[LargeFormat] Introduction

[largeformat@f32.net]

Hello Paul and everyone.

I've been on this list for nearly a year but for some reason, most of my posts wouldn't ever show up so I quit posting and just continued to enjoy everyone else's posts. I'm not even sure this one will make it onto the list. I'll soon find out! :-) 

Paul, there were a couple of things that you said that made me want to respond. 

Congratulations of your cancer being in remission!! That is WONDERFUL! I'm curious, do you find that your ability to "see" has changed now that you've faced cancer and won? Do you see different things or maybe see more clearly? 

I guess I'm just wondering how many photographers find that there images are improved by having faced difficulties. 

I picked up my first camera just after loosing my dad to suicide. This was almost 4 yrs ago. I used the camera to help me to find the beauty in living. I used it as a way of moving forward and also to escape from the emotional pain. I was drawn to get out of bed and out of the house and SEE the things of beauty all around me. 

My first camera was a point and shoot digital. (Kodak DC4800) I quickly fell in love with photography and wanted to learn about film. So I took a class at the local Jr. College. I quickly went from 35mm to MF and now am using a Wista SP 4x5. I agree with you LF isn't going to die! I can't wait to print my first 4x5 negative. We are building a darkroom out of an old big-rig trailer. It's almost done. www.becksdarkroom.5u.com

Paul and everyone, do you have any of your images online? I'd enjoy seeing them. What do we take photos for if not to share them? 

Be well,

Becky Lynn
Modesto, CA
www.becksphotography.50megs.com

 


> Another introduction:
> 
> I'm new to the large format mailing list, but not new to photography.
> 
> I have worked a lot in MF and use 35mm for snapshots - I'm a great fan of 
> Zeiss optics and Rolleiflex and classic Contax gear, in the MF and 35mm 
> domains.  I'm still in the process of finding out how this translates into 
> the MF world, as far as lens choices are concerned.
> 
> Last summer, I got married and got diagnosed with cancer at about the same 
> time.  What a surprise!  As a "get well" present, my new father-in-law (a MF 
> addict like myself) gave me a Linhof Technika II 5x7 and I've never looked 
> back.  At this point, the cancer is in remission and the Linhof is working 
> overtime.
> 
> For two years I have worked - in all formats - with photoshop.  I shoot 
> everything on transparency film and have it scanned, or in the case of 5x7 
> scan it myself.  It has been the thrill of a lifetime to have a color 
> darkroom on my desktop (nowadays, I'm a Fuji Velvia 100 kind of guy)!  I feel 
> that the quality of my work has increased 100% since making the change to the 
> digital darkroom.  With BW negatives the digital darkroom is equally 
> impressive, and allows me to make an interesting print out of what would 
> otherwise be a mediocre negative.  I rotate, I crop, I correct perspective , 
> and I correct contrast and exposure.  I have made so many silk purses out of 
> sow's ears, that I couldn't even count them!  I can do 8x10 on my own 
> printer, and I outsource the printing for larger sizes.  The price is 
> extremely reasonable and I control the "look" of the final product-I give 
> them a .jpg on a CD rom and they print it just as I visualized it myself.
> 
> I have become thrilled with 5x7 for any kind of subject that doesn't move.  I 
> work mostly with the landscape of southeastern Vermont where I live, and with 
> southern Greece (where my wife is from) and southern India where I lived for 
> many years.  I say 5x7 because that's the size of my camera and also the 
> largest size the transparency unit of my scanner will handle - although my 
> big enabler is a fellow photographer in the same town who uses an 8x10 
> Dierdorff and contact prints everything.  A young guy, like many of our LF 
> colleagues.  LF is the format of the future.
> 
> I cannot imagine that film will become obsolete any time soon, since scanning 
> and digitizing are such attractive options.  You have the dynamic range and 
> the beautiful look and balance of film, with the infinite advantages of 
> digital image manipulation on the desktop.  Costs are cheap.  If I could quit 
> my day job and do photography in this manner full time, I 
> would do so in a 
> heartbeat!
> 
> Paul Butler
> Marlboro, Vermont, USA