KISS

[ChrisC]

This is basically all I ever to, but only because my budget doesn't stretch far enough to have more than one lens for my 4x5, and the only other camera I shoot with is a Yashica which is the same deal. I still generally don't put enough time and care into every shot, but I'm still learning, and I think I'm learning reasonably quickly. But if the shot doesn't look terribly good with what I've got, I'll pack up and move along, which also gets me thinking about other angles and possibilites before totally giving up.

As for the one sheet of film, I personally don't see that helping me with where I'm at. I'm at the stage where I'm learning from my mistakes, and the more I make, the more I learn.

I don't plan on buying another lens for at least another 18 months though, so I'll be keeping things somewhat simple for a while to come.

 

[modafoto]

I like KISS and use it a lot as I bring my Olympus Trip 35 along with me almost all the time with 400 ISO b&w film in it.

I am just able to point, focus (4 preset focus distances) and shoot. Simple and nice.

But it limits you...so I also like my Canon gear, my lenses and all my filters and my meter. Then I can work more in a more creative way and fine-tune all the details.

But it is good to KISS sometimes and throw away the technique and concentrate on taking a photo. So it's good training.

 

[MurrayMinchin]

When photographing I can be out all day in the forest where I spend 90% of my time off trail...if there is a trail. To put any limitations as suggested on the way I can operate wouldn't work for me - after all the effort involved in discovering a worthy scene, if it demands a certain lens, aperture, or shutter speed, I'll use it!

What I did for the first couple years I was into LF, (rightly or wrongly) was to limit myself to one exposure for each scene photographed. I would move around the scene, in close and farther away, high vantage point and low, trying to find the one strongest composition. This really demands you answer hard questions as to your motives.

I've since lightened up, and now know that it may be another 3 hours of walking before I find another strong subject that will have me take the camera out of the pack, and will spend more time taking several variations.

Murray

 

[Ian]

Hi Y'all

Thanks to all who have taken the time to respond. It was nice to have so much positive feedback and that some of you have tryed or are at least open to new ideas.

Its very easy to get in a rut and often very hard to get out of it and and the comfort zone it provides.

Praise to all who walk a different path and expand there mind in there own way.

By y'all.

 

[Neil Poulsen]

Perspective and Framing the Image

"There are times when using a different focal length seems better than changing position."

This is exactly the point. Once one has determined the desired perspective, and perspective depends entirely on camera position, and once the photographer has framed the image in his/her mind, it remains to take full advantage of the 4x5 sheet of film. This is the advantage of multiple lenses. One selects the lens that most fills the sheet of film with the desired frame.

Using only one lens either limits one's selection of perspective, or it limits one's use of the sheet of film.

 

[jjstafford]

"There are times when using a different focal length seems better than changing position."

This is exactly the point. Once one has determined the desired perspective, and perspective depends entirely on camera position, and once the photographer has framed the image in his/her mind, it remains to take full advantage of the 4x5 sheet of film. This is the advantage of multiple lenses. One selects the lens that most fills the sheet of film with the desired frame.
[...]

Disregarding, of course, considerations of DOF.

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

WHat I have found more "liberating" is learning to control my process so I dont have to worry about exposure/development considerations, but I find hard to beleive that using one negative with one aperture is going to improve my photography, like I said, this sounds to me like asking to make a 5 course meal with 1 pan.....one should have and know how to use the right tools for the job.

QUOTE]

Perhaps the more important point to take away from the cooking metaphor is not that you should make a five-course meal with only one pan and one knife and one main ingredient, but rather that it would be of benefit to make sure that you know how to make a good soup by itself, and a good souffle, and a good roast, by themselves, before you try to put them all together in a single meal requiring the use of a saucier, roasting pan, baking pan, and stock pot. It takes a lot of work with a particular implement (whether knife, pot or lens) to get to know how it works and how it doesn't, before you know how to combine it with others. You need to chop a lot of carrots with a chopping knife before you really understand why a fish fillet knife is the wrong knife for the job.

 

[avandesande]

You need to chop a lot of carrots with a chopping knife before you really understand why a fish fillet knife is the wrong knife for the job.

Actually i think you find out the answer to this one rather quickly.

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

well, you get the idea. Perhaps a better example would be the difference between knowing that a Wusthof is a good knife and knowing WHY a Wusthof is a good knife. You've got to use some basic, crappy knives first, and get used to them, before you realize what you get from a great knife.

 

[modafoto]

I have another story about KISS:

I am a gear freak...always interested in new gear whether it is photography related or musically related. But then...

A week ago I went to work and immedialtely after work I should be going to the rehearsal room and rehearse with my band. But...I forgot my bass and effects at home! I couldn't go home to pick it up as I would be late for work or late for rehearsal. So I had to have my wife bring the gear with her to work and I would pick it up there after work and before rehearsal. But...she couldn't carry all of my gear so I had to have her pack ONE bass, a strap and a cable.
There I was in the rehearsal room with just my bass and my amplifier...no effects to shape my sounds. Then I went back to basics, adjusted the EQ on my amp and played like normally!

DAMN, it was nice to go back and get to know my basic sound from my bass and amp. From now on I will add ONE effect at a time, and get to know the effect before adding another one.

The same thing I will apply to photography to get to know my cameras, lenses, filters, films, developers et.al. better!

It can only be recommended again and again!

Morten

 

[Ian]

Nice one Morten. Glad to know it works for some.

And what do y'all know, no cooking mentioned.

Ian.

 

[jjstafford]

I have another story about KISS:

I am a gear freak...always interested in new gear whether it is photography related or musically related. But then...
Morten

Disregarding digital, is there really anything new under the sun for film photography?

 

[celluloidpropaganda]

Those hot lights that take fluorescent bulbs so they're not quite so 'hot'?

 

[hortense]

I thought KISS mean't, "Keep it simple stupid".

 

[Ian]

Well it did when i started the thread.

 

[Mongo]

Disregarding digital, is there really anything new under the sun for film photography?

Enlarging heads for Azo. New developer formulas seem to come along every month or two. Occasionally new film emulsions (i.e., J&C Pro 100). A few new ULF lenses last year. New LF cameras on a fairly regular basis. The Nikon F6.

It's not the wave of new stuff from the 1970's, but it's far from a dead field. (And the stuff that's coming out today kicks butt compared to the endless wave of cheap zoom lenses that were the hallmark of the '70s.)

 

[k_jupiter]

I'm sorry Ian, but the sage old advice never made much sense to me. I am an equipment junkie, and I am proud of it. If I wanted to keep it simple, I would go down to the bookstore and buy every photography book I saw and look at others photos. Doesn't get any simpler.

I own equipment and I know how to use it. I didn't learn by keeping it sitting in the closet while I took one camera and one sheet of film out. I learned by using it and making mistakes. And not making mistakes.

At any one time out in the field, I will have one format with two lens, and a backup format with one or two lens. Imagine hiking three hours and having your Copal jam on you. Makes you want to do violence to things. Now if you have another lens, voila! Or you have the light. Oh damn, I just shot my one sheet of film. How stupid could you be?

One of my favorite days was taking four 3x4 and two 2x3 cameras out with a couple of lens for a couple of them and boatloads of both cut and roll film. Just a day to do equipment tests, film tests, develooper tests, see what was what. I had a great time shooting in the marshes on the south side of SF Bay. Did I learn alot? You bet. Did I shoot some nice images? Oh yeah. How long would it have taken me if I shot one sheet of film per day in each and every camera with all those different lens?

So have a great time developing your one sheet of film. I have photos to take.

tim in san jose