. I was also part of a pro audio community for years and it was not nearly as bad. I generally dislike the photographer communities catering to digital folks mostly due to how terrible the personalities are. I imagine that was how it was decades ago too, but without the digital part.

  8. #28
    Drew Wiley
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    Re: How Many Pros use LF?

    The biggest money commercial studio photographer I'm aware of in this whole area still uses Sinar view cameras just like he has the last half century. Some differences of course, mostly 4x5 rather than 8x10 now, and digital backs instead of film for sake of rapid pre-press right at the adjacent work station. I did relatively little studio-style myself, but at one time had a string of decent architectural photo commissions, which at times spun off into sales of my personal photography - kinda overlapped, because it was all mixed up with my architectural color and technical consultation too. I saw the handwriting on the wall once those same clients, who tended to be very skilled people with a camera in their own right, began making their own portfolios renting MF digital cameras. Some of that work was easily worthy of becoming a coffee-table book, being both very well done and involving significant historical restorations. On the other hand, my Cibachrome prints might have had excelled at depth, detail, sparkle, and richness of hue, but weren't all that good for scanning purposes for sake of halftone repro. Ciba was coming to an end anyway. Now anything "commercial" means the client demands it yesterday. But I'm glad I kept all my Sinar gear.

  9. #29
    Paul Ron's Avatar
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    Re: How Many Pros use LF?

    I had a camera repair business that made most of its income from commercial industry photographers.... advertisers mostly used large format equipment. The studio photogs n wedding shops used MF equipment, now all converted to digital and will offer film as a special expensive package but still scanned n photoshopped n printed digitally.

    As far as what LF is going on today in the markets?... I have no idea and can only speculate. What I have noticed by observation in the classifieds, many hobbyists and amateurs are getting into LF as an upgrade from MF due to more affordable equipment. Talking to old friends still in the industry, most if not all, are using digital equipment, very few LF..... digital LF equipment is still way too expensive for the average guy shooting for coffee n donuts selling prints.

    The one man neighborhood shops making enough money to keep afloat in equipment and rent, are mostly digital and maybe very very few LF guys out there.

    Im sure there are a lot of retired pros in here shooting as hobbyists making a few bucks on the side, can you include them in the pro LF market?

    maybe the the OP is actually looking for a survey to see who in here is in the industry or directly knows people shooting LF in the industry?

  10. #30

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    Re: How Many Pros use LF?

    I know a few wet plate photographers doing portraits for a living. They usually don't spend time here and really work hard.

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