New to LF: I Want to Learn Portrait & Landscape Photography

[brijphoto]

Hi

Is there anyone who teaches portrait and lf photography?
I am moving from medium format to lf and have no experience in this. If you are teaching a workshop in a group or one to one
pls let me know. I am based in London.

Cheers

Brij

[PAUL O]

Welcome to the Forum/Group!
There are courses available that explore LF photography although most seem to be landscape-based? They also tend to be expensive!
As a group we organise workshops where knowledge/expertise/experience flows freely and costs nothing!
We will be organising something in the next few months - usually April time; not exactly sure where we will be holding it but it may be worth considering coming along if you can?

[brijphoto]

Hi Paul

That sounds good...thanks for the info.
Yep, I shoot portrait and I would love to get some experience with another photographer but like you said, the only courses I came across where landscape.

Brij

[Acheron Photography]

I would very much recommend the Camberwell LF course: http://www.camberwell.arts.ac.uk/shortcourses/56874.htm. It isn't cheap, but it is worth it.

[steve simmons]

Portraiture with large format is an interesting experience for both the photographer and the subject. Once the film is inserted into the camera, the photographer has to directly engage the subject rather than to continue looking at them through the camera. OTOH, portraiture with lf is frequently a straight ahead situation and few movements may be necessary.

One adjustment is that the lenses will not open to 2.8 or so that smaller format lenses do so focussing may be a little more difficult or take some getting used to. Remember, focus on the eyes.

steve simmons
www.viewcamera.com

[brijphoto]

Hi Steve

What lens should I be going for in LF for environmental portrait? I will shooting full length exclusively and outside in natural light. I have finished reading the pdf for beginners on viewcameara.com which was a perfect start! I am still not sure what camera to buy. Here in the UK there was a brand of LF called MPP which I am looking into as well as Mamiya press with a 5x4 back possibly.

Brij

[steve simmons]

The 210mm is a nice portrait lens if you have enough room. Check out the Walker cameras

www.walkercamera.com

I think.

The 210 can be a nice landscape lens as well. From there, if you want something wider think about 120-125mm which could be a nice environmental portrait lens as well.

steve simmons
www.viewcamera.com

[Keith Tapscott]

The 210mm is a nice portrait lens if you have enough room. Check out the Walker cameras

http://www.walkercamera.com

I think.

The 210 can be a nice landscape lens as well. From there, if you want something wider think about 120-125mm which could be a nice environmental portrait lens as well.

steve simmons
http://www.viewcamera.com

A slight typo with the link there Steve. http://www.walkercameras.com/

[David Evans]

The 210mm can be a nice landscape lens as well

This photographer uses a 210mm lens almost exclusively for landscapes http://www.romanloranc.com/

[gary mulder]

Presuming you already have experience taking portraits with smaller formats. If not I strongly recommend acquire some. In my practice the synergy between model and photographer gets in the groove after a couple dozen of shots.... Throwing in some polaroids to let the model know what you are looking for helps. So do not be afraid to use film, lots of it. And if you are using flashlight you need powerful ones. Most of the time i use a 240mm ore a 300mm focal length for 4 X 5 portraits .

image on plus-X 4x5" 240mm, f16 flashlight, developed X-tol

[steve simmons]

Loranc's work is amazing. View Camera showed a portfolio of his late in 2009.

steve simmons
www.viewcamera.com

[Patrick Dixon]

Yes it looks really good. That one with the shopping trolley can't be considered 'landscape' though .... apparently.

I must shoot some more with my 210mm

[Marizu]

It's nice to see a portrait oriented thread here. LF portraiture does bring a different set of challenges from those generally discussed in these parts. Gary is right about the use of powerful strobes. They make things a whole lot easier by buying you depth of field and reducing criticality of focus. People move. If i'm shooting a real close crop on 4x5, I sometimes read around f32@ISO100 at the subject, knowing that I will lose around a stop due to bellows extension compensation. I'm a simple guy so I like to calculate bellows extension compensation using QuickDisc.
http://www.salzgeber.at/disc/

Before reading this testimonial,
http://www.schneiderkreuznach.com/testi ... speros.htm
it never dawned on me that it might be ok to ask someone to sit still for a several second exposure. I still haven't actually done it, yet.

Lens choice is dictated by required field of view, space available and size of arms. My most frequently used lens would be a 210mm f5.6. It is relatively small and fast.
I also use a 360mm f6.8(?) or occasionally a 150. I would probably shoot more with the 360 but it weighs a lot so I don't carry it around so much.
The 360mm is the only lens that I have that will cover 10x8. If i'm using 10x8 then the weight of the lens is the least of my worries. I would love a 480mm or 600mm but they are very expensive.

I mainly use monorails as they are cheap secondhand are versatile but they are heavy. I use bellows up to about 28"

I have a portable MPP but would much rather have something lighter like a Walker but I'm not sure that field cameras (in general) can give me the bellows extension that I like. I also have a twin lens 4x5 which I am trying to fix up a bit.