All in a day's work: Old valley oak

trondsi · Jul 9, 2022

I'm just a hobby photographer out testing my Crown Graphic again, and thought I could share this. For some reason the camera has not produced great results when I used 120 film back, so I am going back to 4x5, and it seems to be doing a decent job. I photographed in the morning, developed during lunchtime, and scanned in the evening (and here I am uploading the same evening

trondsi · Jul 9, 2022

trondsi · Jul 9, 2022

The tree is bustling with life. Birds and squirrels are hopping about, and there is a bee hive in this hollow branch. (if you look VERY closely, you can see a couple of bees at the opening)

Sirius Glass · Jul 9, 2022

You will enjoy 4"x5" much more. I could never figure out why anyone would waste time with a 120 back. If you are going to take out a camera that large you should not handicap yourself with a much smaller negative. One time I took a camera to an Armed Forces Day at Andrews AFB and more people took more photographs of me taking photos than I took. It was worth carry the camera all day.

trondsi · Jul 10, 2022

My primary reason for trying medium format with my Crown Graphic was the horrendous price of sheet film. I also like shooting slide film by the way, which adds to the price, and I hadn’t used that camera for a while. But the medium format images came out rather soft. Not sure if the holder seated quite right. At least I now have the equipment to develop the 4x5 sheets myself.

Sirius Glass · Jul 10, 2022

trondsi said:
My primary reason for trying medium format with my Crown Graphic was the horrendous price of sheet film. I also like shooting slide film by the way, which adds to the price, and I hadn’t used that camera for a while. But the medium format images came out rather soft. Not sure if the holder seated quite right. At least I now have the equipment to develop the 4x5 sheets myself.

Do you have shoot color slide film? Will black & white suffice for practice and kicks?

trondsi · Jul 10, 2022

Sirius Glass said:
Do you have shoot color slide film? Will black & white suffice for practice and kicks?

I'd say yes I'd like to continue with slide film. I have actually succeeded in developing E6 sheets once (which was quite an experience in "alchemy"), so I'll experiment more with that, although it is still rather expensive.

Although I really like B&W film, slide film was the main reason why I kept shooting film back when everyone else abandoned film for digital (mostly for my own enjoyment, sharing and printing is a secondary thing).

trondsi · Jul 10, 2022

One more from the same trip, and same camera.

ic-racer · Jul 11, 2022

A typical Jobo can only process ten individual 4x5 exposures at a time.

Whereas it can process ten ROLLS of 120 film at once.

That is why I occasionally use 120 film in a view camera.

trondsi · Jul 12, 2022

OK further photos with 120 film will have to wait. I just did another experiment with developing slide film 4x5 sheets. I was able to get rather good results with the same mix of solutions for two batches, over two days. So the amount of sheets developed by my small Tetenal pack can be greatly increased Here's an example

Bill Burk · Jul 13, 2022

Very nice! This series reminds me of a place I know of called Black Diamond Mines

trondsi · Jul 13, 2022

Bill Burk said:
Very nice! This series reminds me of a place I know of called Black Diamond Mines

Thanks! I should check that out next time I go northwards. These photos are from around Agoura Hills close to LA.

Bill Burk · Jul 13, 2022

trondsi said:
Thanks! I should check that out next time I go northwards. These photos are from around Agoura Hills close to LA.

Ah! Renaissance Faire grounds

grat · Jul 13, 2022

trondsi said:
Thanks! I should check that out next time I go northwards. These photos are from around Agoura Hills close to LA.

I was wondering how far away from the 4077th you were shooting, especially that last one.

trondsi · Jul 13, 2022

grat said:
I was wondering how far away from the 4077th you were shooting, especially that last one.

Not sure what that means...

Edit: oh wait, there is the MASH setting in Malibu Creek State Park?

Sirius Glass · Jul 13, 2022

trondsi said:
Not sure what that means...

Edit: oh wait, there is the MASH setting in Malibu Creek State Park?

Living in southern California, the scenery in MASH just never passed for Korea.

grat · Jul 13, 2022

trondsi said:
Not sure what that means...

Edit: oh wait, there is the MASH setting in Malibu Creek State Park?

Yeah-- Not exactly the same location, but the geography and "feel" is pretty close.

Sirius Glass said:
Living in southern California, the scenery in MASH just never passed for Korea.

Not being terribly familiar with either, I was quite aware that the hills around Malibu weren't Korea, in spite of them being surprisingly close in terms of latitude.

But then you see a picture like this:

Sirius Glass · Jul 13, 2022

grat said:
Yeah-- Not exactly the same location, but the geography and "feel" is pretty close.

Not being terribly familiar with either, I was quite aware that the hills around Malibu weren't Korea, in spite of them being surprisingly close in terms of latitude.

But then you see a picture like this:

The military site does not relate the great difference in the native vegetation type and density.

grat · Jul 13, 2022

Sirius Glass said:
The military site does not relate the great difference in the native vegetation type and density.

Or amount of snowfall.

Sirius Glass · Jul 13, 2022

grat said:
Or amount of snowfall.

I was thinking of posting that too.

trondsi · Jul 14, 2022

Huh, I just noticed something mildly interesting: when I home-develop Fuji Provia sheets, the emulsion side shows a clear etched relief (like Kodachrome) but Kodak E100 does not at all. I developed in the same batch.

jimgalli · Jul 28, 2022

I'm coveting your oak trees. I grew up in Sand Canyon at the end of Placerita (oak of the golden dream) and I DO miss the trees but not the people. It's pretty quick and easy to check film plane compared to ground glass. Don't take the 120 back for granted. It could well be out of register on your camera.

All in a day's work: Old valley oak

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