[LargeFormat] Introductions

[Brock Nanson]

> It seems that 90% of the people posting are in their 50's.  Perhaps it
takes
> that long for us to discover LF.
>

Well I'm here to pull the average down... hmm, some people might suggest
I've been doing that all my life! ;-)

I'm 37 and have been dabbling with LF for the past 6 years.  It's been a hit
and miss affair, with little kids you never quite know when your
opportunities for escape will come along.  I live in Kamloops, British
Columbia (in Canada, eh?).

I started with one of those silly Kodak cameras with the cube flash on the
top and the almost-35mm film in a cassette inside.  I was probably 7 or 8
and the film of choice was Kodachrome.  Why?  I have no idea, but that's
what my father shot in his old Pentax SP500 so that's what my parents
supplied me with.  With the limited latitude of that film it's a wonder I
got any sort of images back!  Not to mention that incredibly sharp plastic
lens...  I actually came across some of those old slides a while back.
Awesome stuff... close-ups of my grandfather's black lab and a few of a
black bear at 200 meters.  At least I think it was a bear.  Such a shame the
f32 gallery is limited to Large Format!

I went through a couple of hand-me-down rangefinders before discovering a
K-1000 in grade 8, when I got involved with the yearbook.  I didn't know the
finer details of push processing, but leaving the film in the developer
longer was always better.  Not surprising when most of the shots were taken
wide open at a 30th or so.  The prints were pretty lousy but no one at the
school knew anything about darkroom, so it was learn as you go.  But seeing
that first print appear in the developer was magical and much of the awe
remains today.

I shoot 35mm with Nikon gear, LF with a Super Graphic and a Sinar F and have
an old German 6x6 rangefinder I pull out for kicks now and then.  I have a
darkroom that never seems to be completed, a Beseler 45 and an orphan
Vivitar enlarger.  The rest of the darkroom just collected over time.  I'm
not an equipment junkie by any stretch of the imagination - I don't have any
redundant equipment and it all gets used.  Some email lists that seem to be
populated by what I like to call 'equipment fondlers' have made me somewhat
cynical.  I don't want to hear about the number of lines per inch the latest
consumer lens will resolve - especially when the people pontificating just
dry fire their equipment at the walls of their living room, the TV and their
dog...!  My old F801's are reliable and I know what they'll do
exposure-wise.  I have no interest in an F5!  The Sinar was a steal of a
deal and a good way to play with movements.  The Super Graphic was added
when I found I couldn't get enough gear into the field without a pack mule
(my wife has no interest in going shooting with me) ;-) and I realized that
I didn't need the movements of the F very often at all doing landscapes.  I
shoot Velvia in all formats and black and white as well.  I'm not committed
to a particular black and white film yet.  I've been using Delta 100 lately
but when the boxes are empty I'll try something else.  I'm finding that
while I liked the t-grain films in 35mm, I'm not overjoyed with the results
in LF.  I don't know why - it's just a feeling of frustration when I can't
get the print to do what I want no matter how I process the negative.  The
exposure and contrast can be there, but the tonality just doesn't work.

Some people have commented on digital.  I like the possibilities the new
technology brings.  I'd love to have a new digital 35mm body, but not at the
current prices!  I have no doubt that film-based photographic gear will
eventually fall to the wayside, just like black powder muskets, but I'm
heartened by the fact that some people still own those old guns and take
them to the range now and again!  Digital is about instant gratification.
The film and equipment we use and discuss here require contemplation and I
think the results speak for themselves.  Digital can undoubtedly *collect*
the same pictures, but I'm not convinced that photographers can *capture*
them with this gear.

So, another introduction for the record!  I like this group - it's by far
the most easy going, casual and polite forum I've found.  And the level of
expertise is high - I always get concerned when I seem to know more than the
rest of an email list - luckily that has never happened here!  I guess
that's the wisdom stuffed into all those gray heads!  ;-)

Brock Nanson