Category: Film

5th April 2012 – Post dated blog entry

This is going to one of many post dated blog entries generally about film photography. One of the delights and difficulties about shooting film is the time between taking the image to actually viewing the image. This can be a benefit and also a negative.

Well all the pieces had finally arrived and I was ready to take my first large format photograph with my very own large format camera.  I had done some large format photography before but it was either on a course or hired equipment,  this would be my first shot with my own large format camera.

It was never going to be brilliant but the purpose of these first shots was to test my ability to load and unload the dark slides, meter correctly and use the camera correctly.  There is a lot to go wrong in large format film photography.

This evening in the late afternoon spring sunshine, the old wooden chair we had made many years ago was looking particularly photogenic.

I have looked at this chair nearly every day for over ten years but today I had the perfect excuse to photograph it, my finished large format Ebony 4 x 5 inch Large Format Camera.

Last year I had managed to pick up a mint Large Format Nikkor 150mm f/5.6 standard lens, and since then I have been added accessaries such as dark slides, a lupe and a dark cloth.  The Camera a Ebony 45s, came on the 3rd April, a mint condition secondhand model from Robert White.  The reason I have not used it for the last two days was because I had no way to attach it to the tripod.  Another order to Robert White and an Arca plate for the camera was quickly dispatched to me.

I was torn between black and white, and colour but in the end, the warmth of the late evening sunlight decided; it would be colour.

So with fresh inspiration flowing through my veins I checked out what film I currently had loaded; as I was wanting to capture a ‘real’ image and only film would do, it was also the perfect excuse to try out the Ebony for Real.

Luckily I had a few sheets of 5 x 4 Fuji Provia RDP100 already loaded, as I had gone out that morning to test the camera out but had not used it (don’t ask: but it involved a trip to a Windmill and a heavy tripod left in the garage at home, thus no film used).

I whipped out the Ebony 5 x 4 and mounted it on my largest heaviest tripod, a Gitzo Series 5. For some reason I had committed a cardinal sin, in that I had not put away the large format camera without first centring all the movements, unfortunately I did not notice while setting up.

With the camera mounted firmly on the tripod, I chose my large format Nikkor 150mm f/5.6; a nice standard lens on 5 x 4 inch format. I opened up the lens aperture to its widest setting, and set the shutter open to enable me to focus.

Focusing a large format camera is a very different experience to that of a modern SLR. The lens has an aperture setting but also has a shutter built into it. The Camera is just a light tight box. The lens clips onto the front of the camera, and to focus you need to lock the shutter open to allow the light through to shine on the glass panel focusing screen attached to the back of the camera. The front of the camera holding the lens and the back of the camera holding the glass focusing screen are linked by a soft leather bellows. To actually focus you move the lens on the front and the back glass screen forwards and backwards until the image projected onto the back glass screen is in focus.

The large format camera like my medium format camera lacks a built in meter, so out came the handheld meter. Metering the scene I selected a 1/2 second exposure at f/34. The Nikkor lens allows apertures to be set in 1/3 stops, which is useful, as the copal shutter in the lens only works in whole stops.

With the meter reading taken I closed the lens ready to take the photograph. Setting the shutter speed and aperture I then cocked the shutter and tripped the shutter. The shutter tripped so I knew the lens and shutter were closed and it was safe to load the film. If I had been unable to trip the shutter then the shutter was still open and it would not have been safe to load the film.

I slid in a fresh dark slide behind the glass focusing screen and removed the dark slide’s cover.  To make life easier for myself I have a cable release attached to all my large format lens so thats one last task to have to worry about, I then tripped the shutter. Reversing the dark slide’s cover and sliding it back in, I then removed the dark slide. The covers are colour coded, a white tag means unexposed and a black tag means exposed.

So here it is my first photograph taken with my new Ebony, i’ll admit it it will not win any awards as the contrast was too high for the film, but one that I am pleased with.

Not a brilliant shot, but it did what was necessary, it tested everything out and it all worked.  More importantly my metering was right, always a worry for film cameras with no meters built in.

I’ll be going out again later in the month shooting some more large format film.  These shots like the one above will not be artistic master pieces, in fact I expect them to be quite poor, but it will enable me to master my technique, then I can move on to more creative shots.

It was a warm sunny day but the weather forecast show potential for a storm.  After a good storm you can often get dramatic skies to make a photograph something special.

We loaded the car with the Large Format Camera Gear and I also took the little Nikon Series 1 V1.

As we travelled to Lincoln the sky went a fantastic black but this did not cover the sun, the light was wonderful.  As we arrived in Lincoln the sun was finally covered and the heavens opened.  No light and certainly no weather to be out with cameras.

We popped into the shops to get a few essential groceries hoping the rain would stop soon.

Leaving the shops we headed over to Lincoln’s West Common.  There is a field between the Common and the road which the farmer uses to grow hay.  I had noticed on my commute a few days early that the hay had been cut and bailed.  It was my hope that with the hay in the foreground and with the magnificent Lincoln Cathedral as a backdrop, it could make a great picture, if only the weather would co-operate.

The rain was slowing after we left the shops, so it was worth an attempt.  We drove to a lay-by and parked up, then sat and waited for the rain to finally stop.  After about ten minutes the rain did finally stop, so we grabbed the cameras and found a good spot.

The sun had still not come out and the sky was not as dramatic as I hoped but it still had potential, and the winds were driving the clouds quickly across the sky so conditions could change quickly.

First job was to snap a few reference shots with the Nikon V1, one of the better ones is at the top of this post, not too bad I thought.

After finding the best spot it was time to setup my heaviest tripod, a series 5 Gitzo with a Really Right Stuff BH-55 head.  Once in place and set level I my Ebony Large Format camera on top.

Large Format Photography is like no other.  Its great fun but certainly not quick.  Once fixed firmly on top of the tripod the first job for most LF cameras is to unfold them and fix on the lens.  Mine is a none folder and I tend to pack it with the standard lens on it, making it quicker to setup.  I removed the lens cap and also the rear lens cap.  Unlike 35mm you can have the lens fixed to the camera with the rear lens cap on.  Next was to remove the rear cover that protects the glass focusing screen.

Then using a Lupe I focused the camera.  Once focused with the help of a dark cloth I checked my composition.  It was good but I was not close enough, so I picked up the camera on the tripod and moved a few meters forward.  Levelling the camera off with the help of the spirit level built into the top of the camera and the tripod, I was ready to refocus and check my composition again.  This was much better, I still had a little too much foreground but that was easily fixed my raising the front lens a little.

With the camera focused on the distant Cathedral the hay bale was blurred and out of focus, even by stopping down to f/45 on my standard Nikon 150mm Large Format Lens, I would not get everything in focus.

It was time to employ the next trick in the Large Format Photographers arsenal, the Scheimpflug principle.  By tilting the front lens panel you can swing the plane of depth of field so that both foreground and background can be in focus.

Once everything was setup it was time to load the film.  Large format film is kept in dark slides, I had loaded up some Fuji Provia 100 earlier so was all set.  First job was to close the lens to prevent any light getting in and then to cock the shutter.  With that taken care of, the dark slide could be loaded into the camera.

Now time to meter the scene.  Like my Medium Format Camera, there is no light meter built into the camera so it was out with the handheld meter to determine the exposure.  1/15 of a second at f/32, was my chosen exposure, setting this on the lens (the lens has the shutter built into it), I was finally ready to go.  I slid out the dark slide cover, tripped the shutter with my camera release, then placed the cover back.

Now time to pack up.  A very enjoyable 30 minutes in order to take a photography in 1/15 of a second.

A few years ago Fuji discontinued Fuji Velvia, for many photographers this is there favourite landscape film.  Well due to photographer pressure they brought it back.

Now they have announced it will be discontinued again for some formats.  For me I don’t mind if then end it for 35mm as I only use Black & White film for 35mm and mainly digital.  But for medium format and large format I am a heavy Velvia user and hope they keep it for us larger format users.

For Film users a blog can be a odd affair.

Before digital took off, I used to shoot a lot of Black & White. Sometimes I would shoot in the morning, develop and produce a set of contact prints in the afternoon, then print my final selects that evening. Having my own darkroom was great and I could easily lose hours in there.

This was as close to instant film photography as I ever got.

Now I still shoot film but the great majority of my work is digital. Now digital is truly instant. I can go on a shoot that day, post process the images, blog and publish them the same day.

The other month I have had the privilege of spending just over a whole week doing nothing but either location scouting or taking pictures. The purpose of this photography trip was to get some Large Format Landscape Photography done.

By the end of the week I had shot 4 frames of film and 700 digits shots.

It’s likely to be at least a while before I get the film developed, so how do I blog about that. Do I publish the digital shots now and the scans of the film later. Post date my log entries? In this modern fast paced digital world we live it’s difficult to know how to present my film work as they are always shots from the past.

I set myself a number of goals this year on the photographic front.  One of those was to shoot more film.  By that I meant more medium and large format.  Well with all the rain during April and with the way its continued during May so far I am behind schedule.  I was hoping to shoot a number of test sheets of 5 x 4 large format as well and get it processed scanned.

I have a large format photography trip planned soon and wanted to analyse my test shots to see what mistakes I had made and work round them.

Lets home this next week will enable me to get out and get some more shots.

On Sunday I had a trip to Hartsholme Park, the main reason was a couple of Landscape shots I wanted to get (report to come once I have developed the film)!

When I arrive I was surprised to see lots of Austin 7’s arriving.  After I took my landscape shots I headed over to the cars to take a few shots.

I took one on my Ebony 5×4 Large Format Camera, possibly not the best choice! Also a few with my old trust Nikon FM2 which had some Black & White film loaded.  I also took the shot above with my trust Nikon V1, shot in RAW and then processed in Lightroom V3 and converted to Black & White.  I really seem to be in a Black & White mood at the moment.

It turned out they were all having a drive out and meet up to celebrate the Austin 7’s 90th Birthday.  A lovely old car and very photogenic.

I spent some of this bank holiday weekend planning a few future photo shoots, nothing definite yet but starting to get a few things lined up.

I definitely want to get a few large format landscape shots completed; mainly for the practice; ready for a big photo trip next month. As I have not owed a large format camera until recently, and have only hired, borrowed or gone on large format landscape courses I am terribly out of practice. Its going to be good shooting some film again, I have shot barely four frames of film this year and over 1700 digital.

I might even dig out my old Nikon FM2 possibly one of the greatest manual film SLR’s ever, and shoot a few rolls of Ilford HP5, now where did I put my old developing tank!