Large Format Sheet Camera

[Michael Slade]

You know...we threw around the idea of having an ExPo photo workshop sometime. Do you guys think there is enough interest?

We could cover everything from compositional strategies, taking care of equipment in the bush all the way to the large format view camera and high end digital stuff. There is enough talent on the board that we could have 3-5 instructors assigned a specific topic and we wouldn't be overwhelmed. Plus...we could take each others workshop presentations.

Thoughts???

 

[Streakerfreak]

You know...we threw around the idea of having an ExPo photo workshop sometime. Do you guys think there is enough interest?

We could cover everything from compositional strategies, taking care of equipment in the bush all the way to the large format view camera and high end digital stuff. There is enough talent on the board that we could have 3-5 instructors assigned a specific topic and we wouldn't be overwhelmed. Plus...we could take each others workshop presentations.

Thoughts???

Yes, I think that would be great. There are enough styles and format use here that a great workshop could be put together.

 

[Streakerfreak]

One of the best things about large format photography is it forces you to slow down and artistically plan the composition - no point & shoot. (If the equipment doesn't slow you a little bit, the $4 per click might).

Yes it does. The average set up time when I am shooting with a large format is about an half an hour (I'm working on a fine art series that takes a lot of time to get the camera just right).

Its a rewarding, if sometimes frustrating experience. You try to make every shot count since it gets mighty expensive very quickly.

Enjoy it!

 

[go4aryd]

You know...we threw around the idea of having an ExPo photo workshop sometime. Do you guys think there is enough interest?

We could cover everything from compositional strategies, taking care of equipment in the bush all the way to the large format view camera and high end digital stuff. There is enough talent on the board that we could have 3-5 instructors assigned a specific topic and we wouldn't be overwhelmed. Plus...we could take each others workshop presentations.

Thoughts???

I think there is enough interest. Getting folks together is always the challange. (How about at my place? sorry, but couldn't resist the try!)

 

[Every Miles A Memory]

You know...we threw around the idea of having an ExPo photo workshop sometime. Do you guys think there is enough interest?

We could cover everything from compositional strategies, taking care of equipment in the bush all the way to the large format view camera and high end digital stuff. There is enough talent on the board that we could have 3-5 instructors assigned a specific topic and we wouldn't be overwhelmed. Plus...we could take each others workshop presentations.

Thoughts???

Mike, that sounds like a great weekend get-away mixed with some life long photos to remember it by.

I'd be up for that. Just name a date and time

We also have a ton of Canon Gear that we'd be more than welcome to allow anyone looking to try it out a chance to shoot it or see if it was worth the extra effort.

Cindy and I had a little meet & greet with some photography people we met off another forum in Monument Valley and that's exactly what we did.

A few of us shot Canon, and we were all able to try each others lenses and bodies to see if we wanted to go out and spend the money.

 

[TeriAnn]

I'm impressed!

I didn't know that there were many people on this list who look at the world upside down and backwards yet still make sense of it!

There is has already been a lot of really good advise & links given on this thread. To that I might add that once you get the basics of the camera movements down get a box of 100 sheets of TMAX and practice setting your plain of focus and learn the depth of focus. The bigger your sheet of film the less depth of focus you have for a given F-stop. Its the controls that adjust the film and camera plains that allows you to have something close up at the bottom of the picture to be in crystal clear alignment as well as the clouds at the top of the image. Its a shame that Polaroid just discontinued their film. Shooting Polaroids is a great way to immediately get feedback on how you composed a shot. They were a big help to me when I first started shooting large format. Without Polaroids you need to take good notes of your camera settings to learn what works and what doesn't. That or set up a B&W processing and contact printing lab next to your camera.

For years I've been thinking of getting a small off road trailer just so I can bring along my ATL1000 film processor and develop film each day. Nothing like getting home from a couple thousand mile trip and realizing that a gust of wind had kicked dust up into into your lens and an image you had great expectations for is unusable. Or just that you misread the meter or the light meter battery was weak.

 

[SWDesertTaco]

You know...we threw around the idea of having an ExPo photo workshop sometime. Do you guys think there is enough interest?

We could cover everything from compositional strategies, taking care of equipment in the bush all the way to the large format view camera and high end digital stuff. There is enough talent on the board that we could have 3-5 instructors assigned a specific topic and we wouldn't be overwhelmed. Plus...we could take each others workshop presentations.

Thoughts???

I think this is a fantastic idea. Myself and my SO would enjoy something like this.

Enough interest means...what exactly? I couldn't imagine that we would need or want more than a dozen people in the class. Even half a dozen would be a good size.

I think a class somewhere would be a good excuse for me to travel and get away from Phx!

 

[Stealth 4x4]

Sounds interesting to me too. I could bring several Nikon camera bodies, film and digital, and a bunch of Nikon equipment for people to play with. My wife and I are field biologists and nature photography enthusiasts. I would be willing to help out with someone's presentation on nature photography if anyone'd be interested. I'm pretty new to the ExPo and don't know many of you guys, so here's a link to some photo galleries of the type of stuff we shoot, mostly wildlife.

http://www.pbase.com/jwdicus

Photography is the one hobby that comes along with me no matter which of my other hobbies I happen to be engaged in at the moment. Hiking, wheeling, camping, competetive shooting, watching my nephew's football games - whatever, the camera always comes along too. An ExPo related photo workshop sounds like a blast to me.

 

[Ivan J. Eberle]

Meridian camera

I've got a couple of Meridian 4x5 cameras myself. They're very capable, sturdy and durable considering they're all 60+ years old. There were only a couple thousand made. The 45B model is well suited to wide angle landscape work and portraiture, and will accept (and fold closed with) larger more modern lenses than will most press camera designs of that era.