Large Format Workshop 26th July

17th August 2009

If you wonder what Large Format photography and Coaching are all about, here is one person’s experience of the Large Format Workshop.  Before you read Sam Gamble’s reflections of the day I should add that the weather was grey, windy and at times, raining. That didn’t dampen Sam’s energy as we worked together from 09.30am until 8.00pm. In addition to what you will read in Sam’s personal reflections of the day, he also learned how to load and unload sheet film, take spot-meter readings, and create pictures using 3 different lenses and 3 different types of film; as for the Scheimpflug principle - a doddle!
By the end of the day, Sam was also developing a new approach to his photography. His last picture of the day - made at 7.30pm in rapidly failing light - had taken him around 35 minutes to ‘find’. The subject was actually obvious and easy - two windows, a doorway and two or three old stones. But creating a memorable picture that captured the atmosphere of the place and how he felt was much more challenging. His Large Format photography approach worked beautifully and he created a wonderful picture.

Written by Sam Gamble – 26th July 2007

“I’d consider myself quite a proficient photographer – I understand the zone system, albeit recalling the zones in the opposite order, I’ve gotten good result from using off camera flash, I’ve even photographed the odd wedding or two. But large format photography frightened me. Tilt, shift, rise, fall, the Scheimpflug principle, spot metering, dark slides, quick load - film for goodness sake. It uses film!
I felt I needed personal coaching for this sort of subject - Richard offers this as the bare minimum. We started at his home so I could get familiar with two beautiful Ebony cameras - a 45SW and a 45SU if I remember correctly - and covered the essentials before putting the theory to the test in the field.
There seemed to be no formulaic manner about Richard’s teaching as he responded to my curiosity, sometimes needing to go off on a tangent to satisfy it, whilst still managing to equip me with the skills and understanding to feel confident when faced with subject matter beyond his house.
As you’d expect from any photographer worth his onions, Richard knows his local area very well. Richard was flexible enough to find out what I enjoy photographing and tailored the locations to suit me. As he said several times the day was mine - I felt he meant it and he made it so.
I like photographing gardens and flowers so he had arranged for access to a private National Trust garden. He also thought to research the location before hand so that when I was presented with the unfamiliar scene with two new cameras, as well as a set of unpractised concepts, Richard could offer suggestions on where to get started.
Richards teaching style is one I like very much. He makes you familiar with a set of concepts then adds a new one in whilst testing the old ones. This creates scenarios in which you can make controlled mistakes – you feel you understand enough of a problem to have a go but you might not know the path to the solution. It also helps that Richard is so approachable that when you start to lose track you don’t feel uncomfortable asking for help. This works for me.
I am so new to large format photography that you may want to take the next statement with a pinch of salt but after the few hours I spent getting up to speed with the subject I felt an epiphany. The sheer amount of creative control the large format camera offers, the huge view finder, the frankly stunning results on the lightbox. Taken together these things transpired to fill a huge gap in my understanding about photography and to set my creative juices flowing and my mind on fire.

I do not hesitate to recommend spending a day with Richard learning the ropes of an area of photography associated with many of the all time greatest photographers that have gone before us and are still working today.”