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Large Format ...Slight Return

Took out my Linhof 4x5 field camera out for a spin. Tripod, cable release, focusing cloth, loupe, lightmeter, and film holders! The gang's all here.


Linhof Technica III, (circa 1940's) with Fujinon 150mm 5.6 a modern lens design.  Bull Run Park near Manassas VA.The camera is wonderfully made with machined aluminum with German engineering. Like Butter.


Working with a 4x5 is a whole different world. It takes long to set up and there are so many things that you can screw up. "Did I cock the shutter? check focus?, meter reading, dark slide out? lock the movements?... There are like 13 different steps that you have to make to take a picture.  So why do it when I can just point my 5d and shoot in easy one two steps? 



Reasons may vary, but I do it because of the camera movements. The tilts, swings, shifts. These cameras were made so you can technically control how the image hits the film plane. You can achieve "technically perfect" images, whatever that means.  I was never really interested in getting the horizon leveled, straitening out the converging lines or the Scheimpflug principle .



I like the way I can 'misuse' the movements for a visual effect. You can throw off things out of focus by tilting the film plane or lens. Its a lot of fun.  I guess you can easily do this in post processing but I like to do it in the camera. Call me old-fashioned. 


Another reason why I like the 4x5 is the inherent image quality of these huge negatives. I can easily scan these negs to over 100MB file that will beat any digital backs using a middle of the line scanner. I use Epson V750. I sandwich the neg between two pieces of glass to get them perfectly flat. 
(big negs needs to be flat for proper scanning)


We sometimes forget the joy in the process of making the picture.  Some people actually like to spend hours in the darkroom perfecting the print. Some people like the time they save on the computer. Art making is a process, not just the outcome. I must say, I enjoy this painfully complicated process. 

Comments

  1. MimiMarch 17, 2011 at 8:52 AM

    Oh shall I call you [the master]. These images are exactly what I have in mind when I said I want to try film. Maybe it's the grain effect? Or it could be the imperfectness that hasn't been digitized that I'm so attracted to. Can I come with you next time you shoot film?

    These images are just amazing. The light is magical and you captured it masterfully :-) Once again it's the simplicity and the subtleness that draw me to your photos.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dan ChungMarch 17, 2011 at 10:37 AM

    Thanks, Mimi.
    On a 4x5, you would not be able to see the grain, because the negative is so big that you don't really magnify the image too much. That's why the image quality on a 4x5 is so much better than the smaller formats (35mm and medium). Having said that, these series really don't show off the lines per inch sharpness, except the last photo... Since so much of the image is out of focus.

    This 'look' I would say has to do more with the tilt-shift effect and post processing than the film stock. You are right, the imperfections can add to the work. A good example is polaroid... which I'm about to get into :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownJuly 6, 2011 at 10:59 PM

    WONDERFUL. Very Sally Mann as far as texture and mood. Absolutely beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownJuly 6, 2011 at 11:02 PM

    Totally agree with the love of the painfully complicated process. I'm not happy unless there are a lot of steps to add "errors". Its so nice to see some old fashioned work out there.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Dan ChungJuly 7, 2011 at 6:53 PM

    Thank you! Sally Mann... Double thanks!

    ReplyDelete

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