Yeah, I realized that after I hit "Send".
I've always had great plans. I understand how LF works, and I think I've
actually shot two images since I had the camera. And a
properly-composed-and-Scheimpflug'd image is stunning. The camera itself is
a work of art. I really wanted to learn Zone System and get those big,
beautiful, rich negatives and prints.
But if I want to concentrate more on my chosen distractions, I'm really not
sure that I can find the time to plan and make those opportunities happen.
Ken, I get what you're saying. And yes, definitely, if I showed up in a
246GT Dino there's an undeniable "cool factor." I also understand that
shooting LF forces a different mental process when you head out.
But I look at what they go for on e*ay, and factor in that I have a
straight 4x5 back, a rotating Graflok 4x5 back, and a sliding 4x5 back
(never did get a 5x7 back. There weren't any parts left for one at the
factory) and that it's practically new.... I also have about a dozen film
holders and a nice Zeiss lens in a shutter on a lensboard.... and I'm
really thinking that it's time to let go.
I'm 54. Sheri is 72 (I was 23 and she was 40 when we met - the age
difference has never bothered us, although it did freak out my parents and
a number of our friends...but after 30 years and still going, I think we
had the last laugh). Without being fatalistic, we're taking an honest look
at the probable time we have left and the things we still want to
accomplish, and realizing that there simply isn't time enough to just do
all of those "I'll put it on the shelf and get to it someday" things. We
also don't have kids, so at some point, when both of us are gone, my
brother is going to have to deal with a house full of stuff, and I'm sure
he'll be thankful he doesn't have to sort through ALL OF THIS STUFF.
On Mon, Apr 24, 2017 at 3:15 PM, Bob Whitmire <fujixbob@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Finding good home for stuff while you are sound of mind and body is good.
> It sounds like you've already made the decision. I didn't see anything in
> your post about the meditative aspects of large-format shooting. I did it
> pretty exclusively for almost three years, and learned more than I can say,
> but eventually gave it up for digital. LF is a word unto itself. On a day I
> anticipated heavy shooting I would go out with five or six holders, two
> sheets per holder. As a rule I already had a picture in mind when I left
> the house. Sometimes I went to favorite spots where I knew something might
> happen if I were there and set up. Everything was thought-out and
> deliberate and unhurried. No 'Moonrise Over Hernandez, NM' for me.
>
> Your post really doesn't get into any of this kind of attachment to LF, so
> after due pause for reflection, I'd let it go. Less to worry about. Funny
> how less stuff concentrates the mind on what's left.
>
> Good luck.
>
>
> --Bob Whitmire
> Certified Neanderthal
>
>
> On Mon, Apr 24, 2017 at 3:25 PM, Paul Braun <pbraun42@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> > Lately I've been reviewing my collection of "stuff", taking stock of my
> > true interests, the approximate number of hours I have in a week, and the
> > approximate number of years I have left to play, and simplifying my life.
> > I'm focusing my hobby time/expenses on ham radio, photography, and the
> > audio production/transfer thing.
> >
> > At one point years ago I got all excited about getting back into building
> > plastic models, mainly sci-fi and sports cars. I collected a reasonably
> big
> > group of kits...and then other things got in the way, they stayed on the
> > shelf, and never got built. And now I don't have the time or inclination
> to
> > put in what it takes to get to the level I would need to be at to make
> > models I'd be proud of. So, I've begun to sell them off.
> >
> > In my last two years of college, and for several years after, I enjoyed
> > sport shooting at a local range with friends. I own three firearms
> pursuant
> > to that. But I haven't gone shooting in at least ten years, and my
> friends
> > I used to shoot with now live far away. So, I've begun to sell them off.
> >
> > Which has caused me to take a long look at my 4x5 (5x7 with a reducing
> > back) Deardorff, and wonder if I'm actually going to use it. Do I really
> > have time to load film holders, head out with a case full of
> > camera/holders/darkcloth/tripod/lenses and set up and shoot? And then
> send
> > the film off to AG to be developed/scanned? I mean, if there was any hope
> > that there would be a decent digital back in the near future that didn't
> > cost as much as my house, I would give it some more serious thought. But
> as
> > much as I love having it (and it's practically new - it's one of the
> > absolute last cameras to come out of Deardorff's Chicago plant. It was my
> > pay for using my pickup truck to move the inventory and parts from
> Chicago
> > to Aurora when the plant shut down, and then again when it was supposed
> to
> > move to Valparaiso and start up as a new firm with me as one of the
> > partners - long, ugly story.)
> >
> > So, I guess that I will be pondering selling it and all of the
> accessories,
> > including several different backs. I still haven't made that leap yet,
> but
> > I'm starting to think about a few radio accessories I would like. And
> > thinking about the cost of finishing the basement where my
> > studio/office/hamshack lives. Or the new appliances/flooring we need for
> > the house. Or a few nice trips Sheri and I would like to take.
> >
> > I don't know. Just thought I'd wonder aloud here among fellow "stuff"
> > junkies.
> >
> > --
> >
> > Paul Braun WD9GCO
> > Anchor, Amateur Radio Newsline
> > www.ARnewsline.org <http://www.arnewsline.org>
> > Certified Music Junkie
> >
> > "Music washes from the soul the dust of everyday life." -- Berthold
> > Auerbach
> > --
> > _________________________________________________________________
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> > Archives: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/private/olympus/
> > Themed Olympus Photo Exhibition: http://www.tope.nl/
> >
> >
> --
> _________________________________________________________________
> Options: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/listinfo/olympus
> Archives: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/private/olympus/
> Themed Olympus Photo Exhibition: http://www.tope.nl/
>
>
--
Paul Braun WD9GCO
Anchor, Amateur Radio Newsline
www.ARnewsline.org <http://www.arnewsline.org>
Certified Music Junkie
"Music washes from the soul the dust of everyday life." -- Berthold Auerbach
--
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