yyt

i am becoming more and more certain that 10x8 no matter how seductive the negatives are, isn’t the format for me. while i like the rigour and the ritual and when wandering about here visibility works as i learn a lot about the the area from what i am told by those who stop and gawk. the slowness doesn’t bother me, i can still walk - although hills are a killer. i find that it is best walking with the camera if i have it on the tripod with the legs long enough to have a nice balance. it isn’t the limited amount of film that i can take at a time. 24 exposures which means twelve when i am too far away to be able to easily return to make another snap if something is wrong with the neg. it is how the decision making process is changed.

i knew of this in theory with the looking hard before placing the camera down, walking around to make sure there was a better angle then once the camera was placed playing with the edges of the frame before inserting the film. through this process first impressions are obliterated. due to the size of the screen, and with patience, the ability to see how everything lines up i am pretty much sure of what the neg will look like. there are no surprises. when an neg is edited out it is because it is boring, self evident why i cannot see this when i place the camera down i am not sure.

with a hand camera, an image can be made before i am aware precisely why i have stopped. after the first impression i can guess as to the reason and make snaps that maybe improve on what i thought that i saw. this usually entails worrying about the edges, how lines match up shifting back and forth a bit more or less what i would be doing with the plate camera. when i look at negs from a hand camera even though i go through the second guessing at the time of the taking, the initial impression usually holds up. that decision though is made when i am away from the scene, sometime later when cooler heads are in play.

i also pity those who are taking the standard image class. while i hate the fact that large format classes seem to outfit students with monorails - cameras best suited for the confines of a studio. you can spot a large format student kilometres away with the steamer trunk hold the camera attached to a cart the tripod precariously attached to the top. when if schools only went for field cameras a tow decent courier bags would carry camera and film. the tripod could be carried on a shoulder.

this will be worse with the standard image. while the 10x8 deardorff isn’t light it is well balanced. i can place it in a back back, place the dark slides in my timbuk2 bag and throw the tripod over my shoulder, after the first image the camera never leaves the tripod. the new new outfits while the cameras will be flatbeds - sort of there is an excess of wood meaning that they won’t fold as compactly. the “cases” will be plastic tubs with wheels, that barely fit the lockers hardly portable. after reading about lois connor biking with her banquet camera in china and how important portability is with nicholas nixon can only image how this mini caravan will effect the way those in the class will photograph. what ever the case there will be no hiding in the studio.