Large Format: Challenges
There are too many things that can go wrong when shooting large format (4×5) film.
I made four exposures of my friends Steve and Bryan this afternoon. Two of the four were ruined right off the bat: The first, because I’d left the shutter open when pulling the dark slide. The second because I didn’t expose it at all and processed as though I had.
Large format is hard.
There are so many opportunities to fail that making a successful image is really quite rewarding. Today wasn’t a rewarding day. Both of the photos that weren’t completely ruined were spoiled in other ways.
The above image was taken while facing into the sun. That was dumb. I was so flustered after accidentally exposing the first negative that I basically ignored the actual subject of the shot.
And the following image shows some blooming/flair around the overexposed decking and table areas. I’m not sure why it’s so severe. The lens may have been dirty.
Bryan and Steve (Linhof Master Technika | Rodenstock APO-Sironar-S 135mm | HP5+ 400
Oh well, I’ll just need to keep practicing because when it works, it’s awesome.