Misty Surf n Rocks with Long Exposure etc etc
'll admit it. When it comes to landscapes, I'm a hack. A journeyman. A dilettante. I'm currently cycling through all the cliches of landscapes. Wide angle lens with a giant rock in front, pretty sunset/sunrise in the background. Very Muench-esque. Long exposures at the seashore, to get that misty "where'd the waves go?!" look. I struggle with my 4x5 camera (hey, at least I *have* a 4x5 camera!) to get it in focus with any depth. I shoot and sunset or sunrise and hope the pretty light will overcome the fact that there's no friggin' center of interest in my pictures.
I type flickr descriptions with two margaritas under my belt.
All that said, here's a whispy misty "where'd the waves go??" shot for you. On the Toyo, which is a pain to haul around even short distances, even though i've got a case for it that looks like i might be planning a tailgate party for the next superbowl. And then, to add insult to photographic injury, I take a perfectly nice 4x5 Actual Film Negative, and then debase it by scanning it and using some filter to do some faux toning to it.
Do I get credit for modifying the parameters so it's not some out-of-the-box look?
No. I don't. Whatever.
hauling around a freakin' 4x5 monorail - not a field camera with its lighter-than-air wood frame, a studio monorail for crying out loud! - i don't get to take many shots with it. Oh hey, a digression...
I've noticed that, whether I shoot 35mm film, digital wonderpants dSLR, or super-obscure 2x3 sheet film, I tend to get the same number of Good Shots Per Day regardless. But with the easier formats such as digital, I also get a bonus of way more crappy in-the-trash shots. Apparently thinking about your pictures can actually make for good photography. Weird.
So anyway, I don't shoot much with the 4x5. I'd love to. But no one's paying me to haul that lovely monstrosity around the countryside. So give me a couple of years, and will have shaken off these silly landscape calendar cliches and perhaps found my own voice.
Until then, I shall look like everyone else. And so I present...this picture.
By: Matt Haines