when i started playing with a large format camera in college, i was most impressed by the sheer number of new ways it offered for screwing up a negative. during my first few weeks, i must have discovered all the standard mistakes, and repeated many of them two or three times.
but there must always be room for discovering new ways to screw up. maybe not brand new--as Elvis Costello said, 'there's no such thing as an original sin,' and likewise, there may not be any truly original large format screw ups.
but some gaffes are more creative than others. i just thought of this yesterday when i reprinted (digitally) a photograph that has a strange shadow bisecting the whole frame. My first time printing it, I was perplexed, but finally realized that i'd let the cable release hang right in front of the lens during the exposure. it probably happened while i was concentrating on something more important, like a blemish on my light meter, or some cute girl bopping down the sidewalk.
of course this picture turned out to be the one that more people have bought than any other, so there are now ghostly images of my cable release on a few walls and in a few flatfiles. happily, no one seems to have noticed.
i'm curious to know what other daring screw ups have been committed by my unwieldy camera lugging brethren--who among us has truly pushed the limits of the possible. or the likely.
Bookmarks