Some of the previous threads have got me thinking just how digital are we here. I’d like this thread to be a small survey of our processes and markets.

I’ll jump first … I use a LF camera for transparencies which I then scan myself and either size for client web use, or work the file in PS to outsource for digital printing. I e-mail proofs to clients, webmasters, and print house, with final file burned to CD.

We’ve already been treated to a number of digital vs. traditional threads recently, so as that famous inspector said “ Just the facts, please” . Thanks in advance to all respondents - traditional, digital, and hybrids.

-- Michael Mahoney (mike.mahoney@nf.sympatico.ca), January 10, 2002

Answers

I shoot black & white 4x5 film exclusively and do all traditional processing and printing to both RC and Fiberbase paper. Labwork is a custom b&w lab that I run in Cleveland, Ohio. We do quite a bit of work for clients internationally so I do see that there is a demand for traditional processes.

Labwork 216/621-7567

-- Jeffrey Scott (jscott@datavoice.net), January 10, 2002.

no digital C1 8x10 with Ilford HP5 processed with a Jobo CPA for contact prints on Azo #2 and pt/pd

I pay for this by shooting weddings and a few portraits. I use Canon Eos's mostly and some Bronica 6x6.

and of course, my trusty and beloved fleet of Holgas

-- eck wheeler (ew1photo@aol.com), January 10, 2002.

Toy 8x10G, B+W all the way, RC proofs and fibre prints. Some 120 colour, 35mm B+W IR. Scan the work for the web, sell from the net, and through local galleries. Will someday (I am sure) end up printing digitally, but hold out small hope that companies like Berger will fill the niche when the big-boys (Kodak, Agfa, Ilford) pack it in for the digital dollar.

-- Eric Boutilier-Brown (ericbb@evolvingbeauty.com), January 10, 2002.

habs/haer work, japanese bound books of streetscapes and portraiture all in 4x5 and 5x7. i do custom b/w processing and printing mostly on rc and fiber paper. i do have a scanner & digital camera 35mm and it is pretty much only used for family snapshots or when i sell some junque on ebay. - - - john

-- john nanian (jak@gis.net), January 10, 2002.

4x5, 6x7, 35mm B&W neg and Color transparencies - roller processed. Scanned, stored and printed - all with Epson's best. I guess that makes me a hybrid!

-- Matt O. (mojo@moscow.com), January 10, 2002.

5x7s and 8x10s with Deardorff. Mostly portraits and still lifes. Ilford FP4+ in pyro. Silver contact prints on Azo in amidol. Platinum and palladium prints on Arches Platine.... I use a little Sony digital camera sometimes to capture an object I want to sell on ebay and, very rarely, to make a picture of one of my traditional prints to email to somebody. -jeff buckels

-- jeff buckels (jeffbuck@swcp.com), January 10, 2002.

i make photographs for advertising, architectural, industrial, and editorial clients. For large format work I shoot film and have it scanned on a high end scanner.

If I shot catalogs, there is no question it would mostly if not totally be on digital media.

-- Ellis Vener Photography (ellis@ellisvener.com), January 10, 2002.

4x5 and 6x7 work. Velvia for color. HP5+, Acros in XTOL or Pyro, then scanned.

-- David G Hall (me@davidghall.com), January 10, 2002.

Color landscapes are shot on film (usually Velvia or Provia) ranginf rom 6x9 through 8x10 and then most usually drum scanned and printed 16 x20 on an iris Giclee printer by my fine art lab, ej arts. Some are also scanned and printed as lightjet prints, depends ont eh subject matter.

B&W is processed conventionally in my lab and printed on fiber paper.

Animal portraits are shot both 6x9 and digital and printed on lightjet printer.

Catalogue work for craftsmen is done digitally for their website use.

-- Ted Harris (slberfuchs@aol.com), January 10, 2002.

4x5 Canham, shooting primarily landscapes for personal pleasure. Color work is either Velvia or Provia, drum scanned, and LightJet output up to 20"x30". Few sales so far, only my own walls have my work on them. B&W is Tri-X, Jobo processor, HC-110 developer. Still learning, but getting better.....

-- Andy Biggs (abiggs@tvmcapital.com), January 10, 2002.

Bear in mind that respondants here will not be a representative sample of all LF photographers. Why? Most pertinent to the survey topic is the fact that by finding this question and responding to it online, we are all significant for a likely predisposition to computer usage.

-- Andre Noble (andrenoble@yahoo.com), January 10, 2002.

Older 8x10 and 4x5 Calumets, and a Speed Graphic, for large format with 8x10 B&W printed with both contact printed for platinum and silver. Traditional developers, Pyro, D-23, Xtol, HC-110. Traditional papers, Ilford VC, Forte, and Oriental. Traditional post printing techniques with Ferri, Thiocarbamide, selenium and gold toners. Print sizes range from 8x10 to 20x24. Market is myself, and any prints sold from those I provide to local businesses for art work on the walls and some architectural and interior consignments. I also work with all other formats , with my latest rebellion to technology being the use of a HOLGA camera.

-- James Chinn (jchinn2@dellepro.com), January 10, 2002.

I shoot 8x10s with a Deardorff and aerial 8x10s with a Gowland. Mostly landscapes and whatever else strikes my interest. I use Tri-x and tray develop in HC110 or D-76. Mostly contact prints or enlargements on an old,old Elwood using fiber based graded paper--- I'm currently experimenting with different brands. Ilford seems the easiest to obtain. Kodak AZO for contacts.

-- John Kasaian (www.kasai9@aol.com), January 10, 2002.

Color and B&W using 2 Nikons, 35mm Canon VT (rangefinder), Mamiya RB67, Linhof Kardan 4x5, and Deardorff 8x10. Much of my work is scanned for various web, manipulative, and digital output purposes. HP5, Bergger BPF, TMX, RDP III, Polaroid 54 & 79, PMK, Azo, etc. Still doing all analog as a starting point, but doing progressively more with digital as a second part of the process.

-- David Munson (apollo@luxfragilis.com), January 10, 2002.

8x10 and 4x5 transparencies... both Velvia and 100VS. Landscapes only. Drum scanned on a Heidelberg Tango and output to Lightjet on Fuji Crystal Archive. Sole purpose is fine prints for the gallery market. 'RIP' Ilfochrome.

-- Nigel Turner (npturner@earthlink.net), January 10, 2002.

I shoot a few weddings each year on the hasselblad 503cw so that I don't have to raid the regular bank account in order to have fun with the Sinar F1 8 x 10 with 300 and 480 lenses. Process black and white with a Jobo. No digital yet. As an attorney I know how to use word processors but other than that I am computer illiterate. Kevin

-- Kevin Kolosky (kjkolosky@kjkolosky.com), January 11, 2002.

Photography for personal pleasure. Shoot 2.25 (old Bronica S2a & 6x9 on 4x5 Arca-Swiss camera) B&W and color 4x5. Getting stronger into 4x5 black and white. Just starting 8x10 B&W contact and enlarging.

Totally traditional silver media. I want to enjoy silver now and get more into digital later. (By that time, prices will have come down a lot.) I think I'm more the settler than the explorer.

-- neil poulsen (neil.fg@att.net), January 11, 2002.

Exclusively 4x5 B&W, Toyo VX125 w/ 90SAXL, 150APO, 240 APO, folding Horseman viewer, Tri-x @ EI 160, Hc110, JOBO film development, all prints (proofs and final) on Ilford MGIV FB paper processed in a JOBO CPP-2 processor (yes, really!), selenium toned. Scan final print on flat bed for web use on personal site or for personal web-based projects for fun. Use Photoshop for any tweeking of these simple web only images. No plans for any digital output. Committed to silver based photography for one reason only, I love it and the hand skills that go with it.

Scott

-- Scott Jones (scottsdesk@attbi.com), January 11, 2002.

All film, then scanned. 4x5, 35mm, and until recently, MF. Landscape and macro with Velvia, sometimes Provia or E100VS. Scan with SprintScan or flatbed, print on Epson 870 or 1280. Occasional Ilfochrome. Starting 8x10 B&W. I shoot as a hobby with an occasional sale.

-- Tony Karnezis (karnezis@aecom.yu.edu), January 11, 2002.

Landscapes/portraits in 6x6(old hass MF) and 5x7 techIII, FP4 and HP5 in id11 or HC, FB(some RC) selenium toned. I work enough every day in software def. to believe that art isn't art if it is too easy.

-- Riaan Lombard (ryan3@workmail.com), January 11, 2002.

Tachihara 8x10 triple extension with 5x7 back, 150/300/450 Nikkor lenses, b/w only. Landscape, exterior architecture, still lifes, portraits in tradition of Group f/64. Tray processing in wet darkroom. Tri-X @EI200/D-76 or HC-110 contact printed on enlarger on Oriental Seagull graded fiber dw papers/Dektol. Toning with RST. Looking at Beseler MXT 810 enlarger for prints to 20x24, maybe larger. For personal satisfaction only but would sell a mounted and matted print when the time is right. Continuing 35mm with Nikon N60 (some b/w darkroom), F3 for copy stand work, trusty old Nikkormat FTN as LF light meter.

-- Nick Jones (nfjones@stargate.net), January 11, 2002.

Kodak film loaded in old 8x10 and 4x5 cameras, wet dark room using kodak chemistry, contact prints and small enlargements. beautiful fiber based prints very small fine art market. I don't even scan for the web and our christmas cards have tipped in silver prints. the only thing digital is this message.

-- jim ryder (j.ryder@verizon.net), January 11, 2002.

4x5 and 6x17 ;

Black and white ; mainly TMX, Delta 100 and Pan F+, developed in PMK Pyro or Rodinal, scanned using an Agfa Duoscan HiD, and printed on an Epson 1160 with Lyson inks on Lyson soft fine art paper. Still working on getting decent 6x17 scans.

Colour ; mainly Astia and sometimes Velvia, normally sent to a lab for enlargements.

-- fw (finneganswake@altavista.net), January 11, 2002.

8x10 and 5x7, black and white only, using Kodak Plus-X developed in open trays in D-76 and printed (straight) on either Agfa MC Classic FB, Chicago Albumen Works Centennial POP or handmade albumen. I scan prints using an HP desktop scanner for reference, web display and email purposes.

-- Chad Jarvis (cjarvis@nas.edu), January 11, 2002.

4x5 mostly, but some 8x10. TMY & TMX are my standard films, tray processed in Ilfotec HC. Once in while I'll expose a 4x5 chrome. I do have an MF backup camera or two which I take on trips where weather or wind could impede LF work.

-- Robert A. Zeichner (info@razeichner.com), January 11, 2002.

I neglected to mention that I print on conventional double weight photographic paper.

-- Robert A. Zeichner (info@razeichner.com), January 11, 2002.

8x10", 6x6cm, and 35mm, B&W silver processes and color transparency (C-41 infrequently). I print all my own B&W conventionally and have little interest in the current digital alternatives for B&W, have done Cibachrome and C-printing in the past, but now looking to drum scanning and Lightjet for printing from chromes. I own a 35mm film scanner and an old flatbed scanner, mostly for putting images on the web, infrequently for printing using online digital printing services like Ofoto. I don't own a color inkjet printer. I also have a Coolpix 990, which I use for snapshots, text scanning and image archiving related to my academic research, and with a copystand and lightbox for digitizing medium and large format negs/chromes for the web.

-- David Goldfarb (dgoldfarb@barnard.edu), January 11, 2002.

Mostly pleasure shooting, some freebie promotional shots for charitable organizations that I'm involved with (generally for magazine story illustration).

Scan only to sell on ebay or to put together website (which I plan to do shortly).

Large Format - 8x10, 4x5, black and white traditional process only, FB and RC paper, have not scanned any yet (actually, scanned one to send to another large format guy for comments once).

Medium Format - black and white with some color, process and print B&W myself as with LF, send out color for process and print. very little scanned so far.

35mm - mostly color with some black and white. Send out all color, do own black and white. Have scanned several for various purposes. No manipulation other than simple overall brightness, contrast and color balance.

-- Andrew Cole (laserandy@aol.com), January 11, 2002.

My film is TMAX 400 in 4 x 5 and 5 x 7 developed in split D-23. Camera is Wista 4 x 5 with a 5 x 7 expander back, too. I print almost exclusively in pt/pd in camera film sizes. I am using photoshop, pagemaker and acrobat to create enlarged digital negatives (up to 10 x 12)for pt/pd printing.

I try to use whatever works best for the image I want to produce.

-- Joe Lipka (joelipka@earthlink.net), January 11, 2002.

Film capture of the image (Velvia and FP4 for LF, Fuji Press 400 & 800 for 35mm) then scanned and printed on Lambda 2 printer. Most dollar value sales come from the 35mm horse race finish photos, while the LF stuff sells in galleries and market stalls.

-- Graeme Hird (goldeneyephoto@hotmail.com), January 11, 2002.

I shoot corporate and use RB's and 4x5. Pleasure shooting, B/W and some color is done with my personal Linhof III and Bronica's. Alot of the B/ W is printed fiber but I always scan and archive both for work and play. I am in the (slowly) process of getting into platinum and Kallitypes but it is taking me longer than I want on those...

-- Scott Walton (scotlynn@shore.net), January 11, 2002.

Old wooden 8x10 Deardorff. Bergger 200 film in ABC Pyro. Contact printing with AZO+Amidol, getting into Pt/Pd. NO DIGITAL!

-- hugo Zhang (jinxu_zhang@ml.com), January 11, 2002.

5x7 and 8x10. B&W almost to exclusion. Shot on Arista film. Printed on Azo. Cheers, DJ.

-- N Dhananjay (dhananjay-naykankuppam@uiowa.edu), January 11, 2002.

Shoot B&W, Colour chrome and some neg, with 35mm, RB67 and my Graphic View II. I shoot some location commercial work for my day job, some freelance wedding and portraiture work, and to keep access to a studio and darkroom for personal work (people and still life) I am enrolled in a Continuing Ed photography prgramme at a local community college. I work as a production artist on a computer and when it comes to photography we are strictly slide to drum scanner to photoshop to Quark Express when building ads. Similarly with my personal work anything colour is now scanned (drum scanned for large outputs) and output on a lightjet. B&W is printed myself at the local community college darkroom. No digital capture yet.

-- Dominique Labrosse (d_labrosse@hotmail.com), January 11, 2002.

graphic view II & crown graphic for 4x5 b&w, rolleiflex 3.5e for b&w; contax rx for b&w; do all my own darkroom work mostly 11x14 ilford warmtone fb; am very computer literate and at this point have no interest in digital photography; no professional need, no interest in spending more time staring into a monitor

-- howard singer (howard@singerpotito.com), January 11, 2002.

4x5 and 8x10 black and white shot with either a modified Super Speed or a Wehman Field camera respectively, T-Max 400&100 and any outdated B&W flm I can buy cheap, printed on Seagull and Forte VC and souped in Dektol.

The above is paid for with a Day Job as a corporate staff Photog. Here I use digital capture exclusively....DCS-460, and spend a lot of time gazing into a monitor. Output to clients is mostly electronic.

-- Bruce Wehman (bruce.wehman@hs.utc.com), January 11, 2002.

Only 'traditional' B/W, 5x4, 6x12cm, 6x9cm. Films Delta 100, SFX200/120, 55P/N, 35mm Kodak IR. Developer Pyro. I use fibre and RC papers usually warm toned and all exhibition prints are selenium toned. I process and print all my own films and prints in my home dark room.

Regards,

-- Trevor Crone (tcrone@gm.dreamcast.com), January 11, 2002.

Landscape on 4x5 transparency.

Color:

For rough proofs: scan on Heidelberg LinoScan 1450, Photoshop on Mac, print on Epson 1280. Soon to try some 3rd party inks.

For final work: drum scan by West Coast Imaging using Tango, Photoshop on Mac, print on LightJet (at Calypso).

B&W: scan color trans on LinoScan 1450, Photoshop channel mixer to B&W, print using PiezographyBW on Epson 1160 with CIS. Soon to try Polaroid Type 55.

-- Michael Chmilar (chmilar@acm.org), January 11, 2002.

No digital, 4x5 and some 8x10, strictly traditional processes. All personal work is B&W. Use scanner for scanning prints to make business cards, getting used to it so I can send prints by e-mail.

Regards,

-- Doug Paramore (Dougmary@alaweb.com), January 11, 2002.

I use real nice Crown Graphic with a 127mm Ektar (1961) mounted in a new Copal shutter. Gitzo 1359 CF with a 1370M head. I use Ilford HP5+, which I tray process in Ilfosol hunched over my bathtub at night. I make cyanotype contact proofs on my balcony with 4x4 Sunprint Kits and an old printing frame. I print on fiber papers only, Bregger and Agfa MC Classic using a rental darkroom in town. I plan to eventually move up to an 8x10 camera and contact print exclusively. I like the simplicity making contacts prints and look forward to exploring alternative processes. Digital image making just doesn't fascinate or inspire me like capturing light on film and paper.

-- Mark Gilles (mgilles@heart.org), January 12, 2002.

I use a Sinar P2, FP4, PMK, process and print all my negs.

-- Marcel Perez-Calisto (marcelperez@hotmail.com), January 12, 2002.

I shoot primarily B/W with a Pentax 645n and a Wisner 5x7 with a 4x5 reducing back. I shoot old barns, collapsing houses, portraits, and what I like to call; "things invisible to see" Film choice is Ilford PanF 50 for the 645 & Ilford HP5+ for the Large Format. Pan F developed with Ilford DD-X. 5x7 or 4x5 processed in Ilford ID-11.

Prints made with a Saunders 4550 Dichroic Enlarger on Forte Glossy VC paper, souped in Dektol. 5x7 work is usually portrait work that I print as a contact print.....

Scoot

-- Scott F. Feighner (SFeigh@aol.com), July 23, 2002.