doug_paramore

Raven: It is quite possible to make a living as a fine art photographer if you are willing to do what it takes to be successful. To begin with, you need at least a dozen really good images that will sell over and over. Twenty would be better. They must be of a subject matter that appeals both to you and the public, and they need to be more traditional images. The subject matter should be something that people can hang in their homes or offices and live with every day without getting sick of them. You will need to forget about the galleries and concentrate on the art shows held every weekend around the area where you live. You need display equipment, a canopy for outdoor shows, a vehicle to haul it to the shows, a nice folding table and a credit card machine. You have to invest a goodly amount of money in matting and framing, and a hundred bucks or so in a small mat cutter system. You will need to purchase picture frame glass in case lots for the savings in money. If you concentrate on black and white, you need a darkroom, a print mounting and finishing area, and an area to frame pictures. You have to schedule your show tour several months in advance and make application to the shows and send in your entry fee with the application. Entry fees range from $50 to several hundred. Above all, you have to have a genuine love of people and be professional and friendly to the people who come into your booth. Be prepared to answer with a smile some of the dumbest questions you will ever hear about photography. You will need to become a good salesperson. Be prepared to do some shows where you barely make expenses, and to do some shows where you sell nearly everything you put on display and panic because you have another show next weekend.

All in all, it can be a rewarding experience and a lot of fun to do. I have been doing the art show circuit in the South for eight years and it still gives me a thrill when people fall in love with one of my photographs and is willing to spend the grocery money on something I have created.

Send me an e-mail if you have questions.

Regards,

Clark: My circle of confusion is getting considerably larger as I get older. I find I am getting confused about more and more things. I think you are getting overly technical about printmaking. That is o.k. too, and many people enjoy the highly technical end of photography. However, you can make beautiful prints that people enjoy without even knowing that circles of confusion are at work on the neg and print. Just focus carefully, stop down, and fire away. Use swing and tilt as needed. You can see on the ground glass if everything looks sharp.

Regards,

Jeff: The key to getting what you want from a pro lab is communication. Let them know exactly what you want in a custom print and you will probably get it. If you just send them a neg and let them pick the way the print will look, human nature being what it is they will pick the easy way out. If possible, pay the lab a visit and explain the quality level you are after. It is a lost cause to try and do color prints yourself.

Regards,

Doug.

Brian has the right idea. Just mount the tripod head on a step ladder. All that is needed is a 1/4 inch hole in the top of the ladder and a bolt through into the head. You can even mount side braces to the ladder so it is more stable. Suggest you don't carry a ladder through a residential area late at night.

REgards,

Richard: The Xenar is a four element tessar design. The lenses are

quite sharp, especially at the center, but have limited coverage.

The 135mm just covers 4x5 and you have discovered, but gives a small

amount of rise and shift. When used on the verticle format, you

start getting cut-off corners with a small amount of rise. The

lenses have excellent contrast. The ones marked "Linhof" were

supposed to be specially picked. The lens should give you good

service for general photography with little or no movements. A

plasmat formula will work better when movements are required.

<p>

Regards,

John,

THe Noba cameras, which were once quite popular as a studio camera,

used a belt and pulleys for focusing. Worked quite well, and was

very fast. Are you building a verticle or horizontal enlarger? The

belt drive would probably work better in the horizontal

configuration. Good luck with the project.

<p>

Regards,

I'm 64 and have been shooting LF, along with other formats, for 45

years, both as professional and amatuer. I current shoot 98 percent

of work with LF. I spilled Viagra on my tripod and cannot get the

legs to collapse for transport. It's good to see we have a lot of

members in the 30-40 year-old-range, and even a few dedicated

members in their 20s. Seems one takes to LF after they get a little

older and more experienced and really know what quality means.

David: There were some older lenses in the 4.5 range made for 8x10.

I believe Zeiss made some tessar formula 300mm 4.5 lenses and

perhaps B&L. Some of the old aerial lenses also open quite wide. You

want shallow depth of field, you got it. There may have been some

4.5 14" lenses made for 8x10. Look on e-bay and check with Midwest

Photo Exchange. Also, you might want to purchase a wheelbarrow to

haul the lenses around.

<p>

Regards,

90mm and 180mm.

<p>

Regards,

Brian: I would look for a hole in the lensboard or lens mount that

might be causing a pinhole image. That is assuming that the lens

elements are still mounted solidly and in the proper alignment.

Also, the shutter might not be closing completly, which can cause a

pinhole image to form.

<p>

Regards,

Fridges are notoriously damp places that promote growth of all kinds

of fungi. Even in a moisture proof package I think you would be

asking for trouble. For long term storage in the fridge, you would

need a package that will remain moisture proof for years, which

would be a difficult thing to find if you intend to open the package

to remove negs you want to print.

<p>

Regards,

To answer your original question, there is a relationship between

the subject matter and print size. Some subject matter can look

quite gross in big prints, especially head shots of people and some

small objects. Some subjects seem to demand large prints. On the

other hand, we seem to become bound by the negative size or paper

size furnished by the manufacturer, printing everything 4x5,5x7,

8x10, etc. Sometimes a 3x10 or 4x7, etc., can work best. I can not

agree with the "full negative, don't crop" idea. Unless you are

photographing only perfect subjects or are willing to settle for a

less than ideal viewpoint, cropping is an essential part of making a

good print.

<p>

Regards,

Michael, You don't need to be asking questions, you need to be

giving answers. The shots are great. You can get the same effect

with single element lenses mounted in a shutter. I have had good

luck with using the "plus" lenses designed for 35mm closeups mounted

in a shutter. You have to figure out the f-stops. Good work with the

setup you have.

<p>

Regards,

Travis: There are tons of info on processing LF in the archives of

this forum. I have used about all the methods at one time or another

and settled on drum processing as being the most consistant with the

highest quality. There are those who swear by other methods, so find

what works best for you. If you are just getting started, I would

tray develop a couple of sheets at a time until you get the hang of

it. Just be careful handling the wet negs in the soup, as they are

easily scratched when wet.

<p>

Regards,

Chris: Are you using enough air inlet area into your darkroom? Many

times photographers will install a good exhaust fan and then no way

for the air to get into the darkroom that the fan takes out. I found

that in my darkroom, that created a partial vaccuum that made the

fumes worse. A fresh air vent on the opposite side of the darkroom

made things much better. Also, I turn on the exhaust fan and leave

the door open for a few minutes before starting work to insure a

supply of fresh air.

<p>

Regards,

Spotone has, or had, a spotting toner for selenium prints. It does

not come with the three-bottle kit and has to be purchased seperately.

<p>

Regards,

Lee: There is an MPP users site that might be helpful. As mentioned,

there is a tripod socket on the side of the camera that is helpful to

get rise in some situations. The rise on my MPP is a tilting lock on

the front, on the left side, and allows a good bit of rise with the

90mm. Tilted on its side, you get all kinds of movements using the

front and back movements. It is a versatile camera.

<p>

Regards,

I have used an ol' D-2 for years, and don't intend to change. It is a

good, solid old workhorse that can turn out some beautiful work. Mine

has stayed in alignment for several years, but if you get one, set it

up properly. I put a cold light on mine a few years ago and it has

done everything I ever wanted an enlarger to do.

<p>

Regards,

David,

I pulled an old HP-5 data sheet I had hanging on the wall and they

say it can pushed to 1600 with ID-11 developing 18-22 1/2 minutes at

68. They quote a figure of 12-15 minutes at 75 degrees F. You may

want to adjust agitation, time, etc. for your own lighting, subject

matter, and desired contrast. HP-5 is a beautiful film. The Darkroom

Cookbook (I think it was them) says there ID-11 and D-76 are the same

formula. I have great results with HC-110, but have pushed only once

at it was successful. I would probably go with the slightly softer ID-

11 or D-76 for portraits.

<p>

Regards,

Lee,

<p>

There is a neat trick to using a 90mm on the MPP that I discovered

after a bit of anguish. As stated earlier, the 90mm ends up right at

the hinge of the track. I did this to cure my problem...I cut another

pair of notches just ahead of the rear screws so the standard would

lock in further to the rear. Then release the latch which allows the

extension bed to slide, and slide it to the rear. This will allow you

to focus without trouble. I nearly always use lens rise, so I have

never had the bed intrude in the image. This has been by best

solution. You can also mount the front standard on the rear rails

inside the body and use back movement to slide the back to the rear,

but this requires some sort of spacer guage to get everything even.

<p>

Hope this helps. The MPPs are fine cameras.

<p>

Regards,

J.P. is right, you will gain a slight bit of coverage at the edges,

but not much. Both lenses, the Xenar and the Ektar are four element

tessar designes and as such barely cover the 4x5 format. They will

cover, but not with room for front rise and tilt. The Xenar is a good

lens, but even in the 150mm size, there is little room for movements.

For straight shooting without movements, the 135 should make a good

lens. It may do all you want to do on the ol' Bushman. Why not shoot

a couple of negs, develop them and see if it works for you. You don't

even have to make a print to see if it is o.k. One last thought...if

you intend to get serious with LF, and eventually go to a field or

view camera, you will be better off with a modern plasmat formula

lens.

<p>

Regards,

Try the Beselar drum you have with fresh chemistry. I suspect that

agitation, combined with old chemistry, is the problem.

<p>

Regards,

I have seen the statement "photography is 90% moving furniture"

attributed to several of our better known photograpers. I certainly

don't have problems with moving a branch, a beer can or a cigarette

butt. At times, I wish I could use a chain saw. Beer cans, dead or

live branches, cigarette butts, etc. are not a permanent part of the

scene before you, and just represent the scene in transition. Leave

them in if you like ugly stuff.

Lee: The MPP MK VII has a revolving back, swing and tilt at the back,

triple extension bellows. The front has slide, rise, fall, a drop

bed, swing and backward tilt. They are super cameras. They are a

British version of the Linhof III, and will do anything a midern

technical camera will do with the exception of forward tilt of the

lens, which can be accomplished by dropping the bed and using rise.

DOn't discount it until you look into it. There is a MPP users

website.

<p>

Regards,

I agree with JNorman. For me, the greatest thing about LF is that it

allows you to compose the image and carefully. It eliminates a lot of

wasted shots. I enjoy just setting up the camera and studying the

ground glass, even if I don't expose a negative. The ground glass

lets me see if the picture will be worth making or not. Sometimes

moving the camera a few inches one way or another makes the

difference as to whether the picture is good or not. To me, this is

one of the beauties of LF.

<p>

Regards,