[LargeFormat] The Big Digit

Sat Feb 23 22:01:20 2002

For once I read something that captures the "nature" of the "medium"
of film. A dicipline is involved in the "basics". 
(winks) those Knickers must look awful funny)
I am a NECK deep novice playing with 8X10 and from the get go the camera
I got off of e-bay needs to be modified to focus at infinity.
(darned mount hits the standards and needs to be shortened)
I have shown many friends the basics of developing (which I am no master
of) and try very hard to deal with this "as the media" of film.
Not expensive lenses or cameras. The FILM is the trick. HOW to control
the light and HOW to compose and so on.............
I am a life long machininst and (since 5 years of age)now 44 and know
dicipline is a large factor in any thing that we choose to do.
MONEY???? I do this for FUN...... in doing what we love to do the "rewards"
come on their own.........
for some it is MONEY...............
ME????????................. it facinates me
the MEDIA>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

-- 
menso guk
deadcell@onebox.com - email
(510) 496-2740 x4396 - voicemail/fax

---- "rstein" <rstein@bigpond.net.au> wrote:
> Dear Friends,
> 
>     Just prior to disappearing into the darkroom for the day and losing
> the
> cares of the world - you can tell that I do not get out much - I thought
> I
> would mention a comment I heard in passing at a recent costume society
> meeting.
> 
>     The speaker was using a small digital camera to try to capture
> a
> medieval dress in all its glory. He was a little frustrated at the
> delay
> between the time he pressed the button and the actual exposure - verified
> by
> the firing of the tiny on-board flash. I consoled him with the thought
> that
> at least the model wasn't out on the fighting field with a sword and
> shield.
> He'd never capture the peak of the action that way.
> 
>      He wasn't fazed. He said that as he could just wipe them off when
> he
> got home and use the camera again the next week without spending money
> on
> film he would just blaze away regardless.
> 
>     I mentally contrasted this with my own performance the day before
> in my
> studio taking naughty French postcards. You know, frilly knickers and
> corsets and long black stockings - and that's just me - you should
> see what
> the girls wear....
> 
>      No, I mean contrasting me setting up a dressing table shot or
> a
> chaise-longue shot with all the curtains, pot plants, props, lights,
> etc.
> and then setting up a 4 x 5 Linhof with an Imagon lens and trying to
> imagine
> what aperture I actually have when I set the diaphragm at halfway.
> And then
> posing the girls and coaching the proper or improper expression from
> them.
> And then focussing and resetting the lens and loading the DD and pulling
> the
> slide. And then concealing my hand with the shutter release so that
> the
> models do not react differently just before exposure.
> 
>      And then the shot. Right on. Right on for time, exposure, pose,
> light,
> colour, atmosphere....And as I have spent a scandalous amount on one
> sheet
> of Polaroid film at the start of the studio sequence I can be confident
> that
> I have it in one.
> 
>     Now, I must admit that I will never be able to own a digital back
> for
> the Linhof. I cannot imagine having that kind of money to spend for
> that
> purpose. If, however, the earth turns inside out and I find the suitcase
> full of cash - well, am I going to be a better photographer and turn
> out
> better work because of it? I kind of doubt it.
> 
>     The very expense and time investment of the film system coupled
> with the
> wet darkroom system compel me to take care - care I might be tempted
> to
> eschew did I have that magical ability to discard the image for free.
> I am
> not saying I need the lash of poverty to make me an artist - Heaven
> forbid -
> but I think the very capture medium exercises a healthy discipline
> on me.
> 
>      Is this a great debate and are there any takers? Remember that
> I am a
> modified amateur in this art - I don't earn a living by it but I find
> ways
> to make it pay for itself and let me spin off my own vision for my
> own
> purposes. One of the purposes is naughty postcards. I am hoping for
> an
> actress in pink tights next and a girl in a camisole riding a pennyfarthing
> bicycle.
> 
>     Uncle Dick
> 
> PS: Later in the year I am opening Le Chat Noir - the most exclusive
> bordello in town - for one day. I shall take pictures of the girls
> and make
> cabinet pictures. Applications for positions on the staff may be made
> over
> the internet.
> 
> 
> 
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> 

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