Why Large Format

[Mike Mahoney]

I absolutely enjoy every part of the LF image taking process - setting up, leveling, focusing, looking at the GG, mucking around with the movements, metering, setting the lens, etc. I've even grown fond of the strange looks you get from some folks when you pop your head out from under the darkcloth. The whole process is simply enjoyable - like a vacation. And increasingly LF is a process for me, not a result. And once you look at an image on the GG, other viewing alternatives seem puny and inadequate.

[Steve Gangi]

There are many reasons. The larger film yields infinitely sharper pictures than any smaller formats. With the tilts, rises etc, I can get an effect of endless depth of field, or keep buildings from falling over. Or, I can deliberately go the other way and distort things if I want to. There is no concern about grain. Each sheet can be developed individually for best results, or if all were shot in similar lighting/contrast I can still "batch develop" in a tank. Gentle changes in shading are less abrupt (tonality and smoothness). Negatives are big enough for contact printing if you want to. Everything is manual and you see the effect of various movements on the glass. A lot of it is about control. I want my cameras to do only what I tell them to, without some computer deciding what is best for me, or having to refer to the owners manual all the time to just change one setting. A friend got a brand new, do everything, professional (according to him) Pentax - I hated it; too much fiddling and reading and menus for even the simplest things. Finally, by doing it all personally, it feels more "pure". If the final print is a good one, I can take all the credit. If it looks awful, I just don't let anyone see it.

[Andre Noble]

Printing with the 35mm negative is not satisfying. Med format camera not versatile enough to justify cost.

[Matt_1193]

I do large format for the babes! Haven't we done this thread every week for the last 2 years!?? Can't we skip it this week?

[neil poulsen]

I'm right there with Michael Mahoney. It's so much fun setting up and using a 4x5. Plus, there's something more deliberative and introspective about LF. For landscape, because one really studies the scene to get a good composition, one sort of "drinks in" and better absorbs what the see around them, whether or not they're under the darkcloth. After searching for and taking LF photos of beautiful scenery, I walk away having a much better appreciation, understanding, and a feeling of "oneness" of what I've seen.

Being so technical, LF is a nice blend of art and technology. One has to have a good technical foundation in photography to successfully do LF photography, so there's that sense of satisfaction in successfully bringing off a large format photograph.

Something else not mentioned is that being forced to view the image upside down and backwards on the GG so effectively brings out the elemental "design" of a scene. Personally, I like geometry in a photograph for this very reason, and LF photography lends itself very well to this kind of seeing.

On another level, LF can be a very solitary endeavor. Some people probably like this, but I tend to like being around people.

[violin]

Matt, darling, have you got a headache again... don't worry we don't have to do anything you don't want to...

[David Haynes]

I think I read this in one of AA's books: "The view camera doesn't force you to do anything, but it allows you to do everything."

[Ed Burlew]

Sailing has been described as standing is a cold shower and ripping up 100 dollar bills, Large format photography is similar. I just love to stand out in public with a big piece of balck cloth over my head and tear up 20 dollar bills for each 8x10 shot. It really gets the adrenal glands going!!

[David G Hall]

I am probably in the minority here as a large format portraitist, but I've got to tell you...there is NOTHING like looking into someone's eyes in a LF B&W photograph. They are always 3- D, and I swear sometimes that there is color there, and I have to look twice. I've captured people on film of all sizes and there is a place for portraits on film of any size. But somehow it's the eyes that pop on the biggest negatives.

[james mickelson]

I like to use my 8x10 because the little chicksters at the beach always want their picturee taken. It's fun being under a dark cloth in the desert during the day sweltering. And It's fun being under the dark cloth during the winter and constantly fogging the ground glass. And all that weight is wonderful when hiking 20 miles to get yet another sunset from the top of the mountain. I just love it. Especially the chicks. James