Welcome to our premier post. If you've come here you are either a friend or someone who is
curious about large format photography. Either way, I'm glad you stopped by. I won't bore you with too
many details of my personal photographic journey at this time, I'll leave that for another post. But in
the 24 years I have been, off-and-on, involved in photography I have encountered many interesting
type of cameras. This however is my story of how I discovered and started in large format photography.
I grew up with 35mm manual cameras then later their more advanced automatic counterparts. Then digital came along. While fascinating and full of promise, not to mention instant gratification, I often found it wanting. Colors and tonalities just weren't what they are with film. And while I enjoy and shoot digital my love with this art lies with film. Not too long ago I began playing with medium format cameras: Bronicas and Yashicamats. I loved the larger negative and the slower more methodical approach. But there was still one format that eluded and even intimidated me a bit...Large Format Film.
While I enjoyed medium format and still do with my little Yashicamat 134G, I was still missing something. It's not as fast nor agile as 35mm, and while I love it's more purposeful approach, there is something about the large negative of a 4x5 or 8x10 that is very appealing to me. The ability to where my eyes have the feeling of "stretching" into the photo, looking for colors and tones and details is greatest in large format. But yet, while I enjoyed large format photographs and viewed the works of great landscape artists, I still had no idea where to begin. Yes, I did a little investigative research, but nothing in depth, and nothing inspiring me to the point to make the leap into it.
I'm not necessarily a gear head. My infatuation with gear has grown less and less with time. A photographer's skill and vison far outweigh any camera, lens, film or megapixel. Yet, in spite of those feelings there is one bit of technology that has changed my life photographically. The incomparable Nikon F6. When the D800 and D4 are gone into digital obsolescence this camera will still be going, and while it is still merely a device, owning it has led me to some very important friendships, and a particular cadre of online friend photographers who share and encourage one another. One of them, a talented young photographer by the name of Eric Smith convinced me to purchase a Graflex. An American legend in its own right, the Graflex is simply an amazing piece of engineering.
After grilling Eric with hours of questions about the Graflex and Large Format in particular I began research into large format work and finding a Graflex. I knew I had to have the Pacemaker Speed Graphic, simply for its versatility and great redundancy. Yet, finding one in decent condition for the price I wanted to pay was not the easiest task, but after a couple of weeks and searching www.graflex.org, I found it. I forked the dough down and within a week it was at my doorstep.
Little did I know what I was getting myself into. I already self develop my own film, so the development part was straightforward enough once you get around the difference of a sheet of film as opposed to a roll. While the Graflex itself was in great shape, the lens it came with was not. It is an excellent little Optar 135mm 4.7, and while the glass was good the shutter had a bad habit of sticking at the worse times. I didn't blame the seller, this is not an uncommon occurrence and after some work, I got it freed up and working.
So with my new Graflex and a handful of holders I set off upon this new journey shooting large format. I hope you will join me along the way, as my walk on this particular path of my photographic journey is a new one and I haven't gone very far. I hope I can spark a little interest in you in this wonderful medium.
I'll end this post with a quote from Ansel Adams...
I grew up with 35mm manual cameras then later their more advanced automatic counterparts. Then digital came along. While fascinating and full of promise, not to mention instant gratification, I often found it wanting. Colors and tonalities just weren't what they are with film. And while I enjoy and shoot digital my love with this art lies with film. Not too long ago I began playing with medium format cameras: Bronicas and Yashicamats. I loved the larger negative and the slower more methodical approach. But there was still one format that eluded and even intimidated me a bit...Large Format Film.
While I enjoyed medium format and still do with my little Yashicamat 134G, I was still missing something. It's not as fast nor agile as 35mm, and while I love it's more purposeful approach, there is something about the large negative of a 4x5 or 8x10 that is very appealing to me. The ability to where my eyes have the feeling of "stretching" into the photo, looking for colors and tones and details is greatest in large format. But yet, while I enjoyed large format photographs and viewed the works of great landscape artists, I still had no idea where to begin. Yes, I did a little investigative research, but nothing in depth, and nothing inspiring me to the point to make the leap into it.
I'm not necessarily a gear head. My infatuation with gear has grown less and less with time. A photographer's skill and vison far outweigh any camera, lens, film or megapixel. Yet, in spite of those feelings there is one bit of technology that has changed my life photographically. The incomparable Nikon F6. When the D800 and D4 are gone into digital obsolescence this camera will still be going, and while it is still merely a device, owning it has led me to some very important friendships, and a particular cadre of online friend photographers who share and encourage one another. One of them, a talented young photographer by the name of Eric Smith convinced me to purchase a Graflex. An American legend in its own right, the Graflex is simply an amazing piece of engineering.
After grilling Eric with hours of questions about the Graflex and Large Format in particular I began research into large format work and finding a Graflex. I knew I had to have the Pacemaker Speed Graphic, simply for its versatility and great redundancy. Yet, finding one in decent condition for the price I wanted to pay was not the easiest task, but after a couple of weeks and searching www.graflex.org, I found it. I forked the dough down and within a week it was at my doorstep.
Little did I know what I was getting myself into. I already self develop my own film, so the development part was straightforward enough once you get around the difference of a sheet of film as opposed to a roll. While the Graflex itself was in great shape, the lens it came with was not. It is an excellent little Optar 135mm 4.7, and while the glass was good the shutter had a bad habit of sticking at the worse times. I didn't blame the seller, this is not an uncommon occurrence and after some work, I got it freed up and working.
So with my new Graflex and a handful of holders I set off upon this new journey shooting large format. I hope you will join me along the way, as my walk on this particular path of my photographic journey is a new one and I haven't gone very far. I hope I can spark a little interest in you in this wonderful medium.
I'll end this post with a quote from Ansel Adams...
“I hope that my work will encourage self-expression in others and stimulate the search for beauty and creative excitement in the great world around us.”
Until next time, search for beauty and creativity in the great world around us.
Bobby
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| My Graflex Pacemaker Speed Graphic on the first day of shooting it. Spring 2013. |
PS - Here is the list of my photographer friends. Their friendship as well as their encouragement and talent as photographers continue to inspire me.
Eric Smith: http://www.easmithv.com/ The culprit who got me into Large Format to begin with, Eric is an excellent photographer with a great heart for instruction as well as a great love of the traditional darkroom process. His assistance has been invaluable in learning not only large format, but a great many developing techniques. He possesses a gifted eye which, when teamed with his cameras makes for some very unique imagery.
Bob Kidd: http://www.bobkiddphoto.com/ Traveller, writer, blogger, and photographer extraordinaire. Bob has a great gift for teaching, but also in recognizing the nuances of day to day life and art that makes photography so interesting. Bob is prolific writer and his weekly blog "Sunday Street" is not something to miss. Bob is a great encourager and is always willing to give some very useful and wise insights. Be sure to check out his "Advent Calendar" this holiday season.
Mark Kittleson: A "newcomer" to our group Mark too is a lover of all things analogue. We look forward to what he has to share with us in the future. Mark uses a variety of formats and captures a diverse range of imagery. He is between webpages now and we'll post it as soon as it's up.
John Crane: http://www.johncranephotography.com/ John is quite simply one of the kindest and best photographers I know. John's work spreads across many disciplines using both film and digital to capture his subjects. Indeed it was John's work that led to me want to get a Nikon F6 in the first place based in no small part to his other webpage. http://www.nikonf6.net/ John's work is primarily in color and he spends a great deal of time in the outdoors in the western U.S.
Bobby - this is a great start and I look forward to seeing where your blog adventures take you...just keep on pushing the pen across the paper as a writer friend advised me...
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