Dawid Loubser
Member
Hi All,
I would like to share the following image, with a short explanation of what lead up to it below.
Wanting to try something different, I sold my Linhof Technorama 6x17cm panoramic camera in exchange for a 4x5in camera kit. A swop of equal value. This was my first dabble in 4x5in (this image was my third actual exposure, and the first making use of lens movements to adjust the plane of focus). My main motivation was that I could not print my 6x17cm negatives in my darkroom, whereas my enlarger could do 4x5in.
As a stroke of luck, somebody threw out a whole lot of large format film (literally a bag full) which I made an offer of $25 for, and purchased. The most interesting content were three sealed boxes of Ilford Technical Line Film, an ultra-high resolution, ultra-high contrast, blue-only sensitive film, not typically used for general photographic purposes. This has been discontinued for quite some time, and information and samples on the web are few and far between, except for references in scientific and engineering papers.
I was intrigued, so I exposed this image at ISO 6 (apparently the recommended speed based on hearsay) and developed it in diluted D-76 developer. The fantastic thing with this film is that it can be developed by inspection with normal darkroom red light, which is what I did, and after about 4 minutes the density looked good. Now it turns out I have created an agonising problem for myself - this is the single most sublime monochrome film I have ever worked with. It takes everything I love about the smoothness of prints made form Ilford Pan F, and hyper-exaggerates it.
I made a 12x16in print from this, taking great care to be as precise as possible given my short experience with this media. Nothing could have prepared me for the effect of seeing a print like this - I am quite literally in photographic heaven.
Long have I wanted to manipulate the focus plane as I have done with this image (the light on the left is about 6 meters away from the lens, the branches on the right about 1 meter). But I am afraid that I can never go back now. This image is a "different" angle of a rather mundane subject, but as I composed it on that big, beautiful ground glass, something snapped inside of me, saying "this is what you have been working up to for a long, long time. This is creative freedom".
Now pleae don't go telling me "this is just the beginning - you'll get an 8x10in soon) because I doubt I will. I don't have an interst in contact prints or alternative processes. In fact, I was pretty happy with 6x7cm except for the lack of lens movements.
The Technika V I acquired (locally) is a thing of beauty, a solid clamshell of engineering perfection. I will miss my 6x17cm and its simplicity of use, but I cannot afford both. Now, my biggest challenge will be to, in addition to other film types, deciding which 140 images will be worthy of the amazing, amazing film, before my stockpile is gone forever.
What I find most humorous, though, is that four years ago I actually cared about the high-ISO performance and f/1.2 lenses of DSLRs (such a common trap to those new to the craft), and here I am in love with an ISO 6 film,and a f/5.6 lens, which I would not exchange for any other imaging medium at this time.
Just for fun, here was another 12x16in print made with the same film, this time an abstract:
I swear these two prints look like 12x16in contact prints (yes, I have seen large contact prints before). What more could any photographer want?
I would like to share the following image, with a short explanation of what lead up to it below.
Reach for the light
(Linhof Technika V, Schneider-Kreuznach Symmar 150mm at f/5.6, Ilford Technical Line Film at ISO 6, 4 seconds exposure, developed in diluted D-76 for continuous tones, darkroom hand print on 12x16in Ilford MG IV paper)
(Linhof Technika V, Schneider-Kreuznach Symmar 150mm at f/5.6, Ilford Technical Line Film at ISO 6, 4 seconds exposure, developed in diluted D-76 for continuous tones, darkroom hand print on 12x16in Ilford MG IV paper)
Wanting to try something different, I sold my Linhof Technorama 6x17cm panoramic camera in exchange for a 4x5in camera kit. A swop of equal value. This was my first dabble in 4x5in (this image was my third actual exposure, and the first making use of lens movements to adjust the plane of focus). My main motivation was that I could not print my 6x17cm negatives in my darkroom, whereas my enlarger could do 4x5in.
As a stroke of luck, somebody threw out a whole lot of large format film (literally a bag full) which I made an offer of $25 for, and purchased. The most interesting content were three sealed boxes of Ilford Technical Line Film, an ultra-high resolution, ultra-high contrast, blue-only sensitive film, not typically used for general photographic purposes. This has been discontinued for quite some time, and information and samples on the web are few and far between, except for references in scientific and engineering papers.
I was intrigued, so I exposed this image at ISO 6 (apparently the recommended speed based on hearsay) and developed it in diluted D-76 developer. The fantastic thing with this film is that it can be developed by inspection with normal darkroom red light, which is what I did, and after about 4 minutes the density looked good. Now it turns out I have created an agonising problem for myself - this is the single most sublime monochrome film I have ever worked with. It takes everything I love about the smoothness of prints made form Ilford Pan F, and hyper-exaggerates it.
I made a 12x16in print from this, taking great care to be as precise as possible given my short experience with this media. Nothing could have prepared me for the effect of seeing a print like this - I am quite literally in photographic heaven.
Long have I wanted to manipulate the focus plane as I have done with this image (the light on the left is about 6 meters away from the lens, the branches on the right about 1 meter). But I am afraid that I can never go back now. This image is a "different" angle of a rather mundane subject, but as I composed it on that big, beautiful ground glass, something snapped inside of me, saying "this is what you have been working up to for a long, long time. This is creative freedom".
Now pleae don't go telling me "this is just the beginning - you'll get an 8x10in soon) because I doubt I will. I don't have an interst in contact prints or alternative processes. In fact, I was pretty happy with 6x7cm except for the lack of lens movements.
The Technika V I acquired (locally) is a thing of beauty, a solid clamshell of engineering perfection. I will miss my 6x17cm and its simplicity of use, but I cannot afford both. Now, my biggest challenge will be to, in addition to other film types, deciding which 140 images will be worthy of the amazing, amazing film, before my stockpile is gone forever.
What I find most humorous, though, is that four years ago I actually cared about the high-ISO performance and f/1.2 lenses of DSLRs (such a common trap to those new to the craft), and here I am in love with an ISO 6 film,and a f/5.6 lens, which I would not exchange for any other imaging medium at this time.
Just for fun, here was another 12x16in print made with the same film, this time an abstract:
Quadra-Illumination
(Linhof Technika V, Schneider-Kreuznach Symmar 150mm at f/11, Ilford Technical Line Film at ISO 6, 8 seconds exposure, developed in diluted D-76, darkroom hand print on 12x16in Ilford MG IV paper)
I swear these two prints look like 12x16in contact prints (yes, I have seen large contact prints before). What more could any photographer want?
This is a hobby, after all.