Sunday 8 August 2010

bigger, heavier, slower


It's been a long time since last post. Hopefully you are still there, all of you who read this blog ;)
I am trying to slow down being very busy for the last few weeks. It's time to come back online ;)

“Bigger, Heavier, Slower” - ints not necessary about me...(well,  maybe a little bit haha) but about next step into the magic world of film... large format photography.
More to carry around, longer time to take a one shot and sometimes the only shot. 
Yesterday i spent few hours at UCD campus. Quiet area during weekend. It was my second day of shooting with Graflex Crown Graphic so it’s still just a beginning but very exciting one. Four loaded film holders, lots of optimism and zest.
At some point two guys approached to me. I was setting camera for my second shot this day. They were very interested what am i doing with this weird looking thing ;). They start to ask questions: where am i setting aperture and shutter speed, how many shots can i take at once and so on...? Conversation began to evolve. Suddenly one of them switched on his digital camera and took a photograph in the same direction i was taking just before our chat has started. Then he turned to me and shrugging says “it’s so handy”, pointing the time he spend doing it (one or two seconds) and showing an image on screen ;)
They couldn't really get it why am i using film, why this sort of camera, why am i spending so much time to get an image.
The only answer, the only word describing it is -  Passion.
Photography for me is something special, something more then just a quick snapshots.
I like to slow down to take a photograph, i like to think and focus on every frame. Finally i like to play with all chemicals in darkroom looking as the picture appears.
...after all satisfaction is guaranteed.
4x5inch is a totally different format then the one i use to shoot with, 6x6cm. I am still a big admirer of square images however large format makes everything more complex, maybe a little bit more complicated but amount of details and quality i can get with it is incredible.
...so, two days it’s really nothing yet. more practice is indispensable. No questions about that.