[LargeFormat] mail order reccomendations?

[Joseph O'Neil]

-snip-


>  I currently live in a
>condo which makes darkroom work difficult but am moving to a much larger
>townhouse this summer so I hope to get things setup again. I am particularly
>interested in marrying large format, digital and alternate process work.

         I am hesitant to reccomend digital.  This has NOTHING to do with 
what is better. It has everythign to do with money.  I do desktop 
publishing as part of my "day job", and I can tell you, all equipment for 
digital - cameras, scanners, software, printers, computers, etc, etc, all 
ahs a realistic life span of two years in the commerical marketplace before 
it is obsolete, three years before it is completely and utterly 
obsolete.  There may be exceptions, but the point is, my three enlargers 
are in some cases 25 to 50 years old,a nd all are useable.   I do nto ahve 
to replace them every three years.

         The second point,and one not often discussed on other photo 
mailing lists, is the creative process of LF itself.  For whatever reaosn, 
I find when either sitting in a darkroom or sitting outside behind a 4x5 
camera, my mind - for lack of better words - goes into a "different 
palce".  It's almost Zen liek maybe.  How I see things, the inspiration I 
feel, the ideas that come into my head in those places is totally 
non-existant when I sit in front of a computer monitor and work in photoshop.

         Why my mind works like this, I do not know, but i have been into 
computers for over 20 years now, and even after all that time, i cannot get 
my mind into "that palce" on any computer - even with a laptop outside 
ona  warm summer day - the same way I can with a LF camera.
         For that reason alone, even if a LF digital back with 100 times 
the resolution fo tech pan was developed and sold for $10, I wouldn't go 
near it, just for the reason above.

         So my advice is to be carefull, because part of LF, IMO is not the 
film itself, but the creative process associate dwith using a LF camera and 
sitting in the darkroom.  Something about the "sensory depravation" of a 
darkroom frees up one's mind, while the noice of a humming hard drive, does 
not.


>Anyone who would like to get together for coffee and a chat?


         See if anyone else is around, I'd drive down for an eveing to meet 
at a Second Cup somewhere.
:)
joe




http://www.oneilphoto.on.ca
http://www.multiboard.com/~joneil
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