My
Large Format work (*Please see below for galleries!)
A_dying_art.
I got into shooting large format on a regular basis only in 2009, but thanks
to over 17 years worth of film and exposure experience, I settled
into it very easliy. Even despite it being a much more technical
style of photography, due to the multitude of extra aspects you
need to pay attention to including manual metering and individual
sheet loading of the film.
So, what
IS large format? Think Ansel Adams with the large
cloth draped over his head.
This is a picture of me photographing models in a studio during
one of my lighting
workshops with one of my large format cameras:
(Photo by Jojo)
Large format is a type of photography where the film starts
off at 4"x5" and goes all the way up to as large a
camera & film combination which you can create! The most
popular sizes are 4x5",
5x7" and 8x10".
When scanned, a 4x5" negative can produce up to an 800 megapixel
file.(*Size dependant on your scanner) That's right 800 megapixels!
Which actually makes a lot of sense when you compare the largest
DSLR
sensors
are
around
1" across. In other words, large format is about 20 times
larger than your standard DSLR sensor!
My 24 megapixel DSLR feels a lot smaller
right now!
In Winnipeg, although there are still many photographers who
own large format equipment, sadly there are less than a handful
who still practice shooting it. Due to the advent of digital,
and the demand by clients for an extremely quick turnaround,
large format, being almost exclusively film based has died out
almost
completely
in Canada and even around the world.
There
are digital scan backs for large format cameras however they
do NOT work like a normal camera. These "scan backs", as
the name implies, work more like a scanner than a camera.
Each picture takes a minimum of 50 seconds to scan/capture,
in which time you can imagine that things will move. Not the
best option even in landscape photography where things are normally
fairly stationary.
I personally shoot all my large format work with 4x5" cameras*,
get the film developed at the only place left in Winnipeg that
still processed this size of film, and then scan the images myself.
*I have now purchased a 6x17 camera and although this format isn't designated as large format, it's wider than my 4x5" cameras but much less tall as it's a panoramic format.
Please see below for examples of my large format and 6x17 work.
Galleries:
Entries with tag:" Large format"
June 14, 2012
High resolution stock photography - film: Winnipeg aerial photography
The following images are available up to 500 megapixels. Yes, 500 megapixels!
November 11, 2009
Happy Remembrance day to all.
Was a beautiful day!
It was so nice that I had to take out a new piece of kit, imported from a land
far away: a large format Fuji instant camera back. For those of you not familiar
this is basically a Polaroid back for a large format camera, producing both instant
colour or B&W photos on the spot. Simply shoot, remove the photo from the
holder and wait for it to develop. Done!
Who ever said digital was quicker? With this I get a printed photo, instantly!
One of the results with it's own subject in the background:
(Click for larger image)
And here is a shot of the camera:
(Click for larger image)
And finally one of the instant photos scanned:
(Click for larger image)
October 21, 2009
A new large format photo for a DW project *Click for a larger version
This 4"x5" negative, when scanned, is over 800 megapixels and is almost
2 gigabytes
in size. Yes, it's BIG!
October 11, 2009
Last week I bought another large format camera and buried in the pile of stuff
included was a strange looking device: A polaroid back. Also included where the
remnants of a box of polaroid film.
Now, I've NEVER shot polaroid. My nan (grandma) being the woman of the moment
she is, had a Polaroid a long time back. I still even have a few pics that she
made from it of her dog and house etc. However, that's the only exposure I've
had to that format but the Polaroid instamatic she had was nothing compared to
the complexity of this weird looking large format Polaroid back attachment, device,
doohickey,
thingie...
So, finding these gems although interesting was also weird and scary to me.
How does this large format polaroid back work?
How long do you let it develop for?
Being the internetty guy I am I did some research, and then being the active
shooter I am, I took some pics, one of which I'm now using as my new avatar on
the WPC
:
Click for a larger image
*Thanks to my buddy J, professional hand model, for modeling this one for free
for me!
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