[pure-silver] My first attempt at 4x5

    Hi,

    This is intended as a quick summary of my weekend in California using a 
Zone 
VI 4x5.. First though I'd just like to thank everyone who helped me out getting 
to learn the basics of LF. It's this list that got me into B&W in the first 
place. People like Mr Lambrecht, Uncle Dick, Nick Zentena and a whole host of 
others have helped me immensely.

    I'm 32 and I write and design software for a living. So I spend much of my 
time in front of a computer and it's really nice to do something analogue. 
That's one of the reasons I love B&W..

    I won't go into gory details of the weekend in San Francisco and Mendocino 
but it was eventful. We got into a car accident on the way up and totaled my 
girlfriend's car. Both air bags went off and smacked me square in the face. 
Everyone is OK.

    There was a huge rain storm in Philly where my connecting flight to 
Montreal 
was. We were delayed leaving SF and as a result, I missed my flight back to 
Montreal from Philly. I spent the night in the airport. Fun, fun, fun.


    We rented the Zone VI from Calumet. Super cheap. $50 for the entire weekend 
(Fri-Mon) and a ball head tripod:

   http://www.shampoo.ca/pics/JLR200504-004.JPG (all pics by Julia Robinson)

   LF reminds me a lot of developing film. You have to be deliberate and 
meticulous and if you aren't, it'll bite you in the ass. And it did too, a few 
times.

    I made lots of mistakes:

     i) Opening the shutter before replacing the slide in the film folder.
    ii) Not checking the entire ground glass for the image being in focus and 
thus getting screwey focus points
   iii) The film got pushed out the other side when putting back the card into 
the film holder..

     The film is all developed and the detail made me wet my pants. Totally 
breathtaking. It's such a different way of shooting. The editing process takes 
place at camera time as opposed to post-developing time. You better be sure the 
shot is worth it before you decide to invest all that time setting up.. I like 
that, it's much different then from 35mm.

     I was rather excited by the entire affair and bought a Shen Hao. It 
arrives 
tomorrow.

     http://www.shampoo.ca/pics/JLR200504-006.JPG

     Now my problem is the enlarger. My enlarger does up to 6x7. I can do 
contact prints or bring it to the lab. I'll have to think this one out. The 
problem with a 4x5 enlarger is I am not sure I will have the room. The Omega 
C760 I am using now is HUGE but a D3 for instance is even bigger..

     Anyhow, thanks to everyone who helped me out both on this list and in 
private emails. I really appreciate the help and you've got me hooked.

     J

-- 
Justin F. Knotzke
jknotzke@xxxxxxxxxx
http://www.shampoo.ca

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