If you're a film nut like me, you may know that there is something really special about working with large format film. It's deliberate, slow-paced, and offers stunning results. Recently, I found myself with a couple of hours spare so I went to visit Hindley Cemetery and capture the beautiful chapel using my Intrepid 4x5 camera. This post will detail my experience, from lens choice to developing the final negatives.
The Setup
For this shoot, I brought along two lenses: my Nikkor-SW 90mm f/4.5 and my Schneider-Kreuznach 150mm f/5.6 Symmar S. The 90mm lens provided a wide-angle perspective, perfect for capturing the grandeur of the chapel and its surrounding grounds. The 150mm lens offered a more standard view, but as you can see it was hardly used for 'sniping in' on the finder details!
The Film and Development
I chose Ilford HP5+, a classic black-and-white film, and rated it at ISO 400 for a balanced grain structure and sensitivity. Once I shot the four sheets I took with me, I developed the film at home using Adox XT-3 developer, following Ilford's Standard Agitation method. This involved initially continuous inversion agitation for the first 30 seconds, then 10 seconds of agitation every minute thereafter during an 8 minute and 30 second development cycle at 20 degrees Celsius.
The Experience
As I set up my Intrepid 4x5, I was struck by the contrast of the stillness of the cemetery and the noisy chainsaws only feet away as the engineers continued to cut back trees along the railway line in preparation for the gantries to be installed as part of the electrification of the Wigan to Bolton line. The chapel stood majestically, its architecture a beautiful blend of gothic elements, now the recent scafolding used during renovations has gone. With the 90mm lens, I framed a wide shot, capturing the chapel's rooflines against the near completely clear sky, only a few cumulous clouds drifting lazily overhead. I carefully adjusted the camera's movements to ensure everything was in focus and composed just right.
Switching to the 150mm lens, as I moved further away. This lens has a slow shutter, so I'm a bit lax to use it. I'm not sure why, the lens is nice and bright on the ground glass, and gives excellent sharpness and contrast and is generally just great. I've measured the exposure compensation required at different shutter speeds using the shutter-speed app on my iphone, so its just a case of adjusting and setting the shutter speed accordingly. I'm determined to use this lens more this year, it's one of my goals, cos it's great! Below is a screenshot of my adjustments, so as you can see it's not even that crazy for an old lens!
The Results
Developing the film at home is always a rewarding experience. As I took the sheets out of the developing tank, I was pleased to see rich, detailed images. The Ilford HP5+ film delivered a beautiful range of tones, from deep blacks to crisp whites, with subtle grays in between. The Adox XT-3 developer worked well with the Standard Agitation method, ensuring even development across the entire film surface. not bad for 17 pence a sheet, or whatever daft level of frugality it works out at.
Photographing the chapel at Hindley Cemetery with large format film a morning well spent and I'm more motivated than ever to discover new locations to capture through the lenses of my Intrepid 4x5! Below are the four sheets of film, digitised in Negative Lab Pro's Lightroom plugin:
Cheers
Olly
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