Finally got some exposures..

[village idiot]

Things I’ve learned

1. Never trust the darkslide “lock”

2. If I’m going to shoot predawn, I need to start wearing a watch again.

3. If the darkslide hangs while trying to insert after a shot, just plan on repeating the exposure, because the film is now creased

4. There is a reason Mother Nature made dust, I just have to figure out what it is.

5. Just because the darkslide inserts easily after a shot, doesn’t mean you didn’t manage to originally feed the film into the slide track, you idiot, and now the film is above the slide

6. The difficulty of the composition and focusing is inversely proportional to the window of desirable light.

7. Make room in the bag for a bottle of tequila and a lime.

8. Creating a bellows extension compensation spreadsheet, and loading it into your PDA, means that you will drop the pda onto the only rock around , shattering it just when you are ready to calculate your first compensation

9. I have GAS, and there is nowhere to turn for help, as all the denizens of the LF Forum are a bunch of sick, twisted, bastards who have it worse than I, and only feed the fire

10. Getting one good image can make you forget all the above

Here’s a couple of my first shots. All you purists who disdain cropping/editing can move along now, there’s nothing for you to see here…
For the rest, not much here to brag about, I'm just trying to get the basics down. Pointers/suggestions would be welcomed.

[eric black]

Sounds alot like my first shoot- remember dirt (or substitute your favorite sh&* word happens (thank god for photoshop); Tequila does help and the light will definately follow Murphys Law! Keep at it, it gets more fun!

[Randy H]

Is the second picture representative of the mood you were in after a successful shoot?

Good lookin pics. I like the night shot of the city skyline.
Keep on keepin on.

[Ron Marshall]

You seem to be a fast learner, as you have mastered the essential LF knowledge; one correction though, Scotch not tequila generates a higher percentage of keepers.

[sparq]

Have you photographed your head, yet?

Loading film wrong surface up is another favorite hobby of mine.

[Donald Qualls]

You missed another one, too -- the dark slide nearest the ground glass is always easier to pull out than the correct one, and gets still easier if it's protecting your best shot of the day (and will almost fall out by itself if it's got a lifetime best under it).

Mother nature didn't make dust. It's a no-extra-cost non-optional add-on that's delivered with all film and film holders; it's intended to make you shoot multiple copies of the same scene (i.e. burn more film and need more film holders to get through a day's shooting), in hopes of getting one that *doesn't* have dust in the sky (where it will print as a Zone 0 speck in the smooth Zone VIII-IX gradation). I've found, however, that the cheapest film and oldest film holders have no more of it than the expensive stuff, and cost a lot less, so that's what I use...

[Greg Lockrey]

Forgetting to put film in the holder. Not remembering what film is in the holder. Or putting it in face down.

[Vaughn]

You missed another one, too -- the dark slide nearest the ground glass is always easier to pull out than the correct one, and gets still easier if it's protecting your best shot of the day (and will almost fall out by itself if it's got a lifetime best under it).

And another missed one -- it is much easier to slip the darkslide inbetween the film holder and the camera back than in the slot of the filmholder.

vaughn

PS...great start!

[Marko]

Not to mention inserting the darkslide back in with the white side up.

[Greg Lockrey]

Not to mention inserting the darkslide back in with the white side up.

Or vice versa if your backwards like me. (White is light??)