post "Something Dead"

[austin granger]

Discarded side of beef maybe? My other theory is that it fell out of the back of a hunter's truck. There are other possibilities, but they get progressively more disturbing...

[maclaine]

This seems as good a place to put this as any. This is my third attempt at large format photography. I first attempted to get into it a several years ago with the purchase of a Sinar F1 and a Caltar lens, either 150mm or 135mm, I can't quite remember. I took it out once and got a few pictures, but the subject matter was incredibly uninspiring, and I simply didn't have the necessary patience to get an image I was happy with. I tried again about two years ago, borrowing a Crown Graphic from a co-worker. I thought the more limited movements and easier portability might inspire me to get something out of it. I learned a very valuable lesson about loading film in the holders in the proper direction that weekend (notches right!), and figured maybe it was an omen that LF really wasn't for me. However, after trolling the forums here and poking around online, the bug bit me again. I knew if I could just take a deep breath and slow down a bit, I would be able to make some pictures I was happy with. I slowly acquired all the gear, having sold off all my previous gear about a year ago, and finally got a chance to get out with it last weekend. I took four pictures, but really just two, as I took an extra exposure of each with slightly different settings. Two were black and white and two were color, which I'm still waiting to get back, since no one in Seattle develops color 4x5 film. I'm really happy with how this came out, and next weekend I plan on printing it. The sky seems a little splotchy, which I can't decide if it's uneven development or simply what the sky looked like. Otherwise, I think it looks pretty good, and I'd like to thank the folks on this forum for motivating me to give it one more chance. I hope there are many more to come.

[Rick Rycroft]

maclaine, I really like this image. Not that it matters but did you find the scene this way or did you put the bones on the wire? There does seem to be some unevenness in the development.

[maclaine]

Thanks, Rick. This is exactly how this scene looked when I stumbled on it. I was driving down a little county road, and it dead ended. As I was spinning my car around, I noticed this pair of ribs. I honestly can't imagine what the purpose of hanging them there would be, or where the rest of the animal was, but it sure made for a great photographic opportunity!

[Maris Rusis]

Bones and Mushrooms

Gelatin-silver photograph on Ilfobrom Grade 3 photographic paper, image size 24.5cm X 19.4cm, from a 8x10 TriX negative exposed in a Nagaoka 8x10 format field view camera fitted with a 360mm f6.8 Yamasaki Commercial Congo lens.

The animal died on this lonely patch of coastal heath near Noosa and the corruption of its flesh long past has become part of the earth. The rush of nutrients has brought forth mushrooms to celebrate their own feast; death, dissolution, renewal.....so it goes.

[ustas]

"Nowhere to fly"
8x10 delta 100
Graf Variable

[Steve French]

Nicely Composed ... A very Haunting image !!

[Maris Rusis]

Stranded Jellyfish, Granite Bay

Gelatin-silver photograph on Agfa Classic MCC 111 VC FB photographic paper, image size 24.5cm X 19.3cm, from a Kodak TriX 4x5 negative exposed in a Tachihara 45GF double extension field view camera fitted with a Voigtlander Heliar 21cm f4.5 lens. A mandala shaped animal, distorted in death, lies in its mandala shaped tomb; the great wheel of the cosmos in miniature or so my unstable meditations go.

[polyglot]

The Doctors Tried Their Best:


4x5 Fomapan 100, Toyo 45A, Nikkor-W 150mm, Xtol.

[fasol]

xenar 180/4.5, efke pl100m