[E. von Hoegh]

Welcome to the slippery slope. Just imagine how cool an 8x10 would be.

The best thing I did when learning was to put the camera on the tripod and play. No film just play with movements.

Yes, this is good advice. Set some things on a tabletop, place the camera so it's pointed down at about a 30 degree angle and just move the things around, focussing and using movements on different arrangements. Do the same thing outside with buildings, using the movements to control perspective (back) and plane of focus (front).

Two items you will find invaluable are a good darkcloth and a good focussing loupe.

N.B. An 8x10 has 4 times the area of a 4x5 so the groundglass is correspondingly easier to view the subject on.