The mysterious “Hutchings” filter factor for b/w landscapes

[Heroique]

AA liked and used a Wratten #44 filter to approximate the look of orthochromatic film (an image of his of a white house with wisteria draped over the entrance springs to mind - wonderful tonalities).

Here’s the image from AA’s “The Negative” (see chapter two):



Mrs. Sigmund Stern, Atherton, California (c. 1927)

It’s taken with an orthochromatic glass plate, but I imagine a modern panchromatic film with a blue filter would have looked somewhat similar. The sky is lost (in a good way), and the blue-filled shadows are lovely. No Hutchings factor necessary.

Maybe AA asked Mrs. Stern to avoid looking directly at the camera because she had blue eyes. ;^)