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Thread: Photographing glaciers in black and white

  1. #51

    Join Date
    Dec 2017
    Location
    Europe, Switzerland
    Posts
    325

    Re: Photographing glaciers in black and white

    I would try Rollei Ortho 25 with yellow green filter XO in Rodinal 1+100 10min first 30 seconds, then every 30 seconds 5 seconds agitation.

    Ansel Adams mentioned in "Natural light photography" that mountain photographs (and glaciers and snow) often lack atmosheric depth - orthochromatic materials enlighten blue values and add depth, whereas a yellow green filter darkens the sky so that clouds will be visible.

    Rollei Ortho 25 is super sharp, a development in R09 / Rodinal 1+100 enforces sharpness and enhances shadows. The highlights would be quite crispy and brilliant, so it would be better not to expose too much.

    I love Rollei Ortho 25 because there is a webshop here in Europe selling this material for 20 USD / 50 sheets 4x5 ... (arsimago)

    Here's a photographer in Switzerland: https://www.flickr.com/photos/miloni...-nSqdgf-phbzGu

    Regards

  2. #52
    Drew Wiley
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    SF Bay area, CA
    Posts
    18,337

    Re: Photographing glaciers in black and white

    An ortho film is an ortho film, period. With a pan film you've already got an ortho film too, if you use the correct filter, or a blue-sensitive film, or a red-sensitive, or anything in between. If you like Ortho film, that's great. But using a 25 version for sake of extremely fine grain wouldn't seem to be an ordinary priority in large format work, esp since it might require long exposures in potentially windy conditions. Been there, done that. And believe me, AA often had a lot of trouble getting texture on ice. Pyro makes it quite a bit easier. If you want a kind of compromise film for a more naturalistic look of foliage in the mountains, it would be an orthopanchromatic film, which has reduced red sensitivity, but still some. Sadly, both Efke 25 orthopan and Fuji ACROS orthopan have been discontinued, though it's still possible to acquire roll film of the latter. I still have some sheet film hoarded in the freezer.

  3. #53

    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    southeast Idaho, Teton Valley
    Posts
    218

    Re: Photographing glaciers in black and white

    Quote Originally Posted by Drew Wiley View Post
    An ortho film is an ortho film, period. With a pan film you've already got an ortho film too, if you use the correct filter, or a blue-sensitive film, or a red-sensitive, or anything in between. If you like Ortho film, that's great. But using a 25 version for sake of extremely fine grain wouldn't seem to be an ordinary priority in large format work, esp since it might require long exposures in potentially windy conditions. Been there, done that. And believe me, AA often had a lot of trouble getting texture on ice. Pyro makes it quite a bit easier. If you want a kind of compromise film for a more naturalistic look of foliage in the mountains, it would be an orthopanchromatic film, which has reduced red sensitivity, but still some. Sadly, both Efke 25 orthopan and Fuji ACROS orthopan have been discontinued, though it's still possible to acquire roll film of the latter. I still have some sheet film hoarded in the freezer.
    Ilford makes an ortho film, available in sheets. It's sensitivity drops rapidly at around 400 nm and 550 nm, so roughly, sensitive between violet and green.

    I have several pairs of images with snow in them, taken with Ilford Ortho Plus (ISO 80) and FP4 Plus, using a yellow filter with the FP4. I would not use an Ortho film to bring out depth in snow -- as already mentioned in other threads, if you cut the blue and ultraviolet light lurking in the small shadows in ice's texture with an orange or yellow filter, using pan film, there will be more depth or micro-contrast. An ortho film tends to lessen the shadow intensity because it's mainly sensitive to the cooler colors, so depth will be less. Maybe the ice will look "creamier" or something with ortho, and if that's what's desired, then ortho would be better.

    Ortho means right, as in angles, or correct, and it was a marketing term for improved emulsions compared to wet plate and some of the early dry plates. When the emulsions improved further, they had to use another term for "correct", and went to panchromatic. Ortho-panchromatic is something in between. This is off the top of my head, I think there are some threads on this at LFPF or APUG, or in published books. The history and gradual improvements in emulsions is complicated.

  4. #54
    Drew Wiley
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    SF Bay area, CA
    Posts
    18,337

    Re: Photographing glaciers in black and white

    I suspect that the point of offering orthopan is to attenuate long wavelength light scatter just enough the allow mfg of a sharper grain structure, while still allowing most of the filter control of a true pan film - up to a 25 red, but no deeper than that. That's why ACROS legitimately claimed the finest grain in a med speed film (yet still with excellent edge acutance), and why a lot of people seem upset that it's discontinued. I recently talked to a young guy who purchased 60 boxes of the last run of 4x5.

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