matt_kime

I just got a Lowe Pro bag and I love it. How much time do you want to spend packing

and unpacking your stuff? Yes, they are a little on the pricey side, but they last

forever.

Its my belief that you have to enjoy what you're doing to be good at it. Take photos

you enjoy making. Now, if you're working hard at that, be critical of yourself to the

point that its almost not enjoyable anymore. I believe its combination of love and

perfection that makes great photographers.

Surround yourself with photographs that inspire you. Include some of your best work

in this group. Try copying some of your favorite photographs.

You also seem to emphasize spontaneous photography. Maybe you're not that kind of

photographer. Try setting up and photographing a still life.

Also, remember that luck is a function of commitment. I don't necessarily see my best

shots when i'm taking them. I'll get all excited about something and it will be nothing.

Many of my favorite shots where when I just tried something.

It might be good for you to take a class - you'll be surrounded by people facing the

same problems.

I really only see one way to go about this. First, I wouldn't trust that your film won't

be scanned by sending it in the mail, so keep it with you.

Keep your film within your sight at all times! When you go through security, you'll ask

for a hand check on your film. While you go through the metal detector, keep your

film in your site! They'll want to wisk it away, and do who knows what with it.

Tape your film boxes shut and write warnings on them. They won't recognize film

boxes and they may try to open them.

Going through one airport, I heard the words "Sir, that is not to be opened!" coming

out of my mouth as I saw the guard start to open my film. I nearly had a heart attack.

He asked me the make and model of my camera....as if he knew shit.

Don't trust them a bit. Its not their work they're destroying.

Glad to see someone else pretending that a Calumet is a field camera!

Its only qualification as such is its durability - you're more likely to hurt yourself with

it than break it.

I'm interested in getting a compendium shade for my toyo 45cf. do i need to buy the

one made specifically for this camera?

Does anyone happen to know where I can get the knobs Calumet monorail cameras?

(The tough metal cameras.)

I have two which I walked many miles with shooting landscapes and the knobs on the

front and rear standards (adjusting the tilt) have both cracked. They're simple enough

to replace if I can just find some place to buy the part.

Thanks.

When I shoot my night stuff I go f/45 and usually keep the shutter open for about 8

minutes. When I'm shooting at night, its usually pretty dark, just enough light to see.

Shooting at night has taught me how little color we see at low levels of light. Because

of this, I think you have to be insane to try to shoot transparency at night. Its pretty

rare to find pure tungsten light. Most people putting up the bulbs in public places

don't care what color temp they are. Further, those extra stops of detail in color neg

will save you from needing to do super human metering. (shooting transparency is

fine when you can bracket or have controlled lighting, shooting 4x5 at night gives

you neither) Watch out for hot spots metering at night. Its rare during daylight to

have really strong highlights, but its quite common with streetlights at night.

I've failed to figure out what real problems one can have with reciprocity failure. If

you're shooting color neg, it should balance just fine.

I think shooting at dusk is overrated. You can catch some beautiful light if you're

quick and lucky. But once the sun goes down everything becomes very blue and you

might as well go in and eat until its solid night.

Take a look at my uploaded pics. I've been around the block a few times on this one.

I think it would be a good idea to _not_ display the comments posted prior to a photo

being selected as a POW. Often times these comments are generally of the

"wonderful!" one word sort. Usually, the photo has already received high praise, which

only encourages more of the same. I believe this may play a large role in why people

still take the POW to be an award for best pic.

I do have access to a shop, so i can make the frames if that is the best solution.

I have checked with commercial frame suppliers. i feel their weathered options look a

bit overdone.

So far it seems my best option may be simply leaving the wood outside for a while.

I've tried stains, but they tend to emphasize the grain too much. Some sort of acid

treatment may be interesting, but i've found little info about this option.

I've completed a project where i shot landscapes of wisconsin through the fall and

winter. now i'm looking at framing my color prints. i want to make wooden frames

that echo the feel of the time of year. i think a weathered look would work well. alas, i

have no idea how to accomplish this. any tips?

true, this isn't specifically a LF question, but i'm not aware of a better place to ask the

question. :)

I'm going to be driving from Wisconsin to Colorado in early july. any suggestions on

where to go between those two places? (scenic places or just good places to eat)

I've decided that i'm bringing my 4x5, but i'm not sure where i should go "hunting"

for photographs.

It seems that my suggestion to present the POW image more as a conversation starter

than a contest winner has been taken to heart - and it seems to have worked! look at

the length of the postings!

i'm tickled about this.

thank you elves!

i think the separation between artists and photographers has to do with their

functions in society.

many photographers are not artists. i think this is what the artsy photographers want

to separate themselves from.

No object becomes recognised as art unless someone presents it as art. If someone

finds a piece of trash and they call it art, it is they who transform it from trash to art.

Art doesn't need to be made for a specific purpose to be considered art. Art is quite

often divorced from the intentions and efforts of its creator. Someone creates

something along a certain line of thought and presents it to an audience who has no

connection to this line of though.

A random creation can be considered art but it is the person who selects the item as

art that converts the item from a typical object into art. People might show computers

that generated an image, but who selected the image? Who programmed the

computer? All intent comes from humans.

Everyone's method of arriving at a piece of art is different. That doesn't mean that its

purely intention that creates art, its just different for everyone.

I think you need to read up on Marcel Duchamp.

ok...i'm annoyed by this...why is the "alternative" POW forum gone, as well as the post

leading to it???

*lots of swearing*

okay, okay. i'll just leave. but for the time the forum was up, i was quite happy with

the arrangement.

Have you read my posts? No really, have you?

I suggested that there be a "less moderated" POW discussion. Perhaps I said

unmoderated the first time around, but i was refering to the way all non-POW

discussions are treated.

Additionally, I recommended that the POW photo.net elves text place the photograph

as a seed for discussion, rather than singing its praises.

For the record, i'm trying to turn your McDonalds into a country inn.

Paula has a point. I think a big part of all the rudeness on this thread is because

people don't feel listened to.

Brian, you're not exactly being mature. I started this thread because i feel i have very

legitimate conversation topic. Apparently the topic makes you sore. Ignore it. I don't

think the POW conversation is of the quality it could be and several people here agree

with us. i've made suggestions to improve it. if you don't like them, ignore them. I

think everyone who has posted on this thread has done so out of a genuine concern

for the site, even if its been expressed rather brashly. Comparing our complaints to

trying to set up a McDonalds shows a real lack of respect for us.

If you don't like what i said here, ignore it.

<p>Quoting Burgess: <i>Unless I'm asked otherwise, or unless someone beats me to

it, I intend to start one Monday morning. The trick will be to let members know it so

they know where to go.</i></p>

<p>That is exactly what i was suggesting. I link to it could be posted in the "About

POW" page. Would be even better if there was a link on the page with the discussion,

but I'm guessing this would take more work.</p>

<p>Quoting Brian: <i> It is unavoidable that people will think so, but the POW is not

a weekly contest.</i></p>

<p>I really don't agree with this. I think the photo.net Elves posting about why the

pic was chosen as the POW causes people to beleive its a contest. The posting always

tries to sell us on the virtues of the photo, quite often praising the range of colors or

tones. If they talked about it as a point of discussion, perhaps it would be recieved as

such.</p>

<p> Quoting Patrick: <i>Having their work criticized every week, does not show

much appreciation for their efforts. </i></p>

<p>Does criticizing a photograph show a lack of appreciation for it? How thin

skinned the elves must be.</p>

<p>-----</p>

<p>Obviously some people are quite unhappy about the way POW is run. I think this

is because the "censorship" method of running the forum is rather harsh. over and

over again, it has been mentioned that there is a concern to keep the threads

readable by people in the future. i think this is at conflict with the conversational

nature of the forum. in a conversation, you don't have a concern with the validity of

your words in the future. however, the moderators are explaining to us that some of

our conversation makes for terrible reading some time down the road. do many

people really attempt to use these threads as an educational resource? its a noble

goal, but i don't necessarily see people expecting that usage. </p>

<p>could there be an unmoderated POW forum? </p>

<p> Patrick, if i properly understand your link postings, those were supposed to be

examples of the problems of lack of moderation. I saw nothing wrong with them.</

p>

i'm posting my messages here that have been removed from the POW thread.

Is there another proper place to critique the choice of the photo.net Elves?

I don't understand what is inappropriate about discussing the choice of the topic of

discussion. I think its completely natural to talk about this. I'd hope the photo.net

Elves would read these comments and take them into concideration.

----

There are other reasons to critique the POW choice aside from which image is The

Best. Its a certain amount of control over the POW discussion. What kind of images

facilitate good discussion?

The POW isn't the best image of the week? Thats interesting, because its ALWAYS

presented as such. Read the main photo.net Elves posting. Every sentence is a

complement. (if you include "no photoshop") Perhaps if the text provided wasn't

trying to sell us on the photo, there would be fewer comments about The Best photo.

At the same time, i think it is very worthwhile to discuss which photograph is most

effective. However, I doubt the distiction between which image should be the POW

and which image is The Best will ever be at the top of poster's minds.

Finally, I don't understand why the photo.net Elves can't hear some criticism. If they

want to ignore it, then they can ignore it. Thousands of photographers survive

critques of their photographs on this very website.

----

Now, a few comment i have since my comments were taken down.

I understand that my comments above were concidered inappropriate in the POW

thread. However, it is also stated that "great photo!" type comments are also

inapproriate. Yet these are NEVER taken down. At least my comments above were

thoughtful.

It has been explained to me that the reason for the rule prohibiting discussion of POW

choice is because the goal is to make the conversation more useful in the future. I

question this goal, because a large number of people treat the thread as though it is

a conversation. While some things may not be of interest to people outside of the

discussion, they still may be very important to the people taking part in it.

Does anyone know if free standing air purifiers work?

I've moved into a new place and its...eehhh....dusty!

It sure doesn't help that i have a roommate that smokes. I'd love to convince him not

to, but it just doesn't seem like a realistic goal.

I live near Badger Graphics. I had a question about mounting a lens and decided to stop by. My question went unaswered and i was unaware of its status as a LF mecca.

For anyone who is disappointed by this, just redirect your fantasies toward B&H.