What is the absolute worst piece of advice aboutLarge Format you have ever gotten, read or over heard?

The all-time worst advise must be the stern admonition that Kodak

used to make in the instruction sheet packaged with all their

film, "never make pictures within 2 hours of sunrise or sunset,"

followed closely by "Always have the sun behind you."

Shooting large format is superior to everthing else. What a load of

crap. I have the same attitude towards those who expound 35mm or

digital only. Elitism and dogma should never be encouraged.

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Cheerio

Worst: "It's just like 35mm."

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Best: (Trueism) "A large format neg of a crappy image is still a

crappy image . . . with a lot more information."

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My own contribution: "Common knowledge is not common." (Same for

common sense.)

"sticky shutter? just stick the little red straw of a WD-40 can in

the hole and pffffffffff..."

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end of shutter.

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~cj

there are so many of them that I don't want to remember..for my sanity

sake... but here are the 2 most recent ones...

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(about LF) - "the time you make one picture I finish 2 rolls (of 35mm)

and having lunch.... "

(about 35mm) - "In my opinion the quality of the picture is in the

camera body.." (he has the latest 35mm reflex with a generic 28-300mm

zoom lens..)

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one world of advice...please refrain to argue...it doesn't worth it...

Oddly, most of the time I am in the field people are pretty much fascinated by my camera and seem to love the idea of someone using what seems to them to be an antique. The worst advice that I've ever received has nothing tot do with LF so much as it does with photography in general, e.g.:

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(1) The rule of thirds.

(2) A good b/w photograph must have tones from pitch black to solid white.

(3) Always place the darkest part of your photograph on zone 1.

(4) Exposing a negative past zone 10 is pointless

(5) Keep a $3 UV filter over your $1000 lens

(6) You need a camera with a lot of movements

(7) The heavier your tripod, the better it is.

(8) A $30 gadget is better than a free piece of cardboard that does the same thing.

(9) A backpack designed to haul cameras is worth the cost.

(10) Densitometry is a worthy exercise, not a pointless penance.

LOL....great thread Ellis, my worst advice "place the shadows you

want with detail on zone III" subsequently I pregressed to have a

morass of black on my prints for years! lol.....

The WORST ----<BR>

"Anything more than 500 yds from the car just isn't photogenic." <BR>

-Edward Weston

Matthew,

Glad you brought up the "rule" of thirds, That one has always baffled

me...Steve

You are correct about the older single coated glass.Once color is

added to the mix,the newer glass wins.However,I do have some 1950's

German LF glass that is sharper & more contrasty than any modern

glass!I guess it all depends on what you like.BTW,great Houston

skyline shot!(Of course in NY we pronounce it "How-ston")

The summary of Merklinger's stuff on the net stuffed me around

greatly. It definitely has cost me more time and probably a few shots

than any other piece of advice.

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My best onlooker comment was 'Why do you carry your projector with

you?' about my 4x5 when I opened my camera bag.

This exerpt from one of our beloved posters.

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"forward or backward."

Does not change the perspective. Only changing the angle of the

camera to the subject will change perspective.

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Moving a caamera forward or back is exactly the same thing as

changing lenses. You get more or less into the picture and if an

object is enlared or reduced in the print so they are the same size

the perspective is identical.

Shadows and highlights must always have detail. Everything must be in

focus.