You should pursue your photography desires and get yourself a 4x5. I love the entire process especially the contemplative part when studying the image on the ground glass. 4x5 equipment and film is reasonably priced. Heck if you saw the post yesterday you could get a whole darkroom set up for next to nothing. I love the printing process too; the amber light, smell of the chemistry, and whir of the enlarger fans create a magical place. Oh yea, and the beautiful black and white images at the end of the process.

Tri-X 8x10 is easy $10 a sheet. Fifteen years ago when I first started shooting 8x10 you could buy it in boxes of 50 for a little over a hundred bucks. Now you can only get it in boxes of ten.

How about $6.50 per negative to blow your minds? That is the cost for one sheet of 8x10 HP5 developed. The next three weeks has me in Utah and New Mexico exclusively for taking photographs. I was getting all my film holders loaded last night and my wife asked if 40 sheets will be enough to last. I looked at her and quipped if I shoot all that film I am going to be disappointed with myself. So why tell this story? Because we all have different loves and methods for creating our art.

Love that place myself. And the people working there are great.

That was great! We love those things, nothing like a Thomas’ English muffin in the morning. My mom used to make us little pizzas on them too. Now my wife does. May have to try making them at home now that you showed us all about them.

When the family moved to Arizona in 1976 from NYC we could not get Thomas’. Very uncivilized. It wasn’t until about six years later they started carrying them. (Being you are from Chicago you will understand my next statement). It wasn’t until last year that Arizona finally became civilized when they opened a White Castle in Scottsdale.

Thanks for a great post!
Jerry

Made me laugh out loud! Thank you I needed that.

Afsalvo I have a shot to the arch/ceiling in Tumacacori AZ too. Sepia toned silver gelatin print. Taken about five years ago. Enjoyed your image.

Nice image Bob. Was she scoping you out?

An ancient ceiling. Southern Utah. Analog print. 8x10 Ilford HP5+ film.

(Download)

I don’t shoot any digital other than with my cell phone. Mostly use 8x10 and now experimenting with glass plates, just for the sheer joy of the photographic process and creating a beautiful image once in a while. It is all photography like Bob said.

Jerry

What a beautiful tribute to your mom. God bless you and her.

You can also try using a can of compressed air to blow out the accumulated dust and whatever has worked its way into the charging port on your iPad. I had a problem getting it to charge, tried replacing everything else then my wife asked if I cleaned out the charging port!

I am a retired law enforcement officer with 38 years experience and as you can imagine have an opinion on this subject. NEVER leave your valuable camera equipment unsecured in a vehicle passenger compartment. Hiding it with dark cloths, pull over shields, dark window tinting may sound logical but thieves are counting on you to this.
I have a vault in my Jeep.

A very good friend of mine who drives an older SUV left his backpack with his Nikon D850 and assorted lenses “hidden’” under a black towel while he parked at a Scottsdale AZ trailhead. He was gone no longer than 5 minutes to scout something to photograph only to find his window smashed and all his equipment missing. Even though he had insurance he was devastated.

You are one lucky man to have a wife like this. Not only does she look great with that camera, she is out spending time with you and her shirt says the rest.

Jerry

recess,

Thank you so much for sharing. I had not seen this.

About twenty years ago I was with a photographer friend at the University of Arizona’s Center for Creative Photography in Tucson for an Ansel Adams Show. I was mesmerized by his print of the “Dogwood Blossom.” I asked Ken about its absolute sharpness. He told me all about the contact print and the 8x10 negative. I went out shortly after, learned all about the large format world, and have been shooting 8x10 ever since. That day at the museum changed my life for the better ever since.

The Center houses all the negatives known at the time of his death. It is a hollowed place for a film photographer like me.

Just beautiful!

One of the great things about printing with negatives is the technology will let you print them 125 years later.

I just had two boxes of precoated 8x10 glass negatives delivered from Freestyle Photo and am waiting for the holders to arrive. There is definitely something magical about a large format glass negative and I have the subject already in mind to shoot.

Exciting stuff for me to see these images. They underscore my love of large format and why I go through the trouble of hauling all the equipment around. Thank you for posting them!