Hello from London

[Rupert M]

Hello everybody,
I've just got my first 5x4 - a Tachihara, and a 150mm Schneider lens. All the work I've done up until now has been 35mm, and of course, the ubiquitous digital. I mainly like to photograph landscapes and buildings, and it seemed to me that if I wanted to get the best possible results, I really needed to go to large format. However, I have no experience whatsoever, so I anticipate asking lots of questions, many of which may be rather obvious...

Thank you all in advance,

Rupert

[PAUL O]

Welcome! As far as questions / advice is concerned then fire away!

[Matt McGrattan]

Hi Rupert,

I'm also in London. I just joined the forum this week and am likely to be in the same position as you re: the dubious questions!

Cheers,

Matt

[Rupert M]

Hi Matt,
Great- it's nice to have some company - hopefully between us we can cover most of the dubious questions! I'm still at the fiddling-around stage, trying to get my head round the basic principles. I'm hoping to actually get out this weekend and try and put the theory into practice.

Rupert

[Matt McGrattan]

Ditto. I'm borrowing a 5x4 from work to take out this weekend. I've done a little studio photography with large format cameras at work, but that has been with digital scanning backs attached, and without making use of movements; so shooting with dark slides and using camera movements will be a new thing.

The single biggest obstacle right now is deciding _what_ to photograph. I probably won't be able to shoot, process and print more than 2 or 3 negatives tomorrow, so decided what to use as the subject is tricky.

[Rupert M]

I suspect I'm going to have the same problem - I think part of the appeal of large format is that it does seem to make one think very hard about what to photograph.

I've got some Velvia quickload, which seemed a reasonable, albeit expensive, option, as I don't have access to a darkroom. I think I'll aim for two tomorrow, get them processed, and then doubtless wince with embarrasment when I go to pick them up!

[Matt McGrattan]

I don't have a proper darkroom, just a bathroom that can be made light-tight quite easily. So I can tray process the negatives, and process my own prints. However, I don't have space for an enlarger, and probably won't for a while, so part of the appeal of large(ish) format is to make contact prints. And yes, I'm quite looking forward to thinking a bit harder about what to photograph.

[Trevor Crone]

Hi Rupert, welcome to the wonderful world of LF, I'm sure you will have no regrets, heartaches maybe In my opinion it is all worth it in the end when you start getting the results you visualised.

[Rupert M]

Hi Trevor,
Thanks! I still have yet to shoot my first sheet, having spent the weekend trying to get my head reasonably around the zone system. However, I think I've done this now, so I merely await the chance to get out and start making mistakes!Hopefully this weekend will provide that....

Rupert