First ever LF photo.

SomersetCookie

SomersetCookie

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Birmingham Canal taken 7.30am on 6th May 2019 on MPP MKVIII, Schneider 150mm lens. Ilford FP4 plus, tray developed in IDII and scanned on an Epson Perfection 4870.
My first ever LF photograph taken and developed by myself. The original is pin sharp throughout, very pleased. I even took advantage of using the tilt on the front standard. The image below is a low res version as I am unable to load a higher res version onto this forum. It’s only a start, I know, but I’m already planning more ambitious shots.
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Thanks Ian, I really enjoyed the process, and the need to check and double check everything before firing the shutter. It makes you think a lot more about composition, metering, depth of field and all those good essentials of photography, most importantly not to rush into taking the first thing that comes into view! Digital photography has just made us all lazy, in the knowledge that we can bracket everything and rely on post production in Lightroom and other products. I know where my money on new gear is going now.
 
After a while using LF becomes second nature, that includes the double checks but even after 40+ years you can occasionally get caught out all3though it's very rare :D

In my case it was using a new lens last Autumn, only new to me it's a really nice mint 120mm f6.8 Angulon in an Ibsor shutter, the dial set speed control can be read from above or from the front. The two marked parts of the dial are quite different and the speed is,read from different points, luckily I realised the exposure was way too long when I heard the shutter :D

When we stop learning it's tome to stop.

Ian
 
Yes, that is a very good first shot. Well done. It does sound as if you've done some mental preparation before your first press on the shutter.
Welcome.
 
That's way better than my first effort.......i tried to make a landscape shot through the back of the film! :rolleyes:

Mike
 
A lot depends on why you decide to move to LF, I had to for work mid 1970's but preferred to shoot MF for my personal photography.

In my case that changed when I made a sideways move in terms of work in 1986. I was frustrated sometimes with not enough DOF as my personal work became more important and knew I needed front (or rear) tilt. I remember my first LF shots a few years earlier and after a quick play to see how movements worked never looked back, and used tilt on my first images. It's not difficult at all, but you have to do it :D

So while it's no big deal the OP has nailed it in this image, however on another level it's the opposite he's made the right choices in terms of moving to Large Format and begun well with a tricky image.

Ian
 
I'd like to mention that for this image, tilt is a little trickier than the conventional Big Rock In Foreground shot. In this image, there's a (cast iron?) post intruding into the wedge of focus, so it has been a delicate balancing act.
 
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