Self portrait I shot and developed last night...I like to mess up my negatives, I'm not the biggest fan of "pretty."
Self portrait I shot and developed last night...I like to mess up my negatives, I'm not the biggest fan of "pretty."
nice one, paul, i look the distressed look of the image.
speaking of self-portraits, here's one of me, taken with my homemade portrait lens. window light, Toyo-View C 4x5, Ilford Delta 100 at EI 50, packard shutter. it was really just a test of the lens and shutter combo.
Well, hello first of all .... this is my first thread here. I was going to introduce myself in another thread but then I started to look through this marvelous thread (last week ) and thought that making a post here would be the thing to do instead. Marvelous work!
Apologies second, since I am at the stage where I am simply exploring the "crazy" idea of perhaps trying out LF. The idea is only days old and so soon you can expect a lot of dumb LF questions from me. So of course I have never had a Large format camera and would not know which end to look into nor what kind of compact flash cards it takes. Hmmm ... it's going to be a learning curve. I am at this stage trying to simply figure out if LF can do anything for me and where I want to go photographically. I had gotten out of photography a long time ago. Burned out. Hobby when young leading to the natural ( and unwise?) progression of killing the hobby by making it a profession - leading back to hobby and then a lack of desire. After ten years away I got back into taking pictures when I picked up a Digital body. No fashion this time ... but instead the thing I thought I'd never do, as it was the most foreign type of shooting - sports. It was fun and we did quite well.
Somehow, however I started to get disenchanted with digital shooting. It got to where it felt like shooting fish in a barrel and so without consulting my brains I did something wierd one day a year ago on impulse and bought a Film body. I got two actually, a 35 mm F100 and a MF Mamiya 465 AF. Wow. First shot. Where is the histogram? This was tough. I'd forgotten everything. Hey ... I like this! Fresh energy .... and a challenge.
The Mamiya was not my style - neither fish nor fowl is what it felt like. The Nikon ... now that was! So for a year now I have dabbled back in film - and explained my decision to digital shooters a hundred times it seems. I still feel out of my depth with regards to film, exposure and especially working with my lousy scanner as I don't have the space for a wet darkroom. But I am enjoying myself once again. That led me to this place. I, until recently never thought about LF. It seemed to be something practiced by mysterious craftsmen who had the eye for landscapes that I have never had. Probably expensive too.
But one picture that I took on my first attempt at landscapes changed all of that. I really liked the shot (surprised myself) and then started thinking "I wonder how much I can blow this up without grain killing it? I wonder if perhaps I should give medium format a try?" I somehow didn't want MF but this time, inexplicably, I wondered about that mystery zone ... the land of Lage format. I wanted a challenge - so why not go all the way.
Anyhow .... I just wanted to say hello and to mention that you folks have a great place here. These shots were taken with the first rolls of film that I ran through the respective bodies. The shots of my ex-wife, who I use as a model sometimes were with the long gone 645 while my daughters picture was a quick grab at a parade but it turned out to be one of my favorite grabs of her.
Much to lean here ... better get to it. Sorry for the long post.
And two in color:
Le Dormeur-Taking a nap
4x5 Pin hole pic done by one of the members of "the photographers team" at the hospital for teenagers with mental and emotional disorder and/or physical handicap.
Tres bon, Miguel.
Originally Posted by Mark Sawyer
Mark, that is a lovely shot. She's got a great face and lovely calm about her. The effect of eye through the back is nice.
Lovely, Ray. She has great arms. Yeh, I'm weird like that.
In response to the three, I hope you weren't serious about what kind of Compact Flash card LF takes...there are digital LF backs but they're ridiculously expensive, you'd be better off buying a nice scanner unless you're a pro and you've already said you're not interested in professional work anymore.
Don't think that LF photographers are limited to landscapes, I mean look at this thread it's all about portraits and there are some masterful LF portraits here. Yes, it's probably true that the vast majority of LF shooters shoot landscapes but don't put LF into a "box" per se by thinking that it has to be used to shoot landscapes. Personally I've never shot a landscape with LF, I use it almost exclusively for portrait and artistic work.
If you're wondering about how big you can blow up a negative then LF is certainly the right choice. Obviously the bigger the negative you start with the larger the enlargement you can make with that negative before you lose too much resolution and the grain gets unbearable.
Good luck with your entry to LF!
Paul
Agreeing with Paul Ricciardi on this, you can do much more than landscape shots with 4x5. It simply takes a little planning, and control of your talent. In this shot, the model was instructed to move along an imaginary line, which was where the focus was placed. Then I was able to interact more, directly instructing the talent while I stood alongside the camera with the cable release in my hand. Since the shutter release timing is quite short, it is possible to catch expressions quite easily.
So with a little planning, people shots are definitely not difficult. One hint when photographing people not use to posing is to have them either sitting or with a hand or foot placed against some object so they can maintain position, and you maintain focus.
Ciao!
Gordon Moat Photography
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