Doing portraits with a 4x5, then an 8x10 Deardorff, I got into habit of using the lens standard's knobs to compose the shot and rough focus, then fine focus with the film standard.
First time I tried shooting a "head and shoulder" bride's portrait with my 11x14 and 24" lens, I couldn't reach the front knobs because my arms were too short. My face smooshed into the ground glass and my fingers wiggled desperately.
The bride was a photographer. Everybody at the wedding was a photographer. Everybody but me took a picture of the moron with the huge camera waving insanely at the bride from inside a dark cloth.
Since then, I've believed with all my heart that large format portraiture, not to mention ULTRA large format portraiture has a lot of room for personal preference.
don
"This suspense is terrible. I hope it will last."