Saturday, October 09, 2004
Reading through my recent posts I sound like a schizophrenic... I guess it's a time of transition.
I think I've decided on getting a 4x5 view camera. This isn't the perfect choice but the most practical. I really don't want to get another enlarger, which I would need for the 4x5 negs. So then, you say, why not get an 8x10 and just contact print? Too expensive and I want to print bigger than 8x10. And the 4x5 neg will give me enough detail to make me happy with an enlargement. The cost of 8x10 scares me, because I think it would be a slippery slope. And, what if the initial images blow and I've got to go through $100 worth of film before I get everything straightened out. I guess some would say that's the price you gotta pay. I've even been entertaining going to 5x7 for contact printing, I could get a 4x5 back if I wanted to get big prints. hmmm. See there's just too many choices and none is perfect. Eventually this will all work itself out -- I hope...
Sometimes it just astonishes me the wealth of photography information on the internet. When I started back using the view camera in 1999, there was very little information regarding large format. Now there is so much. A new pyro developer has been formulated for contact printing and it's all the rage amongst the contact printing crowd. At a time when digital photography is sweeping the world and supposedly film is dying, there are more sources and styles of "old fashioned" cameras and film and paper and chemicals for traditional and alternative process photography. There's even become a renewed interest in large format press cameras, a la Weegee.
I think I've decided on getting a 4x5 view camera. This isn't the perfect choice but the most practical. I really don't want to get another enlarger, which I would need for the 4x5 negs. So then, you say, why not get an 8x10 and just contact print? Too expensive and I want to print bigger than 8x10. And the 4x5 neg will give me enough detail to make me happy with an enlargement. The cost of 8x10 scares me, because I think it would be a slippery slope. And, what if the initial images blow and I've got to go through $100 worth of film before I get everything straightened out. I guess some would say that's the price you gotta pay. I've even been entertaining going to 5x7 for contact printing, I could get a 4x5 back if I wanted to get big prints. hmmm. See there's just too many choices and none is perfect. Eventually this will all work itself out -- I hope...
Sometimes it just astonishes me the wealth of photography information on the internet. When I started back using the view camera in 1999, there was very little information regarding large format. Now there is so much. A new pyro developer has been formulated for contact printing and it's all the rage amongst the contact printing crowd. At a time when digital photography is sweeping the world and supposedly film is dying, there are more sources and styles of "old fashioned" cameras and film and paper and chemicals for traditional and alternative process photography. There's even become a renewed interest in large format press cameras, a la Weegee.
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