One of the things I think many of us misunderstand about shortcuts is they all derived from a lengthier process. Without those, there would be no shortcuts. I recall in university about learning the fundamentals of mathematic or engineering principles and the learning the shortcuts afterwards. It made me appreciate the process of “doing” even more.
Yes I’m just as guilty of going straight to shortcuts in some of my work, but learning the background and the process makes it all worthwhile if one is willing to be patient and learn. Thanks for the great post.
Ah, a topic much on my mind these days. I just began shooting 4X5 for many different reasons but mainly to shake up the status quo, and that it has done in spades. Not only have I been plagued with one tech challenge after another, which on a distraction level is Ok, but now it's starting to drive a larger and larger question of why am I doing this and what am I missing while I'm doing it?
On the morning walk just now you said something which I believe to be true, 'having a new camera doesn't make you see any differently.' No, it doesn't but I wonder if it could? I do find new tools to be exciting and inspiring. That does help us see differently if only for a moment or two.
So I took my son into the backyard on New Year's day in a pretty cool outfit he got for Christmas (a totally hip '70's - 80's poly shirt and acid washed jeans) to make a couple shots with the 45. Light was great, he looked great, I thought my vision was 'on' and his outfit was a great fun clash with the wooded environment of the backyard. But I approached the shot in a way I would have with my FF digital camera and when I looked upon the ground glass all I could think was 'oh no, this is dreadfully boring.' I ended up making four exposures of him which I will process today or tomorrow but what I think I may have missed was an opportunity to really document my son at this stage of his life, 21 about to graduate college, with a tool that was more about me than him. Is that right or wrong? I watched the nice light disappear as I fiddled, I missed the poses he experimented with as I fiddled, he said "how's this look?" I said "it doesn't look like you." To which he responded "What if I don't want to look like what you interpret me to look like? What if I want to change and be somebody different?" Good question, and I missed that shot.
I mentioned to you guys during another previous walk that I would take the 45 camera to work with me. I did last week and it was a disaster. Came away with one frame of film literally jammed into the back of the camera because of the cold weather. The image is fogged and soft and has some nasty contamination from my transferring the film with a drop of water on my finger (rookie mistake) and on top of it all, it's boring as hell. To say it's a disappointment is a giant understatement, It's not even good in a 'bad' way.
So although there are far more levels to this story I think there is an exercise here in learning this tool, at least for a little while longer. It's making me think differently about approach, about what's important, about craft, and maybe using the tool well enough so it doesn't get in the way of a different vision. Hopefully it's about really seeing a little more clearly what the final objective is. It's certainly a challenge and although I was getting ready to throw the towel in the other day I have a couple negs hanging in the drying cabinet now that may actually be worth looking at.
So the exercise of training this particular tool may become futile in the long run but it's expanding my knowledge base in ways I hadn't anticipated, or maybe that I had hoped for. It brings to mind something I keep hearing these days, that failure is the springboard to growth. It remains to be seen how this will affect my work in the long run but it's turning out to be an interesting journey. If I look past all the problems in that one frame I made at work I see something just a hair different there. I wonder what I will see when I process my son's pictures. Hopefully something worthwhile and not just that feeling of missed opportunity. Fingers crossed. :-)
I remember the different craftsmen I learnt from when apprentice, and the advice of the chargehand ( team leader ) on the first day. All here are craftsman, they all have their own way of doing things so don't be tempted to say such and such does it better than you as they each know their trade deeply but have their own preferred way of it. Once you know the full process then you know when you can do potential short cuts but not before you know it all. To learn it fully takes time and effort.
I don't practice professionally that trade but still remember it well.
One of the things I think many of us misunderstand about shortcuts is they all derived from a lengthier process. Without those, there would be no shortcuts. I recall in university about learning the fundamentals of mathematic or engineering principles and the learning the shortcuts afterwards. It made me appreciate the process of “doing” even more.
Yes I’m just as guilty of going straight to shortcuts in some of my work, but learning the background and the process makes it all worthwhile if one is willing to be patient and learn. Thanks for the great post.
Ah, a topic much on my mind these days. I just began shooting 4X5 for many different reasons but mainly to shake up the status quo, and that it has done in spades. Not only have I been plagued with one tech challenge after another, which on a distraction level is Ok, but now it's starting to drive a larger and larger question of why am I doing this and what am I missing while I'm doing it?
On the morning walk just now you said something which I believe to be true, 'having a new camera doesn't make you see any differently.' No, it doesn't but I wonder if it could? I do find new tools to be exciting and inspiring. That does help us see differently if only for a moment or two.
So I took my son into the backyard on New Year's day in a pretty cool outfit he got for Christmas (a totally hip '70's - 80's poly shirt and acid washed jeans) to make a couple shots with the 45. Light was great, he looked great, I thought my vision was 'on' and his outfit was a great fun clash with the wooded environment of the backyard. But I approached the shot in a way I would have with my FF digital camera and when I looked upon the ground glass all I could think was 'oh no, this is dreadfully boring.' I ended up making four exposures of him which I will process today or tomorrow but what I think I may have missed was an opportunity to really document my son at this stage of his life, 21 about to graduate college, with a tool that was more about me than him. Is that right or wrong? I watched the nice light disappear as I fiddled, I missed the poses he experimented with as I fiddled, he said "how's this look?" I said "it doesn't look like you." To which he responded "What if I don't want to look like what you interpret me to look like? What if I want to change and be somebody different?" Good question, and I missed that shot.
I mentioned to you guys during another previous walk that I would take the 45 camera to work with me. I did last week and it was a disaster. Came away with one frame of film literally jammed into the back of the camera because of the cold weather. The image is fogged and soft and has some nasty contamination from my transferring the film with a drop of water on my finger (rookie mistake) and on top of it all, it's boring as hell. To say it's a disappointment is a giant understatement, It's not even good in a 'bad' way.
So although there are far more levels to this story I think there is an exercise here in learning this tool, at least for a little while longer. It's making me think differently about approach, about what's important, about craft, and maybe using the tool well enough so it doesn't get in the way of a different vision. Hopefully it's about really seeing a little more clearly what the final objective is. It's certainly a challenge and although I was getting ready to throw the towel in the other day I have a couple negs hanging in the drying cabinet now that may actually be worth looking at.
So the exercise of training this particular tool may become futile in the long run but it's expanding my knowledge base in ways I hadn't anticipated, or maybe that I had hoped for. It brings to mind something I keep hearing these days, that failure is the springboard to growth. It remains to be seen how this will affect my work in the long run but it's turning out to be an interesting journey. If I look past all the problems in that one frame I made at work I see something just a hair different there. I wonder what I will see when I process my son's pictures. Hopefully something worthwhile and not just that feeling of missed opportunity. Fingers crossed. :-)
Happy New Year. d
I remember the different craftsmen I learnt from when apprentice, and the advice of the chargehand ( team leader ) on the first day. All here are craftsman, they all have their own way of doing things so don't be tempted to say such and such does it better than you as they each know their trade deeply but have their own preferred way of it. Once you know the full process then you know when you can do potential short cuts but not before you know it all. To learn it fully takes time and effort.
I don't practice professionally that trade but still remember it well.