What folks in the real world are doing...

[venchka]

I suppose this goes with equipment. Or Philosphy of Photography. Or Schools that teach Photography. I would love to attend this facility. I'm not too old, hey?

Quoting Michael Slade as posted at APUG:

My ULF update...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have taken a full-time position teaching at The Waterford School in Sandy, Utah. This is the program that Tillman Crane set up and ran for many years. I am honored and blessed to be offered this position. I started on Labor Day and have loved it more than I thought I would.

Tillman set up one of the premiere B&W facilities in the west here at Waterford. We have two printing darkrooms, one with 17 enlargers, another with 12. We have a 15x30 film processing room with 4 working JOBO's. We have a slew of 4x5, 6x6 and 35mm cameras for the students to use.

We also have...get this... a locker full of Wista 4x5's, Speedgraphics, an 8x10 Toyo Field, a 4x10, an 11x14 and an 8x20. It is the 8x20 that I am most excited about in my own personal work, but I am equally excited to get the students shooting the larger formats. I have them working in 8x10 occasionally and have plans to get them shooting 8x20 and making alt. prints.

The 8x20 is a Lotus and is in wonderful condition. It has 5 holders and 2 lenses, a 30-inch Red Dot and a 450mm Nikkor. I traded a 24-inch Red Dot to Jim Galli recently for a 360mm f5.6 convertible Schneider Symmar. It is a whopper of a lens!

I made a lens board for it last night and did a test fit. I am going to really love using the 8x20 camera with that lens. Thanks Jim!

Anyway, I didn't want to come off as bragging, but I've been looking for various ULF cameras for about 3 years. With this position have access to one that is very beautiful. I am truly fortunate not only to have gainful full-time employment at a wonderful institution with fabulous students, but also have the academic freedom to create my own curriculum and work with some wonderful tools.

If anyone has questions about the Lotus, I can start a thread with images and impressions. My other ULF experience was with a Korona 12x20 which I also enjoyed (but it did have it's quirks).
__________________
Michael Slade
my website
my blog
my extended photography project

One of Michael's Galleries: Great Salt Lake

Zeros and ones don't tell the whole story.

Think about it.

[Spec A!]

Good Gravy! What kind of film or process allows you to record images on an 8x20 film plane?

[venchka]

Grinning. One that is larger than 4"x10" or 7"x17" and smaller than 12"x20" or 20"x24". Folks do it all the time. As for specifics, I'm pretty sure that Ilford offers FP4+ and HP5+ in those sizes. Any black & white developer will work. It's really very easy.

[Joe_Lorenzini]

The images are incredible. A visual treat!

[venchka]

Glad you liked them.

[johnastovall]

Originally Posted by Spec A!

Good Gravy! What kind of film or process allows you to record images on an 8x20 film plane?

All you need to know is Freestyle.

[venchka]

The really amazing thing is that the photography program is at the high school level. There is hope!

[kenw]

It's all wonderful and all but do these folks hope to have a marketable degree when they finish with this?

Or is it for an Art degree?

[johnastovall]

There are more important things that come with a degree than "marketable."

We seem to have forgotten that.

[toverman]

Originally Posted by venchka

The really amazing thing is that the photography program is at the high school level. There is hope!

That's going to produce some nice images for their MySpace pages.

[venchka]

Ken,

This wonderful facility is in a K-12 college prep. private school. I reckon if a kid came out of this school knowing the ins and outs of N- exposure and N+ development and how to use a 4x5 view camera, they would be well on their way to Grown Up Problem Solving.

[Murph]

Wow, nice images. I wonder what he would do with a 12x20? Gotta love ULF cameras, although lenses are an issue these days.

[kenw]

Originally Posted by venchka

Ken,

This wonderful facility is in a K-12 college prep. private school. I reckon if a kid came out of this school knowing the ins and outs of N- exposure and N+ development and how to use a 4x5 view camera, they would be well on their way to Grown Up Problem Solving.

of course, nothing at all wrong with a degree that uses this, or even learning for learning's sake. Having it pre-college makes even more sense as it will serve as a guide for future studies.

However, IF it were as part of a college degree, particularly if a B/MS degree, there might be some disconnects between training and job availability.......but since it isn't, nevermind.....

[venchka]

Murph, lenses are no problem. Scott Magruder has a 355mm G-Claron on his Korona 12x20. Works like a dream. They aren't too hard to find. There are other lenses around I'm sure. Sandy King has a lens or lenses for his 20x24.

Ken, the University of New Mexico has a similar film & darkroom curriculum and hardware. I think it's refreshing that these facilities exist. There's more to life than PS3s and Microsoft Office. As for job availablity, I know kids in my daughter's graduating class with business degrees working tables in restaurants. Go figure.

[jeffkohn]

Since when does the world of academia have anything to do with the real world?

I like that 8x20 format though, 2.5:1 has become my preferred ratio for panos.