www.graemehird.com

Edward,

You don't mention which style of lens you prefer in other formats. The advice usually tendered is to buy a lens similar to those you prefer in the smaller formats. I agree with that advice.

Having said that, I often shoot with a 150mm Xenar on my 5x4 camera and love the feeling of depth I get with prints around 20" wide (ie. they seem almost three-dimensional). They appear to be windows mounted on the wall through which scenes of beauty can be viewed. I think it is due to the familiarity of "normal" perspective that the lens produces, but who knows?

Graeme

I'll second the Gossen Starlight. It's a great all round meter.

Graeme

f32.net is another web site devoted to large format photography with an active forum. One of the topic categories is the classified section, where you may sell equipment.

Associated with that site is a mailing list, where there is a "rule" enabling contributors to sell their goods on Fridays.

Cheers,

Graeme

Rick,<p>

I've got to blow my own trumpet here (no one else will do it!) but you can have a look at my site: <a href="http://www.scenebyhird.com"> www.scenebyhird.com </a>

<p>Most shots are LF, with a smattering of 35mm in for good measure.

<p>

Cheers,<br>

Graeme

Omar,

I think Bob is correct: the lens will hurt you the most. For your desire to do architechture shots, you'll need a lens with a wide image circle, and these don't come cheap. Your $500 budget won't even cover it without a camera.

Good luck,

Graeme

Dave,

I think you might find that Chris is an experienced LFer already. He knows why films come and go.

Chris, I wish I could help, but I also want to know the answer to your question. I get the impression that any of the lower speed negs films from Fuji will do the trick. Given the large area of the film it shouldn't make too much of a difference for prints to the size you normally make (I've seen the pictures on the wall of your workplace via internet).

Cheers,

Churchills Laboratory in Perth.

If you are traveling through Kalgoorlie, WA, I'll also help out with travel plans for you.

Cheers,

Film will probably not be around for too much longer in the current amounts being used (10 to 15 years maximum?). That is not going to be your limiting factor though, and neither is the price you charge.

If you want your business to succeed, you must concentrate on quality rather than price. If you do the best work, people will pay whatever you ask. The responses you've already had, plus your own experience should convince you that people seek quality over price for the service you are offering.

Good luck,

Graeme

Made.

I couldn't even get the exposure right when I was two years old :)

I look at my first few pictures from my archives and realise just how far my work has progressed in 12 years. My ability to see and select from the scene in front of me has been developed through much practice. That's a sign of a skill that has been learnt rather than an innate talent.

If anybody else is able to look through their own body of work and not see a progression, I'll either withdraw my comments or question their current abilities.

Made, and still forming .....

Oh, I see. You mean the west of the USA! Now if you were after Western Australia, I could have helped you.

Oh well ....

:)

<i>There is an old riddle about orientation. "If a mirror reverses right and left, why doesn't it reverse up and down?" There are lots of different answers to this question, depending on the particular aspect that is considered important. But the real point is that orientation is an innate characteristic in any dimension. Any reflection transformation reverses it .... </i><p>

The easiest answer is: In a mirror, up is still up, down is still down, left is still left and right is still right. In other words, the items on the left in the real world are also on the left in the mirror, just as up in the real world is up in the mirror.<p>

Reversing of the image is a "construct" of our intellect. We don't notice it until we see a familiar reference item - for instance, words. Write a word on a piece of paper and hold it up to a mirror, looking at both paper and image. The letters on the left as you hold the paper are still on the left in the image. The order of the letters in the words has not changed, which should be enough to convince us that no right-left reversal has occured. <p>

On another piece of paper draw an arrow and hold it so that it points to the right. Holding it up to the mirror, it still points to the right, again showing there is no left-to-right reversal of the image.<p>

To answer the question <i>"If a mirror reverses right and left, why doesn't it reverse up and down?"</i>, I say "A mirror doesn't reverse right and left - it's just your brain playing tricks on you." Think about it in a different manner and the conundrum disappears.<p>

Graeme

Michael,

I find your responses to these questions very informative, and I'm so glad you are above the apparent hostility to your posts.

As one of the very few full time professional LF photographers posting on forums anywhere, your responses should be offered at least the same respect that posts from lesser-known photographers are afforded. Personally, your photos don't "speak" to me, but that doesn't mean your opinions posted here are not worthy of respect.

With the amount of bad feeling towards your posts, is it any wonder that other "well known" LF photographers do not post on forums such as this?

Please keep your contributions coming.

With Respect,

Graeme

Jim,

Take the "My Workspace" link at the top left of screen, scroll down to the "You, You, You" section and click on "(update the information above)" link. Change your name to Jim in the first box and Rice in the second box.

Cheers,

Gra Gra

Select the area you want as a background, using the lasso tool and/or gradient with mask.

Choose Filter->Blur->Gaussian Blur and knock yourself out.

Cheers,

The time spent goofing off in forums is directly proportional to the number of mistakes a photographer will make on the next outing.<p>

Go make some <strike>mistakes</strike> photos!<p>

Graeme

Jamie,<p>

Although I'm not answering your exact question, can I suggest you search beyond your immediate geographic area for the prints you are after? The internet has made the world much smaller, and you can now choose the printer you want from anywhere.<p>

I get my prints done by <a href="http://www.pixelperfect.com.au">Pixel Perfect</a> in Sydney, Australia, even though I live 3,500 km from them. They will take your order from anywhere in the world, and your perfect digital prints will be sent to you in less than a week. The lab has complete colour management, so you know what you will get back if your computer is calibrated correctly. Check them out.<p>

Graeme

Seven,

Although I can understand your frustration with not being able to operate Jalbum in OSX, I can't help very much, never having been a user of Apple systems.

I change the style sheets (called skins) by editing the source of the HTML templates with Dreamweaver. Any HTML editing tool will do it. That's the biggest strength of Jalbum, but you have to learn a little HTML to get the most out of it (I knew very little before I started using Jalbum, but it only took about half an hour to figure it out. A slightly skilled HTML user would do what I did in about 5 minutes.)

I believe there is an option somewhere for changing which browser opens when you press the view button. I haven't searched for it, since my default matches.

I also use a third party FTP program to upload the files to the server, so I can't comment on the publish option in Jalbum.

Persevere - it's worth it.

Graeme

From the Webster Dictionary:<p>

<i>Main Entry: syn·on·y·mous <br>

Function: adjective<br>

Date: 1610<br>

1 : having the character of a synonym; also : alike in meaning or significance</i><br><br>

If you're asking whether I consider my camera to mean the same thing as my exposure system, no I don't. One is a physical object, the other an intellectual process. <p>

Now that I've got my symantic rant out of the way, I'll sit on the fence re using the zone system with my LF camera. I use the exposure system that works best for the subject. If the scene's contrast is not particularly challenging, I'll simply use the incident meter and check the brightness range with the spot. If more control is needed, I spot meter and develop accordingly, though I develop B&W by inspection, and thus I never use the Zone System as AA expounded.<p>

Graeme<br>

<a href="http://www.goldeneyephoto.com">www.graemehird.com</a>

I usually crop to the area I envisaged in the field. I like the panoramic format for some subjects, but I'm not going to buy a whole new camera to achieve it when I can easily crop my LF image. <p>

As Ian said, they're your images - you choose the format.<p>

Graeme<br>

<a href="http://www.goldeneyephoto.com">www.graemehird.com</a>

Amy,<p>

Try using <b><a href="http://www.datadosen.se/jalbum/">Jalbum</a></b>. It's completely customisable, very easy to use and it's free. All the galleries on <a href="http://www.goldeneyephoto.com">my web site</a> were developed with it, but have a look on the developer's own site for other examples of the skins that come with the program.<p>

I have no hesitation in recommending the program.<p>

Leonard,

I agree with you on the question of resolution of the scan from 5x4 film. My scans from an Epson 2450 have more than enough resolution for prints well beyond 16x20 inches, and 24x30 inch prints are very acceptable, even at closer than "optimal" viewing distances. (I only scan 5x4 films with the 2450.)

Given this property of my scanner, I always try to minimise the CoC as much as possible when capturing a scene, because I never know when I might want a very big print from the film. If I've got the image on the film, I increase the flexibility of printing options. A sharp image can be printed large or small, while a less sharp image can only be reproduced in smaller sizes.

Of course, when using selective focusing creatively, scanning resolution is not as important since we are not attempting to resolve the subject, only the tonal variation of the bocce (sp?).

All in all, I agree with your thoughts. It is simply a matter of knowing the limitations of your equipment and working within them to the best of your ability. On the rare occasions when the scanner is not adequate for my needs, I send the film to get a drum scan done.

Cheers,

Graeme