Dear rangefinder forum guy/gals;
Thanks for all your input, it is indeed a lively thread. From all I have read, there was in no way shape or form, any offense given, and certainly none taken. Quite nice in a forum where most likely we will never meet face to face.
My motivation in taking these photos is that I like the way the female form and its associated curves interact with light and shadow. Even more so when I can capture that on film. I make an active choice to search out situations where I can take those photos in a "wife safe" environment. Just for me, if I take a photo, I have to be willing to show it to my wife. And as a rule, the models are indeed professional models, nothing more, nothing less. I would guess that this is close to my 20th nude model shoot, just to clarify. I shoot at a studio with the owner, and a group of 2-4 other photographers. Every one always shoots digital, one other person shoots film, sometimes in a Nikon F, and others in a Leica M6. No one else shoots medium format film, or large format film. I compile my favorites for my web site, and some specialized sets to share, like on this forum. At the end of the year, I print a vanity book. This year will be my third book. So much for the motivations.
In this setting, there is a fair bit of time pressure to get on with your turn at the lights, and get the model posed, and shoot. Most of the shoots that I really enjoy, I have eithier directed or set the lights my self. Given this setting, both directing the model, and getting the photograph with large format are interciate parts of the whole process. LF takes much work work. I shot near on 100 frames between the speed and the polaroid before I treid to use either at a "real" shoot. To say the least, there were quite a few mistakes in that first 100 or so. At this point in my photographic journey, I think I have a reasonable understaing of the fundamentals, aperature, speed, focus .... MF and LF images that are in focus and exposed correclty are the proof of that.
The LF process takes much more time and more rigor than the DSLR process, its a check list that I have in mind mentally, set speed, cock, Open up the lens, focus, veryif aperature, close lens, dark slide, fire, reverse dark slide, reverse film holder, repeat ..... This process takes in the order in minutes when you have a 7-10 minute slot of shooting time. I take a few digials first to check posing, then a few 35mm or 645 film, then if I'm lucky one or two LF. At this point, I'm still working on camera technique. Sadly, the thing that suffers most is the posing. But the only way to get better at it is to do it. Of the 20 shots that I attempted, I think I actually got about 14 that show technial profeciency with the camera, thats 70%, barely pasing.
As to if these shots are art, or porn, or something else, it's a free country, have your opinion. I sleep well at night, with a clear consence. I imagane that Hugh Hefner and some internet porn site owners do too.
As I have said in a previous post, most of the shots in the LF set are there because they were taken with a 4X5 range finder, not because they are my favorites. Of them, 2 will probably make the book, and of that, only one will be 8X10.
Having reviewed this set, I think I made an error, and one Contax photo slipped in, care to take a guess?
Dave
