On a recent trip to the picturesque landscapes of Anglezarke near Horwich and Rivington, I had the pleasure of once again capturing nature through the lens of my Intrepid 4x5 large format camera. along with with my sheet film holders loaded with four sheets of Ilford HP5 film and just one lens.
It was a brilliant morning, the kind that makes you grateful to be a photographer. The light was quite bright at times, as you can see from the contrast of the images of the tree!
Next, I decided to test my calculations with my 150mm lens and bellows extension factor. I shot a close-up of some tree bark, capturing the intricate details and textures that often go unnoticed.
Finally, I turned my lens to the water course running from Yarrow Reservoir down to Anglezarke Reservoir. The gentle flow of the water made for a nice peaceful end to the morning's shots, however there's something werid about the shot I feel. I think its just the contrast of the image. I'm not sure but I'm not particularly happy with the end result on this one, and might have been better off with better metering and possibly pulling the development a stop or so. I'll have to go back in Autumn to see if I can improve on it at all.
The lens I used for these shots was my Schneider-Kreuznach 150mm F5.6 Symmar S. This lens has a slow shutter, so I’ve measured it using an app on my phone to get accurate results. I compensate for this with my shutter settings. For instance, the close-up photograph of the tree bark needed to be shot at 1/4 second, so I set the shutter to be 1/15 second to account for its laziness.
When back at home I developed my sheets using the Mod54 and Adox's XT-3 developer. This type of developer isn't 'one shot', as it allows for continuous use over time. It works by replacing the exhausted developer with a replenisher, which is usually a version of the developer minus the bromides and a few other things that accumulate in the used developer. This process keeps the activity level of the developer up, ensuring consistent results even as the developer ages. Finally, I digitised my images using my Nikon Z7 and the Nikkor 60mm Macro G lens, adapted with the FTZ II adapter and converted them to positives using Negative Lab Pro's plugin in Lightroom. I'll do a full rundown of home film developing in another blog post soon! All in all, it was a morning well spent, and it was great to out and about with my intrepid once again.
As ever, thanks for reading,
Olly
Links to Gear*
Cameras/Lenses
Nikon Zf - https://amzn.to/4dvijHt
Nikon Z7 II - https://amzn.to/4atrdm3
Nikkor 40mm f2 SE lens - https://amzn.to/3QzZrgn
Nikon AF-S Micro NIKKOR 60mm f/2.8G ED - https://amzn.to/4bMEsiN
Nikon 105 Z MC f2.8 Micro Nikkor - https://amzn.to/4dtu3Ke
Nikon NIKKOR Z 24-70 mm f/4 S - https://amzn.to/44LYIyK
Nikon FTZ II Adapter - https://amzn.to/44KtSXf
NEEWER Grip for Nikon Zf - https://amzn.to/3V8g1XD
3 Legged Thing Zelda Dedicated L-Bracket for Nikon Z7 - https://amzn.to/44MFetG
Supports
My main tripod: Manfrotto MT190CXPRO4 - https://amzn.to/44qS4Of
"Dinky", my Leofoto Ranger tabletop tripod - https://amzn.to/3wqcZUX
PD Strap - https://amzn.to/4a7wIqj
Lighting
Nikon SB-910 Speedlight - https://amzn.to/3UNCLLd
LumiQuest Flash Pocket Bouncer - https://amzn.to/3WnS8fD
Cheap and reliable flash trigger - https://amzn.to/3WqzaVC
Analogue Stuff
Ilford HP5 film - https://amzn.to/3QQcJ8E
RALENO LED panel - https://amzn.to/3ynJFz4
Sous Vide - https://amzn.to/3WJhftl
Bags
My Large Format kit bag, Lowepro PhotoSport X Backpack 35L AW - https://amzn.to/3WHnhLb
Think Tank Shoulder Bag - https://amzn.to/3QLNSmj
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