New Endevours

“The more complicated things are, the more simple they become.”

I finally shot, processed and scan my first 4x5 images.
I’ve often heard photographers say the reason shooting film and large format makes you a better photographer was because it forces you to slow down and think about each step.
This was truth. The beauty of the 4x5 camera is that there are
Out of 6 frames I prepared, 4 came out correctly. I figure that’s not bad for my first time out.

It was a welcomed change to have to slow down; to think about every step. To make sequential decisions to get to an intended outcome. Even though I brought my digital camera with me, I didn’t want to use it.
I found myself considering the details of the light, the pose and composition even more so than usual.

Focusing the camera with a dark cloth over my head and looking at an image upside down on a ground glass was like stepping back in time. Like most art forms, without an understanding of how the medium developed, you can’t fully appreciate it. For me, so many of the photographers I admired made their images in exactly this same way.

Can’t wait to see what develop next.