5x4 practice

[Asha]

Ok this is going to be a seriously slow and long learning curve ...... but fun

In the heat of 32 in the shade of last weeks heatwave i decided to have a play in the garden and just take two shots with a puposeful learning exercise in mind.

I have done no retouch other than a light sharpening to compensate for the scanning.

The fact they are not actually equivalent to 5x4 dimensions is because my scanner won't scan the whole neg ...no big deal atm as this is all "practice" time, similarly dust removal etc is not a priority.

Anyhow onto the shots.

The first one simply shot with all settings as neutral ( ie no shift, tilt etc) therefore all focal planes parallel.
The purpose of this shot was, after reading upon how to set hyperfocal distances using the aperture scale on the rear standard, to see if I could actually render a shot "all in focus" ....The idea was to have all from the nearby stones of the wall the the mountains in the distance "in focus".
Shot at F/22, I think it's OK



The second one was a play with front tilt, rise and swing.

The primary aim was to focus on the "ASTRAL" tin ( which I look to have missed the focus and got the tin behind) and isolate it from it's surroundings, thus rendering the rest of the shot OOF

As I type this, I actually cannot remember exactly what movement did/ does what but i did some reading prior to attempting this shot as to just blunder about will teach me nothing.

Anyway it was shot as follows:

F/8

Front rise: 8mm

Front forward tilt: 19°

Front right swing 5°

Naturally I don't expect anyone to take a lot of notice of those figures, I have simply posted them for reference.

However altough the desired effect was nearly there, i would like to know what, if anything I could have done to have put the stones of the wall ( bottom left ) and the bush ( middle right) aloso OOF whilst leaving the tins in focus?

It appears that I have achieved a diagnol line of focus through the bottom third of the frame.

Perhaps I needed some movement of the rear standard??....Or perhaps what i was after achieving simply isn't possible



The time it is going to take up learning, using and enjoying this gear could easily become detrimental to shooting other formats!!

Anyway, any comments, advice etc will be appreciated as always.

Be gentle though cos i am a beginner! :nailbiting:

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View attachment 14383



I'll likely keep adding to this thread as i go along and see if i can improve and master the creativity I have in mind with the help and knowledge from you guys.

 

[medwaygreen]

Asha,

Good to see these first shots and it looks like you are getting good results with the shooting,dev and scan. The only thing that I would say as all those numbers mean very little to me is that on the second shot the 5 degree right front swing seems to have pulled the OOF to a sort of leaning to the right look,highlighted by the tree foliage. Looking forward to seeing more of this thread.

 

[Cuchulainn]

Hi asha,

interesting post. First shot looks good, the basics seemingly place.

I've not shot anything larger than 6x9, so the effects of the movements are interesting. I do know a bit about optics though, and I wonder if the combined movements are too much. The bokeh of the tree leaves in the upper right suggests the coma and astigmatism you'd expect from a badly aligned lens in the optical path. Perhaps it's a case of the composition here being unsuitable forbade kind of object isolation you're looking for? It might just be the wrong layout to hide the focal plane effectively.

Thanks for posting the images though, I've definitely learned something and look forward to the next batch!

 

[Darwinean_JohnUK]

Hi Asha, as your first LF images, I'm impressed. That was quite an ambitious 2nd shot and would probably have taken some time to set-up, well done.
As the subject of the image is on the vertical centre line, if you swing the rear standard very slightly around the central vertical line (keeping that central vertical line on glass/film the same position) in the opposite direction as the front swing, that should keep the can in focus and put the rest of the in focus areas to oof.
Do you use a loupe to check what is in and out of focus all around the glass? Assuming the lens is faster than f8, did you focus with the lens wide open for the brightest image on the ground glass?

 

[Asha]

Asha,

Good to see these first shots and it looks like you are getting good results with the shooting,dev and scan. The only thing that I would say as all those numbers mean very little to me is that on the second shot the 5 degree right front swing seems to have pulled the OOF to a sort of leaning to the right look,highlighted by the tree foliage. Looking forward to seeing more of this thread.

Hi Richard.
Thé numbers mean nothing to me either

I have been kindly sent some freebie ood adox film from another TPer to help with my practicing although i'll do my best to get at least a handful of reasonable shots out of thé box!

I've took a punt on a mod54 to hopefully aïd developing.

For thé moment i'm restricted re scanning and will have to stitch in PS if i want the complète 5x4 frame.....who knows one day i may upgrade to a V700

Next stage is to wander a bit further than thé garden....i have means of transporting this gear but i reckon it could be another interesting expérience first time around!

 

[Steve Smith]

Are these shots on the Adox film? If so, it's good to see that it doesn't appear to have suffered over time.


Steve.

 

[Asha]

Hi asha,

interesting post. First shot looks good, the basics seemingly place.

I've not shot anything larger than 6x9, so the effects of the movements are interesting. I do know a bit about optics though, and I wonder if the combined movements are too much. The bokeh of the tree leaves in the upper right suggests the coma and astigmatism you'd expect from a badly aligned lens in the optical path. Perhaps it's a case of the composition here being unsuitable forbade kind of object isolation you're looking for? It might just be the wrong layout to hide the focal plane effectively.

Thanks for posting the images though, I've definitely learned something and look forward to the next batch!

Hi Brian,
Glad you learning something too.
I was wondering like yourrself if thé movenents were perhaps too much as les is often more.....or so i've been led to believe to
I'll be messing with all sorts of movements so watch this space for what could be some strange / interesting results

 

[Asha]

Hi Asha, as your first LF images, I'm impressed. That was quite an ambitious 2nd shot and would probably have taken some time to set-up, well done.
As the subject of the image is on the vertical centre line, if you swing the rear standard very slightly around the central vertical line (keeping that central vertical line on glass/film the same position) in the opposite direction as the front swing, that should keep the can in focus and put the rest of the in focus areas to oof.
Do you use a loupe to check what is in and out of focus all around the glass? Assuming the lens is faster than f8, did you focus with the lens wide open for the brightest image on the ground glass?

Wow thank you for the advice ....I'll pût it into practice next time and sée if i can achieve thé result i want by swinging the rear standard.
Yes i focussed wide open f/5.6 and with a loupe but tbh it was stifling hot and having already shot thé previous frame and indeed spent time setting up thé second shot, i was probably not concentrating 100%

Perhaps one frame at a time may work better whilst i find my feet as it were and become more accustomed.

 

[Asha]

Are these shots on the Adox film? If so, it's good to see that it doesn't appear to have suffered over time.


Steve.

Lol i knew you would ask that

I've found two of thé darkslides have film in them so i took a chance that they were unexpiosed.

Not knowing what film, i semi stand developed.

I'll soon be into thé adox though......thank you for your generosity

I've shot 3years ood adox before at box speed without problem so i doubt this stuff will have degeneratedy much.

Only one way to be sure though........

 

[Darwinean_JohnUK]

......
I was wondering like yourrself if thé movenents were perhaps too much as les is often more.....or so i've been led to believe to
........

For info, my strategy for your objective for image #2 would be to firstly apply a small swing to the rear standard and focus so that the vertical in-focus sliver includes your subject matter of interest.
Then I would apply front tilt and move the tilted lens up and down the front standard till you see the can in-focus on the ground glass. Isolation of subject matter of course is easier / more effective the wider open the lens ..... try f5.6 rather than f8 to minimise the amount of front tilt?
Only the can will be on both the horizontal and vertical thin slivers of in-focus areas.
I don't believe you need front swing at all.
But trying again when you are fresh will make a big difference.

 

[Asha]

Well it's been a few weeks but at long last i got a chance this afternoon to try a sheet of the OOD Adox 100 that @Steve Smith very kindly donated for my practicing and I'm pleased to say it is fine shot at box speed

Developed todays attempts in my new developing aid....a MOD54....Thanks to those who offered their advice and reviews on it and ultimatly tempted me to buy one. Glad I did....easy enough to load and the two sheets i devd stayed in place. perhaps additional sheets may cause complications but for the moment i'm happy with it.

As for the shots...Well I borked one as i did the classic and forgot to close the preview prior to opening the darkslide :banghead:

The other one ( below) is another attempt to isolate the subject and using the advice offered by @Darwinean_john UK. Thanks for the help , I still haven't got the exact result that i am after as there is a distinct diagnol line of focus through the frame, however, I'm pleased that it is a better attempt than before and the end result is actually quite appealing ...well to me it is me but you all know that i'm a bit


I had to find a suitable subject, so who better than Gromit, sporting his sunglasse!!

He was none to happy to be investigated by my cat ........well, she was only wondering what a mutt was doing in the garden


View attachment 16000

 

[AshleyC]

you wont get gromit there in focus in a circle of focus. The focal plane is just that, a plane, so whatever you do with your tilts and swivels there will always be a plane of focus. What you got there is pretty cool though

You can get Ansel Adams: The Camera for a few quid off ebay and he goes into great, easy to read detail, about focusing large format cameras in different ways.

 

[Asha]

you wont get gromit there in focus in a circle of focus. The focal plane is just that, a plane, so whatever you do with your tilts and swivels there will always be a plane of focus. What you got there is pretty cool though

You can get Ansel Adams: The Camera for a few quid off ebay and he goes into great, easy to read detail, about focusing large format cameras in different ways.

All shots of Gromit are cool.....cos he's in 'em!

He's gone off to design a circleofocusamatic accessory

Whilst he's away, i'll do some googling of the book!

Thanks for your comments and help

 

[Asha]

Been out with me 5x4, 4x5 or as the french work in centimeteres 10 x 12.5

Loaded several darkslides with OOD Adox 100 and went off to a nearby chapel.

Ended up shooting a dozen frames a few of which being the same / similar scene.

Inevitably borked a few ( one by opening the darkslide before colsing the lens preview!!)

Anyway I'm slowly working my way through developing and scanning, so here's a start:

1.
View attachment 17525

2. View attachment 17526

 

[trevorbray]

Good stuff Asha. Particularly like the crucifix shot.

I'm also giving LF a go and realising just how easy it is to bork a shot....must try harder..

 

[Asha]

Good stuff Asha. Particularly like the crucifix shot.

I'm also giving LF a go and realising just how easy it is to bork a shot....must try harder..

Cheers Trevor.....Glad you like.

Seems to be quite an influx of LF interest recently ...cool or what! lol

Tbh I think the reduction of borked shots will come about, not only with more experience, but more so by taking more time and being methodical.

I didn't rush these but without a "routine" in place, it is very easily to miss a stage in the process from composure to firing the shutter and securing the shot.