My lessons learned first time doing Large Format photography

hroark · Feb 26, 2023

I made it out to do some photography this weekend, first time doing large format. Wrote it up, mostly as a warning to others .

10 Lessons Learned first time out doing Large Format Photography

Beginning of the (steep steep) learning curve

hankroarkphotography.substack.com

1. Who needs the image to be square to the film?
2. First time with the new toy, I lost all senses when it comes to composition.
3. Dust. Oh my goodness, the dust. (I think it was me and not the film…if you think it was the CatLabs X 80, I’d love to know).
4. Your dark cloth needs to be secured in the wind.
5. Speaking of wind, are there any tricks to working with a dark cloth in windy conditions?
6. Make sure your tripod and camera all work together (two parts cannot be in the same place at the same time).
7. When everyone says your lens needs a recessed lens board, listen.
8. Study the zone system, know what your developers can and cannot do.
9. Don’t rush it.
10. 4x5 is different than 3x2.

Thanks for this, lots more detail on SubStack. This was fun and I’m ready to go at it again.

Sirius Glass · Feb 26, 2023

hroark said:
I made it out to do some photography this weekend, first time doing large format. Wrote it up to act for others, mostly as a warning.

10 Lessons Learned first time out doing Large Format Photography

Beginning of the (steep steep) learning curve

hankroarkphotography.substack.com

1. Who needs the image to be square to the film?
2. First time with the new toy, I lost all senses when it comes to composition.
3. Dust. Oh my goodness, the dust. (I think it was me and not the film…if you think it was the CatLabs X 80, I’d love to know).
4. Your dark cloth needs to be secured in the wind.
5. Speaking of wind, are there any tricks to working with one in windy conditions?
6. Make sure your tripod and camera all work together (two parts can be in the same place at the same time).
7. When everyone says your lens needs a recessed lens board, listen.
8. Study the zone system, know what your developers can and cannot do.
9. Don’t rush it.
10. 4x5 is different than 3x2.

Thanks for this, lots more detail on SubStack. This was fun and I’m ready to go at it again.

Welcome to ~~APUG~~ Photrio!!

xkaes · Feb 26, 2023

I'll add.

11. The Zone System is not GOSPEL, but it might help some people who are right-brained.
12. LFP is NOT like a bicycle.

Kino · Feb 26, 2023

13. You get a lot choosier on subject matter when carrying a large format camera.
14. Tripods hate your feet.
15. Upside down and backwards takes some getting used to...

Kilgallb · Feb 26, 2023

It may seem counter intuitive, but you need a heavy dark cloth or it will sail away in the wind.

Some people put weights on the edges.

On my heavy monorail I have Velcro to hold the dark cloth. On the carbon fibre 4x5 I wrap the cloth around and hold it. The camera is too light, an attached dark cloth might pull the camera over. This happened to me on a mountainside And resulted in a shattered ground glass.

Hassasin · Feb 26, 2023

Bino viewer helps, I prefer it over dark cloth, with bulk of it being the unfortunate side effect. But some critical focusing is sometimes in question, depending on subject and light.

hroark · Feb 26, 2023

Kino said:
13. You get a lot choosier on subject matter when carrying a large format camera.
14. Tripods hate your feet.
15. Upside down and backwards takes some getting used to...

So far, upside down and backward has not been a problem. I don't know why. On my prior MF camera, the right side up but backward was so confusing to my brain.

Why on #14? Because they weigh so much to haul around

hroark · Feb 26, 2023

Kilgallb said:
It may seem counter intuitive, but you need a heavy dark cloth or it will sail away in the wind.

Some people put weights on the edges.

On my heavy monorail I have Velcro to hold the dark cloth. On the carbon fibre 4x5 I wrap the cloth around and hold it. The camera is too light, an attached dark cloth might pull the camera over. This happened to me on a mountainside And resulted in a shattered ground glass.

I'll try adding some weights to the edge. It has velcros and elastic bands around the camera and has a velcro that can be used in the back. It was the middle that was killing me in the wind.

BradS · Feb 27, 2023

focus,
close the shutter,
set aperture and shutter speed,
cock the shutter, release the shutter,
cock the shutter, release the shutter,
cock the shutter, release the shutter,
cock the shutter,
check aperture and shutter speed.
insert film holder
pull the dark slide
release the shutter
replace the dark slide
breath.

BradS · Feb 27, 2023

hroark said:
I'll try adding some weights to the edge. It has velcros and elastic bands around the camera and has a velcro that can be used in the back. It was the middle that was killing me in the wind.

eventually, the wind blows the weights into the ground glass and the glass breaks.
Velcro is better.

hroark · Feb 27, 2023

BradS said:
eventually, the wind blows the weights into the ground glass and the glass breaks.
Velcro is better.

Oh got it now. Thank you.

BradS · Feb 27, 2023

hroark said:
Oh got it now. Thank you.

You might like the black jacket.

negativefunk · Feb 27, 2023

I had my first LF (5x7) field trip a couple of weekends ago. My findings I suppose are somewhat more mundane:

- long treks with LF equipment are demanding.
- it's an activity perhaps better enjoyed alone. Having someone waiting 1hr in a spot whilst you fiddle for a couple of pics can lead to annoyed mumbling and introduce an element of rush that is not beneficial to the process.
- I really need way less tilt than I was expecting to need. It's amazing.
- I took 2 copies of the same shot all the time... but it's a waste. I'll probably do it only for shots I "believe" in.
- I am using rotary development (manual rotation), and I can see I need to reduce dev times (although in this instance it was OK due to overcast \ little contrast in the scenes overall).

I enjoyed myself, but I did several mistakes. On the plus side, I realised soon enough where I messed up each time. Keen to be out with it again.

hroark · Feb 27, 2023

BradS said:
You might like the black jacket.

will check it out! thanks.

hroark · Feb 27, 2023

negativefunk said:
I had my first LF (5x7) field trip a couple of weekends ago. My findings I suppose are somewhat more mundane:

- long treks with LF equipment are demanding.
- it's an activity perhaps better enjoyed alone. Having someone waiting 1hr in a spot whilst you fiddle for a couple of pics can lead to annoyed mumbling and introduce an element of rush that is not beneficial to the process.
- I really need way less tilt than I was expecting to need. It's amazing.
- I took 2 copies of the same shot all the time... but it's a waste. I'll probably do it only for shots I "believe" in.
- I am using rotary development (manual rotation), and I can see I need to reduce dev times (although in this instance it was OK due to overcast \ little contrast in the scenes overall).

I enjoyed myself, but I did several mistakes. On the plus side, I realised soon enough where I messed up each time. Keen to be out with it again.

I hear you on demanding. My 35mm kit is 10 lbs all in for day hikes. The 4x5 is right at 30 pounds. I did some of this to myself by picking the Linhof, but I know I’m rough on cameras. I can’t imagine 5x7.

Right on on the movements. I regularly was thinking I hadn’t done enough when instead I had went too far.

xkaes · Feb 27, 2023

hroark said:
I'll try adding some weights to the edge. It has velcros and elastic bands around the camera and has a velcro that can be used in the back. It was the middle that was killing me in the wind.

There are a few dark cloths -- like the WOOD HOOD -- that have sewn-in elastic bands (for around the ground glass, and your head), and Velcro on the bottom, to keep everything in place and the light out. Although, I've found that 50 MPH winds are still very difficult. At least the dark cloth won't fly away.

Rick A · Feb 27, 2023

hroark said:
Why on #14? Because they weigh so much to haul around

Because I get caught up in what I'm doing and occasionally trip over them. YMMV

Chuck_P · Feb 27, 2023

Adding another.......pull the correct dark slide!

This is a first for me....a couple of weeks ago I pulled the wrong dark slide. This obviously ruined that sheet, and of course, I didn't actually make an image on the sheet I meant to make a image on.

Thing is I didn't realize this until I developed together the sheets from that holder. The sheet on side A of the holder that I thought I had exposed properly, there was nothing there......and the sheet I ruined on side B of the holder was maxed out in density as it received tons of light, both accidentally and when I thought I was exposing side B normally.

How did this happen? I normally leave the dark cloth on the camera when pulling the dark slide. So, without my reader glasses on, I accidentally grabbed the wrong slide the first time, then grabbed the correct slide the second time, resulting in an unexposed negative from the first side A and a badly ruined negative on side B. So after developing the negatives, I had to do some powerful reflection on how that could've happened.

Tel · Feb 27, 2023

hroark said:
I can’t imagine 5x7.

Try 8x10. An 8x10 camera with bellows extended presents a lot of surface area to the wind. I've become pretty good at finding wind shadows behind a building or a couple of trees. Oddly, it doesn't seem to be a great deal heavier than say a 5x7 package, just bulkier. My Eastman View #2 is actually fairly light--it's becoming my default 8x10 camera.

Tel · Feb 27, 2023

Chuck_P said:
Adding another.......pull the correct dark slide!

Good point; I've done this more times than I care to think about. I finally resorted to marking the slides with the word "exposed" on the top tab. It helped, but I still occasionally get it wrong.

Alan Edward Klein · Feb 27, 2023

When it;s too windy, the trees and leaves get all blurry because I shoot landscapes with slow film with lots of DOF. So I tend not to go out in the wind.

Paul Howell · Feb 27, 2023

8. Study the zone system, know what your developers can and cannot do.

I find this to be a common misconception, that he zone system is not primarily concerned with exposure and development. The main driver for the Zone System is visualization, what Minor White called previsualization, learning to visualize a scene in black and white then having the tools to correctly expose, develop and print to achieve the visualized scene. My thinking is unless you are wanting to learn how to visualize look to Phil Davis' Beyond the Zone System.

Vaughn · Feb 27, 2023

16. Realize that the image we see on the GG is upside down, but NOT backwards...

Wind -- try a big golf umbrella to block it.

Negativefunk -- I often expose two negatives (same or different exposure depending on circumstances) of the same image...especially potentually great images (but aren't they all?!). This gives me the opportunity to change the development of the second film if needed, and/or a back-up neg since I print using Alt processes that can be hard on the negatives.

Embrace the accidental double exposures. (shit happens)

I prefer not to attach the darkcloth to the camera -- always afraid I'll pull over the whole mess someday.

gordrob · Feb 27, 2023

hroark said:
I can’t imagine 5x7.

The 5x7 Super Technika is only 6lbs heavier then your IV. The holders are a bit heavier. Lenses and everything else stay the same

BHuij · Feb 27, 2023

Dust has been an issue for me, living in a very dry climate. Basically changing bags are a no go. 100% guarantee that I'll have dust on the negative at time of exposure, permanently ruining the image for optical enlargement. I have scanned a few such frames, cleaned up the dust in Photoshop, and been able to successfully make great alt process prints from a digital inkjet negative, but it's not my ideal workflow.

I have to brush the whole film holder very carefully with my anti-static brush, then use a small mini vacuum I bought specifically for this purpose to ensure I'm totally dust-free. Then load in my darkroom without using the changing bag. I keep the unexposed film holders in anti-static bags, and make sure to pull the dark slide out slowly prior to exposure so as not to generate static. If I'm religious about all of these things, then 99% of my frames will be dust-free at time of exposure.

If I ever go out to shoot large format and am unable to carry as much film as I really need with me in my 6-7 film holders, I may look into a changing tent instead of a changing bag. But for now, a neurotic and obsessive process to reduce dust immediately prior to loading seems to be the safest bet

My lessons learned first time doing Large Format photography

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