4 more shots, to be developed...

My plan is to shoot more for myself, but I struggle with an old foe: self-doubt. I took 4 more photographs over the weekend, nothing that i have high hopes for, but that’s not the point. For now, I am just trying to feel the heft of the creative sword in my hand. Although it feels more like a cudgel, one of those caveman clubs, than a sword— no elegant feint-slashes from this would-be creative warrior, just pummeling away.

I thought my latest camera tool-friend deserved more of an introduction than I had given him to date, so here is a portrait of the Toyo vx125, dolled up with a 75/5.6 Fujinon lens, which is about a 24mm lens on a 35mm film camera (or the same for a full-frame digital camera).

4x5 Adventure Begins Again

Its been 3 months since I made a purchase that Ive been thinking about for 10+ years: a large format camera. My chosen camera was a ToyoVX125, which i purchased secondhand in China. The film size is 4”x5”, which means that the final image is about the size of an index card. But the main reason I have wanted to use this type of camera is to control the focus by moving the lens, or the film, in all direction.

I lugged the camera up a moderate hike in nearby Taizhou, in Zhejiang province. Im going to attempt to develop the 6 shots I took in the next week, and will post the results and write more. Here’s a shot i took of the focusing screen from inside the bamboo forest.