What subjects do we shoot?

[johnelstad]

This question is kind of a follow-up to Joe Kras' "How old are we?" question. Because of the time required to setup and compose using LF, some subjects lend themselves more to LF than others. I'd be curious to know what subjects people shoot in LF and perhaps some things you may have tried that wouldn't normally be associated with LF.

 

<p>

 

As for me, I've mostly been doing landscape and macro photography in the Bay Area (California), though I'm currently thinking of ways to add more spontaneity to my photos. I've been thinking of setting up my camera on a busy street corner (San Francisco is nearby) and taking spontaneous group photos of the pedestrians across the street waiting for the light to change.

[ben_calwell]

John,

I'm drawn to interiors of abandoned houses and other structures,

often shooting details up close. For several years, I did a personal

project documenting old roadside architecture and other stuff along

U.S. 60, which is one of this country's (United States) original

transcontinental highways. I still like to do that when I get time

away from my day job. I also like to shoot garden variety landscapes

and really anything else where the quality of light catches my eye. I

want to take more large format images of my 5-year-old son, but he

won't sit still long enough for me to do that! Maybe when he's older.

[bill_jefferson]

John,

I shoot, landscapes, foliage, RailRoad buildings and stock,

(disapearing in Vt.) new road construction, logging roads, ponds in

the back woods.

 

<p>

 

Bill

[trevor_crone3]

John,

I shoot mainly English coastal scenes, architecture, piers, jetties, groins, also natural forms, rock pools, rock details etc. I normally shoot very early in the day and oftern use long time exposures. I shoot on 5x4, 6x12cm and 6x9cm.

 

<p>

 

Its a great life.

 

<p>

 

Regards,

[jim_galli4]

Lanscapes of desert southwest and eastern sierra, especially

the ancient bristlecone forest which fascinates me, and derelict

machinery/ structures that are lost in a time warp. The other day I

was traveling and came across a '38 Dodge body in the sage brush. Not

so uncommon, but inside one of the seat backs still had original

fabric?! After 40+ years in the desert extremes! I set up the 4X5

and used the 6.8 Angulon. Wright Morris's stuff comes to mind.

[john_kasaian2]

I shoot just about anything that grabs my attention and dosen't move

(or at least stays still long enough for me to get the shot.) I

enjoy shooting wilderness landscapes, historic, urban, and rural

scenes too. My ongoing project is to bag every 14,000+' peak in

California( dare I hope North America?) with an aerial 8x10 camera

and still keep a roof over my family.

[david_goldfarb]

In large format I shoot landscapes, portraits, and architecture.

[domenico_foschi]

I get bored easily so i give myself assignments.

 

<p>

 

I have shot cemeteries, old kitchen gadgets, interesting

compositions extrapolated from everyday life, urban

landscapes, poirtrature, and soon i will start my most important

project i will ever takle....

[brian_c._miller]

I'm omniphotografus. (So I didn't take Latin...) I photograph what

doesn't move away too fast or shoot at me.

 

<p>

 

By and large its trees and rocks and whatever, but occasionally I

find old houses and barns and graveyards. Occasionally I photograph

people.

[psychophoto]

I use LF for pretty much anything that doesn't require 3200 film

and an f/1.4 lens. Architecture, interiors, landscape, product, stil

life, portraiture, etc.

[chris_jordan3]

i shoot statistically-improbable chaos-induced spectral vortices

emanating unexpectedly from surficial textures of urban niches.

(And some landscapes, too.)

 

<p>

 

doh!

 

<p>

 

~cj

[qtluong]

Look at the survey conducted two years ago at

http://www.ai.sri.com/~luong/photography/lf/polls/poll2.html

The vast majority of readers are landscape photographers.

[hal_hardy]

Something I would LIKE to photograph is a couple of kids who ride

their dirt bikes behind my job-site. I'm itching to try to set up

some shots of them catching air and freezing them with strobes. Hey,

there was a guy in the 19th century who photographed African wildlife

with LF including a charging elephant.

[sandy_sorlien]

Main Streets in America.

[gary_meader]

I, too, shoot just abnout whatever excites me at the moment. My

work is not too 'subject oriented'. But a project I'm beginning to

get going on now is to do portraits, if you will, of these old, white

small-town churches. They're going away, and being replaced

by huge 7-11 looking buildings. They used to be a part of the

community's life and now they're leaving. I figure someone

should document them in a thoughtful, sensitive way. I'm in the

Northwest, north of Seattle, so there are plenty to choose from.

[michael_veit]

Industrial landscape, mostly. Abandoned warehouses, interiors of

empty grain silos, etc. Almost no landscape. Shoot what you love and

have an eye for, I say ...which has me giving Trevor's suggestion

of "groins" serious thought.

[trevor_crone3]

Ooops! That should have been "groynes" not "groins". I'm not that weird. Its an idea though and could catch on.

 

<p>

 

Regards,

[ole_tjugen]

If it moves, it's too fast.

 

<p>

 

"Wow, look at that snail go!"

[wayne_crider4]

Lately I'm passionate about handheld for people involved in

activities or at outdoor events. I especially like nature spirits;

Those faces in trees, rocks and clouds that look like animals and

people. The latter will be a book one day.

[anthony_j._kohler]

Well, I DO photograph 'groins;' I shoot nudes (primarily B&W

abstracts and semi-abstracts) and landscapes, both the 'grand'

landscapes and what I'd call 'medium' landscapes, i.e. buildings and

the like. Haven't gotten much into some other areas, including the

macrolandscape, which I notice but normally don't (yet) photograph.

 

<p>

 

And I admit to shooting the occasional flower. I've got some critters

in the yard I'd love to get on LF, but neither the lizards nor the

hummingbirds want to hold still long enough. Unfortunately. I think a

good full-frame portrait of a hummer, even perched, would be fabulous.

 

<p>

 

Tony

[nicholas_f._jones]

I still use my 35mm cameras and don't get out the 8x10 unless there's

a good reason to. I want my LF images to be identifiably LF, at

least to informed viewers.

 

<p>

 

So, without thinking too much about it, my criteria are: (1) the

scene/subject or type of scene/subject is immediately recognizable as

belonging to the LF b&w tradition (while not coming off as derivative

or antiquarian); (2) and/or I plan to contact print the LF negative

using some contact-print-only alt. process; (3) and/or I plan to

enlarge the LF negative to huge dimensions while preserving fine

grain/sharpness; (4) and/or I can make effective use of the LF

camera's movements.

 

<p>

 

I end up shooting a lot of landscape, still life, portrait, human

form/figure study. I subscribe to group f/64 canons of sharpness,

DOF etc. because I can't see going to all this expense and trouble to

create an image that could be done just as well or better with a 35mm

SLR. When I want to shoot a crazy candid with moving subjects I get

out the Nikon.

[james phillips]

I shoot mostly landscapes and isolated or ignored old buildings,

sheds and barns. I would like to try portraits but am too

uncomfortable around people I do not know to be telling them what to

do. I like the wide-open spaces but do admire those of you who will

set up in a busy city and merrily shoot away. Recently I pulled out

an old 35mm rangefinder (it was in a moment of weakness :>) ) and

have become more fascinated with candid shots. I think it will take

quite a bit before I am comfortable setting up my 4x5 and casually

shooting candid shots in a downtown area even a small town like I

live in. Oh well there are many things to shoot where I do go and the

air is crisp and fresh.

[jim6]

Junkscapes...

[johnelstad]

I find it interesting that many of us are drawn to subjects that

represent a time gone by, as we ourselves as lf photographers work in

a medium that many consider archaic and obsolete. Is it because we

long for the lazier pace of a simpler time, or perhaps miss the fine

craftsmanship that is now seldom found? I don't just think it's a

coincidence.

[nathan_congdon]

These days I'm working on a portfolio of portraits of women, many in

masks and/or costumes, many shots in "exotic" locales such as the

Australian outback and the Andes (two recent examples; I travel a lot

for work). These are all shot with a 12X20 camera, for platinum

contact printing. Often, there is a lot of "seting up" work involved,

for example, a friend of mine in her wedding dress sitting on a limb

in the tree in our back yard, shot as a vertical; an author friend

lying on a huge pile of books, reading. I find the 12X20 format,

originally intended for "banquet" group shots, to be a very

stimulating aspect ratio for environmental portraits. It's really got

me thinking about space anew, esp after years of shooting the much

more square 4X5 and 8X10 formats.

 

<p>

 

Nathan