Beginner needing help

Greg,

You are on track already. Who says you have to spend thousands on LF. I got my Agfa Ansco 5x7 view cam for $200 with new bellows.

One thing I disagree with you about is letting someone else handle your darkroom stuff because your inexperienced. Forget that! You will learn way more actually doing the dark room stuff with your own 2 hands (I'm assuming you have 2 hands). Find a dark room and dive in. Don't be worried about how much you know or don't know.

Even if you do not have 2 hands, do your own darkroom stuff! This is one time when it is desirable to "go to the dark side"! haha

If you're interested in doing your own printing, I highly recommend Tim Rudman's _The Photographer's Master Printing Course_. After that, take a look and Chris Woodhouse's and Ralph Lambrect's _Way Beyond Monochrome_.

-Peter De Smidt