Large Format Landscapes

[Steven Ruttenberg]

Southampton Docks by vallantho, on Flickr

First time I’ve shot a sheet of 8x10 in about 3 years. First time I’ve been able to. Long story. Not the most interesting subject. Southampton docks. But my dad used to drive those cranes, well not those actual ones, they’ve been replaced since he retired, close enough though. He died a few years ago unfortunately so to me it’s sort of a meaningful thing to photograph.

Shot two sheets. This black and white on Fomapan 100 developed in Rodinal. I shot another on some expired Provia. Still not back from the lab yet.

Lens was a 300mm Nikkor W 5.6

This outstanding.

[Steven Ruttenberg]

First drum scan with Howtek Hiresolve 8000, Fuji Film Provia100F, RDPIII. Used pretty much the auto settings, did a curves adjustment. Could be much better I think. Now that I know how to "teach" the scanner how to scan a particular film as a hardware adjustment (gives an image with a linear gamma curve) by creating CMS files, I will go back and rescan this and compare to an image from same day on Portra160.

[Vallantho]

Sometimes I enjoy the "imperfect," expired film look. But I've rarely ever gotten anything good myself when using old expired color film stock. However, this shot on very old Portra 160 NC has some charm to it, I think.

Big Talbot Sunrise
Intrepid 4x5, Nikkor 90mm f/8

I use expired film exclusively for colour work and have gotten pretty reliable and good results. For me buying expired film cheap on eBay is the only way I could hope to shoot 8x10 in colour. I just can't afford to lay out £400+ on a box of Provia. I can barely afford to shoot large format as it is. After my dad died a couple of years ago I gave up working full time to care for my mother who's in the advanced stages of dementia. I still work part time but probably not for much longer as the company I work for has announced redundancies. Please forgive the self indulgent sob story. The point is that for me shooting large format has now become about how cheaply can I do what is an otherwise pretty expensive process. Actually quite cheap. I make my own developer for black and white, either Pyrocat HD or a version of Rodinal knocked together with paracetamol and caustic soda. And I'm. always on the lookout for expired film. I just got 50 4x5 sheets of Kodak Vericolor iii off eBay. I've looked into developing colour myself but the chemicals are pretty nasty and living with someone with dementia I'd rather not have them hanging around. Just to reassure everyone that all chemicals are locked away safely where she can't get to them.

Anyway, love the photo and love the commitment to using expired stock. Its worth pursuing and can be a satisfying experience. Here's a sheet of provia I got back from the lab yesterday. Expired back in 1998. Haven't had a chance to scan it yet. But it looks glorious on my makeshift light table. I love the way a sheet of 8x10 fits nicely on an old iPad Pro.

Untitled by Anthony Vallis, on Flickr

And thank you to everyone who commented on the black and white version of this image

[Vallantho]

Shot on FP4 using a Voigtlander Petzval, approx. 1/2 second: cap off, cap on method.

Beautiful

[Steven Ruttenberg]

I use expired film exclusively for colour work and have gotten pretty reliable and good results. For me buying expired film cheap on eBay is the only way I could hope to shoot 8x10 in colour. I just can't afford to lay out £400+ on a box of Provia. I can barely afford to shoot large format as it is. After my dad died a couple of years ago I gave up working full time to care for my mother who's in the advanced stages of dementia. I still work part time but probably not for much longer as the company I work for has announced redundancies. Please forgive the self indulgent sob story. The point is that for me shooting large format has now become about how cheaply can I do what is an otherwise pretty expensive process. Actually quite cheap. I make my own developer for black and white, either Pyrocat HD or a version of Rodinal knocked together with paracetamol and caustic soda. And I'm. always on the lookout for expired film. I just got 50 4x5 sheets of Kodak Vericolor iii off eBay. I've looked into developing colour myself but the chemicals are pretty nasty and living with someone with dementia I'd rather not have them hanging around. Just to reassure everyone that all chemicals are locked away safely where she can't get to them.

Anyway, love the photo and love the commitment to using expired stock. Its worth pursuing and can be a satisfying experience. Here's a sheet of provia I got back from the lab yesterday. Expired back in 1998. Haven't had a chance to scan it yet. But it looks glorious on my makeshift light table. I love the way a sheet of 8x10 fits nicely on an old iPad Pro.

Untitled by Anthony Vallis, on Flickr

And thank you to everyone who commented on the black and white version of this image

You're a champ for taking care of your family! It will all work out.

Color version is awesome as well.

[Gary Beasley]

First drum scan with Howtek Hiresolve 8000, Fuji Film Provia100F, RDPIII. Used pretty much the auto settings, did a curves adjustment. Could be much better I think. Now that I know how to "teach" the scanner how to scan a particular film as a hardware adjustment (gives an image with a linear gamma curve) by creating CMS files, I will go back and rescan this and compare to an image from same day on Portra160.

Spectacular color! Those clouds look positively menacing in this shot.

[Steven Ruttenberg]

Thank you!

[Steven Ruttenberg]

Here are 4 different versions. Main difference from previous ones is that this version was scanned using a custom CMS file. Tells the scanner how to scan the film vs software manipulation after scan. Lots of possibilities with this. First two are moodier while the second two are closer to the slide viewed on light table.

Not sharpened


Sharpened


Not Sharpened


Sharpened

[ljb0904]

I quite like this!

Linhof Technikardan S45, Schneider-Kreuznach Apo-Symmar L 5.6/150, Kodak T-Max 400, Pyrocat-HD:

--- by atomstitcher, on Flickr

[Gabe]

I quite like this!

Thank you.