Miserable fail... I need to practice more

[Kirks518]

I haven't used my LF in about 5 months, and the last time was only a few shots. I save the LF for when I have something specific in mind. Film is too expensive to just shoot for the sake of shooting.

I decided I was going to shoot the sunset tonight through a local drawbridge. I figured it would be a good opportunity to shoot some 4x5 Velvia (have only done B&W so far in LF). I only loaded up 2 holders, as I figured I wouldn't be there long, and well, Velvia is expensive.

Out of the 4 shots, I screwed up 2 of them.

First screw up was forgetting to close the shutter before pulling the darkslide. Grumble...
Second screw up was in the loading of one of the holders, I obviously had a mis-load. Took the shot, and when I put the slide back, it jammed. Eventually, the sheet popped out of the holder and into the bellows. Grumble grumble...

I was so bummed.

I'm hoping that at least one of the two 'successful' shots come out well enough. We'll see. I'm not feeling optimistic at this point though....

 

[Sirius Glass]

So far you are doing better than normal. You should have screwed up at least three of the four negatives. Large format allows one to screw up in clever and outlandish ways. Well come to Large Format Photography!

 

[Fixcinater]

The way it goes for me, I'd have forgotten to meter those last two shots...

 

[palewin]

Unfortunately "I haven't used LF in 5 months" is the root of your problems. I'm sure that most of us have made exactly the two mistakes you mention (I certainly have) but the solution is practice. fIve months off negates a lot of practice.

 

[Xmas]

I practice screw ups all the time I've got them to an art form.

 

[Alan Gales]

If it was easy, the digital crowd would shoot it.

I'm like you and can't afford to shoot large format all the time. Waiting 5 months is a bit of a stretch. I try to take my time so I limit my screw-ups. Some people make a check list to go over before they release the shutter. We all make mistakes so don't feel lonesome. Good luck with the other two sheets!

 

[NedL]

...Took the shot, and when I put the slide back, it jammed. Eventually, the sheet popped out of the holder and into the bellows. Grumble grumble..
...

Same thing happened to me last week. A homemade calotype was loaded okay, but buckled a little and the slide caught on it and pulled it out of the holder. Each calotype is a good bit of time and effort to prepare, so I wasn't thrilled. On the other hand I got to see what an unexposed one looks like in full sunshine.... Next time I'll probably find another way to mess it up.....

 

[rbultman]

Ditto. 6 sheets exposed, 3 fails. I forgot to set the aperture to the intended one, f22. Shot 3 at f5.6. I went ahead and developed them anyway. I was surprised to find that despite the gross overexposure, the negs might be printable, although I wouldn't do that as the DOF was not what I wanted.

 

[Laurent]

My limited time in LF taught me valuable lessons, and the main one is how forgiving BW negative film is... I forgot to close the shutter before pulling the slide, or forgot to close the aperture to the properly metered one, or did not meter or.... and almost always got a negative with an image.

Of course, it was not _always_ the image I wanted, but I still could get some information from it.

I still have a negative which seems bullet proof but has a readable image IF you find a light powerful enough...

Now I'm in the 35mm RF world, and the chanc^H^H^H^H^H opportunities for failures are wuite good also ;-)

 

[pdeeh]

Wait 'til you pull the darkslide on the wrong side of the holder ...

 

[removed account4]

i love putting the darkslide in again the same way you took it out
so you can't figure out what sheets are exposed

no need to be depressed, its all a game ..

 

[Kirks518]

Wait 'til you pull the darkslide on the wrong side of the holder ...

at one point I thought I did that....

I did take 2 B&W shots also, and developed them last night. On one of them I again forget to close the shutter, and quickly tried to block the lens with one hand. Looks like the image came out ok, except for some shake from sliding the slide. The other one looks like it came out fine.

Quickly looking at the 2 when I pulled them from the tank, it looks like the shot(s) wasn't worth it anyway. Not keen on the composition at all...

 

[esearing]

i love putting the darkslide in again the same way you took it out
so you can't figure out what sheets are exposed

no need to be depressed, its all a game ..

I use blue painters tape on the slide and to record the film , I add the f-stop, lens, time and other info while the slide is out.
I still forget to set the f-stop after focusing about every 1 in 6 shots.
Thinking I may start putting check marks by time and f-stop to make sure I did it.

Last weekend I found myself shooting with out pulling the slide.

 

[Sirius Glass]

i love putting the darkslide in again the same way you took it out
so you can't figure out what sheets are exposed

no need to be depressed, its all a game ..

Sage advice!

 

[NedL]

Wait 'til you pull the darkslide on the wrong side of the holder ...

It almost hurts to even read that

 

[pdeeh]

It almost hurts to even read that

Ned, consider, then, how much it hurts to be standing there with it in your hand watching the (paper) negative turning purple in the sunshine ....

 

[removed account4]

Ned, consider, then, how much it hurts to be standing there with it in your hand watching the (paper) negative turning purple in the sunshine ....

that's when you quickly remove it, empty your pockets on it and make a retina/lumen photogram !

 

[NedL]

It's ART!!!!!

 

[DREW WILEY]

Once you've successfully figured out about twenty different ways to screw up an exposure, you can add your name to the list with the rest of us!

 

[HiHoSilver]

Sort of a side note, but bravo, gents for letting folks know about the foul-ups. Though I don't yet have the bug for LF, I guarantee those guys trying to learn will be better off, more relaxed, less discouraged about their learning 'cause you all were kind enough to talk about it.

 

[Pioneer]

...or grab the empty film holders on the way out the door instead of the loaded ones...

And you make absolutely no mistakes for the entire day! The light was perfect, big puffy clouds everywhere, the surface of the lake was smooth as glass...



Edit - the only pictures that turn out were shot with the Olympus MJU...

Edit 2 - of course I am probably misremembering these events as the entire day was banished from memory...

 

[Sirius Glass]

I loaded the cameras and drove 75 miles to the beginning of Skyline Drive NP only to discover that I left the film in the refrigerator. I drove back and got the film. Then I returned to the park and drove 150 miles in the park taking 4"x5" photographs.

 

[NedL]

I came home after making 1 shot, and then carefully developed the paper from the other side.

It's a wonder any of us can tie our shoes in the morning...

 

[apkujeong]

...or grab the empty film holders on the way out the door instead of the loaded ones...

And you make absolutely no mistakes for the entire day! The light was perfect, big puffy clouds everywhere, the surface of the lake was smooth as glass...

Ye gods. This one grabs my attention. I've not done that yet - though I did recently make a set of (wholly unintentional) double exposures.

My worst day of LF screwups came trekking in Annapurna region, Nepal. The only time of day that was really suitable was just around dawn, before breakfast. You have to be at a viewpoint and then hope that views aren't obscured by cloud. Cloud cover rolled in very quickly after sunrise. One day at dawn at a viewpoint I messed up in just about every way conceivable (including mistakes I'd never made before, like removing a holder without replacing the slide). I was too tired and hungry and just wasn't quick / focussed enough. Normally I keep notes with LF but didn't bother that day, wanting to save time. More haste, less speed.

I consoled myself with the thought that the highlight of the trek (Annapurna base camp) was yet to come, and that maybe I could get some good photos there. That morning I prepared a snickers bar and can of coffee to wake me up sufficiently to think straight, got out onto a viewpoint overlooking the glacier, set up and waited. The clouds didn't break at all - the mountains were completely obscured. Because of a tight itinerary I had to descend that morning. I heard that the previous day the weather had been unusually good for a few hours after dawn. I have a photo of the glacier and a bunch of clouds / mist somewhere. If anyone isn't sure what ABC looks like, there are a couple of photos at this site (obviously not my photos):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annapurna_Sanctuary

None of the snowpeaks in those photos were visible. I learned that I need some coffee and a chocolate bar of a morning, and a bit of luck too!

 

[Vaughn]

Thirty-six years of LF use...from 4x5 to 11x14.

Two days ago, backpacking with the 4x5, I stopped to photograph across the creek. I made one exposure I thought was pretty good, but since I had plenty of film still left, was on my way out and back to the trailhead the next day, I thought I'd take another with an extra stop of exposure. Second exposure was 4 minutes and I took down the particulars in my notebook of this and the previous exposure. In doing so I forgot to fan the lens every once in a while to prevent fogging up of the lens (just a touch above freezing and humid). Dang. Then I pulled the film holder from the camera and put it in the bag, noticed I forgot to put back the darkslide!! I don't think I have done that before, but I'm not sure of that. But I'll blame it on the many cold creek crossings I had done right before I set up the camera -- I think all my blood was down in my feet trying to warm them up!

My worst mistake was hitch-hiking in New Zealand for 3 months with a 4x5 with a massive light leak in the back...but that was back in 1980...at the beginning of my LF adventures!