...October portraits

[Frank Petronio]

It's certainly an overplayed trend (soft/shallow focus).

[jcoldslabs]

Are there really trends in large format photography as such? It seems like such a niche activity now that any notion of trendiness doesn't apply. If we go by the last ten posts to this thread, for example, LF portraits are micro-trending in the sharp direction, but that could all change by tomorrow.

Time to get the Pew Research Center in on this.

Jonathan

[Corran]

Large format is a gimmick. Actually no, film is a gimmick. All the real pros are shooting digital and don't waste their time on this crap. If you aren't shooting 100% digital you're probably a hack and even worse, a "fauxphotographer." There's never been a good image made with soft focus, short focus, wide lenses, long lenses, or on film period. Photography as a medium only really started to be important when the iPhone was invented.

Now back to your regular programming, with no tongues in cheeks.

[Frank Petronio]

Defensive and sensitive, my heart goes out to you poor tortured artistes! I am the Dick Cheney of large format.

[jcoldslabs]

I am the Dick (Cheney) of large format.

In that case, it is my heart that goes out to you.

Jonathan

[mdm]

Its not enough to make postmodern pictures of nothing anymore, they have to be blurry too (and this is not directed at anyone in particular). Maybe to differentiate them from postmodern pictures of nothing made digitally. There's a lot of slop that gets served up here from time to time, I know I would rather jump off a bridge than eat it. Not to say one should worship on the altar of infinite sharpness either. As a general rule a blurry picture is junk, unless it has something else to recommend it. Just the same applies to a sharp picture. DOF is a means to an end, not the end itself. But we are here to learn, or I am anyway, and slop will be served by anyone who posts pictures from time to time, some of us more than others.

[C. D. Keth]

Its not enough to make postmodern pictures of nothing anymore, they have to be blurry too (and this is not directed at anyone in particular). Maybe to differentiate them from postmodern pictures of nothing made digitally. There's a lot of slop that gets served up here from time to time, I know I would rather jump off a bridge than eat it. Not to say one should worship on the altar of infinite sharpness either. As a general rule a blurry picture is junk, unless it has something else to recommend it. Just the same applies to a sharp picture. DOF is a means to an end, not the end itself. But we are here to learn, or I am anyway, and slop will be served by anyone who posts pictures from time to time, some of us more than others.

My Mom used to tell me, "The best cooks are the ones who have served up the worst meals."

[Corran]

I am the Dick (Cheney) of large format.

In that case, it is my heart that goes out to you.

Jonathan

Either Frank made a quick edit or Jonathan just made the best burn I've ever seen on LFF.

Seriously though, why do we debate the tools and techniques so much rather than the images themselves? As Duke Ellington said, "If it sounds good, it is good!" We should equally apply that - if it looks good, it is good, regardless of tools/technique/medium/etc.

[Mark Barendt]

Seriously though, why do we debate the tools and techniques so much rather than the images themselves? As Duke Ellington said, "If it sounds good, it is good!" We should equally apply that - if it looks good, it is good, regardless of tools/technique/medium/etc.

Simple, it is what we hold in common.

[jp]

Lets compare this aesthetics debate to food. Because I'm hungry at the moment and thinking of this nice restaraunt down the street the lures me in with wafting smell of good things cooking.

So what if we don't get interested about 80% of what people post? I go to some favorite dining establishments and don't like 80% of what's on the menu. But I still like the place and appreciate that there is variety. Same deal here.

If I want a place where everyone likes what I post for photos, I'll put cute kids photos up on facebook for my family. Fun sometimes but does not fill the void that is filled by creative or experimental photography.