let's make a list of every mistake we've made with large format!

I must admit for starters that my personal error list is pretty

comprehensive:

 

while loading film:

--tore open a film package with the light still on

--opened the box in the dark and dumped all the film on the wet

bathroom floor

--slid a whole box of exposed film off the edge of the sink... into

the open toilet (processed it anyway and it came out fine)

--turned the light back on while the film box was still open.

 

and while photographing:

--pulled the slide before closing the lens

--never pulled the slide at all

--didn't put the slide back in before pulling the film holder out

--exposed film that was already exposed

--pulled the slide halfway out and the whole film holder came out

--picked up the camera/tripod and walked away with the shutter still

open & film exposing;

--wrong light meter ASA setting so everything wayyy overexposed

--shot B&W film thinking it was color

--pulled the slide thinking it was empty, and there was film in there

--and vice versa: once i exposed photos in a whole set of empty film

holders!

 

but i've never loaded the film upside down! looking forward to that

one...

 

~cj (Seattle)

Pulled the wrong dark slide.

 

Bumped the focal plane shutter on the speed graphic partially closed - got a nice panoramic of the bottom of the image.

 

Pulled the slide to clean the holder, and found a sheet of film - exposed I think.

 

 

Miscounted and took a picture with an empty holder.

<a href="http://www.largeformatphotography.info/mistakes.html">See this list</a>

 

In additional, never submit all your film from a job to the lab for developing at the same time. If they mess it, you are $@%&%#)!!

Had a lab process my Aerial Panchromatic sheet films under safelight.

Thinking of a list of the many things that I've done wrong, I'm reminded of that TV advertisement: "You have reached the end of the Internet. You have seen it all."

Inserted film holder into back of camera and pulled darkslide out of back, versus front of holder.

Tried to focus with the film holder on the camera...wondered how come I could not see a thing! Same as Chris, took 4 exposures 8x10 of a place that took me 4 hour and 2 dramamine to get there, all on empty holders! Forgot to change the filter exposure compensation on the meter....everthing over/underexposed. And of course, if there is a way to mess up pulling the slide or opening/closing the lens I have done it. :-)))

-bought the doran daylight processing tank.

 

-didnt pay attention to those who said that uniroller drums was the easiest way to process b+w sheets.

 

-Spent more on the doran tank than the roller base and drum eventually cost me.

Forgot to replace the water in my tray (68 F) for the developer. Lost 4 8x10 sheets.

Load everything in the van including camera gear, tripod, camping gear, cooler.... drive for 6 hours to get there to discover that the cooler which hold films and film holders stayed home.... did I mention both coolers are same dimensions and color..? :)

watching my ground glass plummet to the ground( in slow-mo, just like when i go over the bars on a motorcycle)... then shatter.

 

damn those pesky grafloks... which position is 'locked' again?

 

out or in?

 

me

 

p.s. i can never remember.

Chris, I can't remember ever making a mistake with large format. Then, again, at my age, it's difficult to remember anything at all. I do remember shooting my mother's birthday party with empty film holders. She never allowed me forget that one!

How about inserting Fuji Readyloads backwards... Or using them in the Polaroid holder and by habit setting the roller before I pulled them.

 

Then there was the time I was on a workshop and we were all crammed together trying to get our own versions of the same shot. I come out from under the cloth, set my lens, pull the slide, reach down and grab the cable release and fire away -- only to hear the camera belonging to the guy next to me fire...

Developed in PMK forgetting to mix the A solution (pyro) with the rest of the formula. I was developing by inspection, and after a half hour without any highlights showing up, it dawned on me what was happening.....NOTHING. That left a pit in my stomache for the rest of the night.

Ah, you guys did not mention the Darkroom, How about the typical one, turn on the light to inspect the recently developed sheet, just to notice you left the brand new box with 99 sheets left open and out of the envelop!

Jorge; We had a small mouse chew into a Kodak Yellow Box that had a 42" wide roll by 100 feet of camera projection film...We lost only a few feet due to the room light; but the entire edge of the roll was ruined.....I believe the roll was about 420 bucks..

I primarily shoot rollfilm, so I can't say that I've had all of the loading problem you have had, but one thing I regularly do at least one time per shoot is shoot my overs and unders of a shot on the same frame without advancing.

 

The other thing I do is spend an hour composing the perfect 4x5 shot on the ground glass before realizing I'm not shooting 4x5, I'm shooting 6x9. This would happen all the time with my 135mm symmar convertible, which I found I have an inate ability to setup perfectly for 4x5 shoots that I was never going to shoot. I highly recommend it as the ideal starting 4x5 lens. As a 6x9 I am just getting the hang of setting up properly with it, as it doesn't correspond closely to any focal length I used regularly in 35mm. That said I still think it's a great lens, but I'm glad to have a 90mm finally to use as my normal lens!!

Tried to focus with the inside cap on the lens. That took a while to figure out.

 

Pulled the slide with the lens still at full aperture.

 

'sprung' the screen away from the back while wrestling with a sticky slide.

 

etc..etc..

St. John 21:25. While written about Jesus also applies to mistakes I've made in large format.

Used the wrong pair of infinity stops for the lens chosen - Super Speed Graphic.

 

Forgot to lock the track on the middle position when shooting with Normal lenses (had it on back position for wide lenses) - Super Technika V.

 

Jorge...I came VERY CLOSE to turning on the lights a couple of weeks ago with a new box a paper open!!!

 

J. P. Mose

Bringing my girlfriend along on a shoot/hike.

 

Chris J (Boston)

Brought a LEICA style cable release instead of the Compur "regular" type.

Tried to put the roll film adaptor under the ground glass (which I

didn't realize could be removed) and scratched the GG 4 minutes after

receiving the camera. This had repercussions. When I moved to real

sheet film, I used to remove the ground glass and try to attach my

Fidelity film holder to the back standard with the flimsy sliding

pieces of metal (for use with Polaroid adaptors). Did this for

months (which is why the local lab knows its me when I sign my

order "King of Light Leaks"), then had an epiphany and slid the film

adaptor under the GG. During all this time owned several books on

LF, but didn't read them because I think information is somehow

mysteriously transferred by the mere ownership of books. (Ask me

about my chess library.)

 

Shot an entire 10 sheet box of ISO 100 film with the meter set for

320.

 

Carefully composed a picture, in front of a gathering crowd of the

curious/admiring, then spoiled the effect by doing a face plant

by tripping over my camera bag when I went to set aperture/shutter

speed on the lens.

 

Bought a used lens, and spent hours claiming I had been ripped off

until I thought to remove the rear lens cap.

 

Loaded my film holders, and only when I took one out of the bag did I

notice the end flap hanging open.

 

Unzipped my changing bag after loading film holders, and noticed

several sheets of film lying on top of the film holders.

 

Enough. I have established my moron credentials....

Reversed a telephoto lens through the viewing screen on my baby linhof, used plain water as fix, developed color print in black and white chemistry... were all human!

- Drove two hours to a remote location, just to realize that my tripod was still on the front porch.

 

- Pulled the darkslide out of the RFH, just to watch the RFH loosen and fall off the camera. I had missed to secure the lower graflok lock.

 

- Came back from a two-week drive around the American southwest - my first roadtrip with an LF camera, had about 50 4x5 sheets developed. Ten came back black, ten came back white - I must have made all the exposure mistakes listed above. I nearly gave up on LF then, until I examined the remaining sheets with a lupe.

 

- And most recently: While vacationing in Buer valley, western Norway, I went on a day-hike up across a 4000ft pass. Somewhere along the trail my tripod fell off the backpack, and because of the heavy rain at the time I did not notice until one or two hours later. I went back over the pass three times but could not find the tripod. Exhausted and soaked, I decided to continue across the pass instead of going back. On the way down I met an old farmer who asked me if I missed something - he had found my $$$ Gitzo CF tripod and put it in his cabin, was on his way to the police station to report it found. It is always a delight to meet such honest people, and I am now preparing a print for him as a thank you. Best regards, Åke