My first time seeing real snow (more than 1cm) and also my first time shooting 8x10! I'm not particularly thrilled with my compositions, I think some of that is due to the fact that I was so thrilled with the snow that I wasn't properly taking my time, and working with the 8x10 was new as well. I hope that's the reason anyway I've got a pile of 4x5's to develop later this week, we'll see if those compositions are better!
I like'em. I particularly like #3 for some reason, which is the more different composition of the set. I think what I like about #3 is the two trees (vertical lines) on the left contrasted against the the two snow mounds on the right. Very effectively framed.
I'm currently attempting to get a 4x5 up and running. I think I am ready to give it a go, but I need to decide on a film. What would you recommend for outdoor b&w and color shots like you have posted here? I generally like a slightly more contrasty b&w than you used here. I'm going to try the Kodak single sheet ready loads first. Any suggestions?
The first two were 240mm (which is a little bit of a mild wide angle on 8x10, and a bit of a medium lens on 4x5), the shutter speeds for those two were about 1/2 a second I believe, apertures at f22 or f32 I believe
The 2nd two were 460mm I think, which is a little bit of a medium lens on 8x10, and a long lens on 4x5. Those shutter speeds (since in direct light) were faster, I believe 1/30th at either f32 or f45 if I remember correctly.
The ISO was 400 on these (metered at 400, and under developed a tad). I usually use Tri-X 320 (320 ISO, metered at 320 and under developed a tad). I like the 320 speed since it rarely ever puts me at shutter speeds longer than a few seconds, and since it's a good sized sheet of film the grain isn't really visible much like it would be on a 35mm strip blown up to 8x10 or larger.
Sorry, I didn't answer the 2nd part of your question. As for color film, I don't know. I don't shoot color, just black and white. I'm going to be giving color a shot though, I've heard that Velvia isn't the best for scanning, but I'll probably go with Velvia for the 8x10 though (I just picked up a Tachihara 8x10, as a result of this past weekend using a borrowed 8x10!). For 8x10 color, I'm thinking of framing it up in a way that it's back-lit, or just keeping the transparencies in loose sleeves, so they can be viewed when holding up to a white wall. 8x10 transparencies are beautiful! 4x5's are great as well, but they are a little to small to view in detail.
As for the contrast, I purposly over expose just a tad, then under develop, which gives less contrast (I also do curves adjustment when I scan them). You could increase contrast by lengthening the developing, or by adjusting the curves when you are scanning (or using different contrast paper or filters when printing if you do it traditionally in a darkroom). Tri-X seems to be quite capable of handeling anything I throw at it. One thing I really haven't tried is very harsh push and pull developing.
Good luck! I'm sure you'll enjoy it, if you enjoy taking your time with shots. 4x5's aren't usually as heavy as most people think, but they are bigger than SLR setups and require lots of 'stuff' to go along with them so they take up alot of space (dark cloth, spot meter, loupe, film holders, and so on) and extra weight in that respect. My 4x5 is lighter than my 1Ds2 with the 85/1.2 or 135/2 attached. But the film and everything else add more weight and space. I'm having trouble right now with my current backpack, it's large enough for my 4x5 stuff, but not large enough to really take any digital stuff along. Now with the 8x10, I'm going to get a nice big backpack that can take either of the film setups, along with my 1Ds2 and 1 or 2 lenses. I don't do extreme hiking, so the weight shouldn't be to bad (I hope!)
I like 1 and 3 quite a bit. It is very clear you have the shoot and develop process down pat. The high and low zones show good texture and sharpness. TriX is a great cut film and seems to scan quite well also.
Once again thanks. Very helpful. I have some nice locations to shoot near me that I know very well and are walking distance from parking areas so I'll try those first. I have a very light collapsible wooden Anba Ikeda 4x5 so its not too bad as far as weight. I'll let you know how I do.
Wow, you're scanning those? Just an FYI when I had do to reproduction work of images I never used the original negative (I worked for Historic Wallace Preservation Society, one thing they had was negative collection from the turn of the century) this was due to the fact that when you scan the negative you activate the silver halide crystals, and the negatives fade way faster. Its also true for any chemical paper. Just thought I would give you a heads up on that. Hate to see a neg destroyed.
Thanks for the tip schottzy! I guess the best solution (if I had a negative that I knew was very good and I wanted to preserve) would be to make a reproduction of the negative? Not quite sure how I would go about that myself, but I'm sure I could send it off and have that done somewhere?
I've got a pile of 4x5's to develop later this week, we'll see if those compositions are better!