Seasonal Thanks

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Just about to load the car with my camera, tripod and film, oh and wife and kids too and head off to London for Christmas. Probably won't take any pictures but you never know. Just to offer seasonal greetings and having spent the last 6 months reading as many threads as I could, say a big thank you to all. I work at the British Library so I manage to get my hands on just about any photography book published I think, but there isn't a book published that contains as many useful bits of advice as mentioned here. Thanks again and keep answering those stupid questions, it really helps beginners to LF like myself. Looks like there's no room for the last suitcase, so one of the kids is going to have to stay at home.

-- dave bulmer (bowlocks@aol.com), December 20, 2000

Answers

Dave: That was a fine touch indeed. My turn: And thanks to the good people that host this wonderful forum. I have learned much too, and enjoyed the camaraderie, the good humour, the unlimited memory of some of the contributors, the delightful enthusiasm of photo-hardware junkies and the less frequent but always stimulating thoughts about what photography is really about. you are absolutely right, Dave, ..."there isn't a book published that contains as many useful bits of advice as mentioned here." And to you, have fun at the pubs, great places where small formats can grow into large formats.

-- Julio Fernandez (gluemax@ora.auracom.com), December 20, 2000.

Yep, if it weren't for this site, I would have given up on LF a long time ago. This is what the power of the internet is all about. I'm in a location where LF photography is almost unheard of. I know of only 1 other LF photographer in my area and he does an entirely different type of work. But with this site, I can get instant help. What a resource!

-- Bruce Schultz (schultzredfish@aol.com), December 21, 2000.

I, too, live in a semi-rural area of the South, and LF photographers are thin on the ground. I have run into one other LF photographer while shooting in the past 20 years. That is not counting a couple of friends I have corrupted and made LF shooters out of. I sometimes take my camera to the Gulf Coast, which is about 90 miles away. Invariably I draw a crowd who wants to know what the old geezer is doing under that black cloth. I wish I had taken it more when I was young, because it sure attracts the girls. Anywhere I set it up, it attracts attention. The funny thing is that everyone immediately assumes I am a professional photographer, which I am. This forum gives me a fantastic chance to share the stuff I have stumbled over during 40 years of photography, and I use it to get quick answers to questions of my own. I don't care how long one is in photography, there are things one cannot know. Besides, things change with different equipment, film, paper and developer. Thanks everyone and happy holidays.

Regards,

-- Doug Paramore (dougmary@alaweb.com), December 21, 2000.


Doug, I know the feeling. This fall we were on this cliff, my Master Technika and I, about 150 feet above the ground below. A couple of wrong steps and I would have been severely overexposed. While I was going about my business this 20 year old guy standing behind a stone fence kept saying something about his great-grand father probably using a camera like mine. He was also eager to know how old the camera was. They still make them, I told him. Unconvinced he suggested that I could get better pictures if I used a modern camera. As he said that, under the low, late afternoon sun the railway tracks glistened as they bent their way around the trees and blaze of autumn colour. What are you taking a picture of? he asked and before I could answer he said, "oh! I see, the railway tracks, what a boring picture! Doug, I empathize with you... and all those girls. Was it difficult to focus with your eyes not on the ground glass? Compliments of the season.

-- Julio Fernandez (gluemax@ora.auracom.com), December 23, 2000.

Julio: The sad thing is that the camera seems to attract the girls, but the girls attract my wife! Actually, I have had a lot of fun letting people take a look under my dark cloth when I am not in a hurry to get the photograph. They are usually astounded at what we see under there. The first comment is usually "Oh, it's upside down!" and the second comment is "It's beautiful!". I had a young couple walk up as I was finishing shooting a sunrise on the beach that must have spent 10 minutes looking at the sun on the water through the camera. They both said it was something they would never forget. They also wanted to know where I found such an "antique camera that still works".

Happy Holidays!!!

-- Doug Paramore (dougmary@alaweb.com), December 23, 2000.



Indeed it's a funny old game. I just wish I took up 4x5 twenty years ago. Still better late then never.

Have a great holiday one and all.

-- Trevor Crone (trevor.crone@uk.dreamcast.com), December 23, 2000.


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