Film Photography - Why? | Large Format Landscape Photography | Suilven
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- čas přidán 9. 10. 2019
- In this instalment I explain why I use film and more specifically, a Large Format camera. It's all about simplicity, and a slow considered process, which allows me to absorb more of the moment of making a photograph.
Join me as I attempt to photograph Suilven in the Assynt region of North West Scotland.
music by epidemic sound.com - Jak na to + styl
WONDERFUL and what a great view and phantastic picture you made ! Love also 4x5 and 8x10
Really enjoyed your explanation for why you use large format. I feel much the same. Thanks!
I never thought I got inspired to shoot a large format film camera like this video. Thank you!
hello fine photos your delivery about the set up was terrific film does slow you down but the process center one.
You have a lovely and meditative voice, that goes swimmingly with large format. Definitely subscribed.
Nicely done. Very good to see someone keeping this art alive.
Wow your window is a great largeformat living landscape view! Wonderful!
Was a holiday cottage I was staying in.
Totally agree with you: Film takes the rush out of life
This is what photography should be calm and relaxed.
The digital shots are calm too 👌
I found you on your tutorial for scanning color negs, Then in this entro vid I see the Linn w vinyl and OK I'm in. Lifelong commercial / fine art photog / audiophile here. 4x5 field camera and landscape, yep, bunch of negs to print. Your scanning vid was very informative, thank you sir.
Subscribed for the photography and the Nils Frahm record. I love the idea of technology expressing itself. I've never heard it phrased like that, but you're so right.
Thanks for the comment Lucas 👍
New subscriber - very interested in large format film - for the same reasons you explain. Glad to have found your channel, and looking forward to watching other videos. Cheers!
Thanks for following, pleased you are enjoying the content.
cracking shot!
beautiful… I am keen to start large format and this video turn up…
I began my photography journey on 35mm film one and a half years ago. The only digital cameras I've owned have been phone cameras.
For me the most important part of photographing with film is the fact that I have a permanent, physical, tangible record of my most important photos in the form of the negative - despite having been born into a mostly digital world, I now can't fathom my most beloved photos existing only as digital abstractions.
Lately I've been overcome by a terrible craving for a field camera. They are such beautiful devices and their capabilities (unmatched resolution of 4x5, and movements) appeal to me greatly despite the cost and other restrictions.
Lovely work Russel. A perfect way to put across ‘why analog...?’ .keep up the good work sunshine!
Thanks Paul.
Great video Russell, thanks for sharing.
Thanks Adrian.
Loved that intro and a great shot Russell :-)
Thanks Darren.
Amazing shots! Thanks for the video. I've been shooting a lot on medium format and I am now just starting with 4x5 on a field view camera. I can't wait to start shooting landscape photos on 4x5.
I'm sure you'll really enjoy 4x5!
Very enjoyable watch Russell. I have not the patience or aptitude to go through the process you put yourself through to get your film images but that does not stop me appreciating or enjoying watchng you share your experience. Loved the intro to this and I was curious to the choice of music, I shall check that out later (just abt to watch 2nd half of Slovakia v Wales) As for Suilven, it's a mountain that has long intrigued me and I hope one day I might get to see it.. great to see it through your lens.. atb Alan
Thanks Alan.
Excellent video. Summarizes very well why we still choose to use film, for the purity of the experience and the unique qualities inherent in the large format experience.
Yes, all about the experience. It's a bit like driving a classic car but hey, modern cars are just so much better right? 🙂
Breathtaking, I hope your channel continues to grow. Carry on.
Thanks.
Thanks for that. I used to work for linn...and i too love the analog, slow, methodical techniques. I went from digital to wetplate...but i'm getting rid of my 10 x 12 camera and am either going 5 x 4 or 8 x 10 and i thought i might have a go at film as it's not so simple taking wet plate chems and a dark room up a mountain. Talking of mountains. Suilven is, i think, the most beautiful mountain i've ever seen. The view of it's NW edge from Lochinver is amazing. I love Assynt. Normally spend a week up there near Ullapool every late jan or feb....not this year though. I've subscribed. Thanks again.
Thanks for watching. I'm hopeful of a trip to Assynt again later this year, though obviously not holding my breath.
Absolutely glorious photography. Makes me wish I could take my Wista field camera out again. Thanks.
Thanks for watching. Glad you enjoyed.
lensman57. Wista 45DX rosewood. Keep on trying going out into the field, success!
Woohooo! I'm the 10,000th viewer!
I'm glad your channel popped up in my feed. I've been struggling on which way to take my channel since I started it 2 months ago. I know now that I want to go large format. All my life I have worked a job where it was rush rush rush and I really want to slow down my photography to enjoy the moment, and picture making experience. I look forward to watching all your other videos to get caught up.
Hi John. Thanks for sticking with it and I'm pleased you found my videos inspiring. I decided to focus my channel more towards large format to put out something a little different, and I've loved it so far. The channel has motivated me to get out with the LF camera more which I may not have done otherwise.
@@rjphotos I'm about to pull the trigger on an Intrepid 4x5. I develop my Black and white 120 film at home so I should be able to do the sheet film. I definitely want to shoot color with it too. I may take them to my local lab or try a few at home.
Beautiful area to climb and take photos, thanks for the video. I before L.
Always awkward with the pronunciation of these hills. I gather it's 'soolven' though I've heard some people emphasize the L making it sound more like 'Soolaven', and one of those times was from a Runrig song 🙂. Anyway, thanks for watching. 👍🏻
Glad I found your channel!
Thanks for following. I have two new episodes coming up over the next few weeks.
Thanks for sharing Russell. Amazing scenery and love your large format image.
Thanks Bill.
Hi Russell, great watch. I'm just getting back into film after a long sabbatical foray in digital. Don't get me wrong digital will still be my main photography but I have recently bought (again) a Bronica SQ-Ai system to do film shooting landscapes predominantly (plus a Leica M2 for 35mm). Glad I found your channel look forward to seeing more content.
You have to love digital, after all, these videos would be impossible without it but it's great to have options of other mediums. The likes of Intrepid have done wonders in keeping flame burning. Thanks for watching.
Great vlog Russell. Subscribed 👍
Thanks Wayne, appreciated.
Very nice presentation. I use a medium format camera, Mamyia C220. At 74 years old it's a little late to start large format (thinking cost). The making of the picture is quite similar, taking ones time and all. I used a Graflex when I was working testing cars years ago and enjoyed immensely. One comment, lower the background music just a little. Thanks for publishing your work. Jim
Stellar video. I have a digital Fuji XT2, a Hasselblad 500cm and a 35mm Contax. My favorite photos are always with the film cameras. The XT2 images typically look "wrong" when I print them, albeit not on the screen.
Thanks for your comment, I really appreciate it.
I shoot 4x5 landscapes. I work in a Darkroom so the big negatives are nice to work with. I like working with the camera itself. Taking it out putting it in the tripod unfolding and putting the lens on and all that Jazz that follows. I feel more involved and hands on. Also I have been shooting for decades and I am really very picky what I shoot anymore. If I come back with one great sheet I feel a total success. Then if I get a great print it is incredible. Digital is to easy though I still shoot it for wildlife and travel. I really appreciate the craftsmanship it takes to shoot LF and make a fine print in the darkroom.
You summed it up nicely there Terry. Thanks for watching.
You sound like Joe Wilkinson, subscribed!
I totally agree I love mechanical cameras whether they be 35mm, 120, or large format I just like something that is an old simple design that often times is 30-50 years old and still operating "like a clock". You don't get that with digital, in 5 years your digital camera becomes a paper weight. I really liked your video. Thank you
Thanks for the kind words Raevenswood 🙂
Hi, Russell. I'm just starting in 4x5 photography and I find your videos inspiring. Curious about your backpack and how you load it with your gear. I've been researching backpacks but so many bags out there makes choosing difficult.
Hi Paul. I just use a regular hiking backpack, something of an appropriate volume with a decent back system. I use tenba lens wraps for the lenses and put those in a waterproof pouch. The camera has its own pouch as you've seen, and filters and the like stored in a similar fashion. helps with organisation and using all of the available space in the pack - something not so easy with foam partitioning.
I live near Suilven and the Isle of Skye. I'm in love with large format photography but don't have the balls to go out and buy the equipment necessary. Hell, I don't even have a decent DSLR or mirrorless at the moment. I'm hoping to get something soon though and until then thank you for inspiring me to get off my fat, menopausal arse and get out and about. If you're up again, you should have a wander down to Loch Hourn via Glenelg and Arnisdale. Or the Fairy Glen near Uig on Skye. They're lovely areas even though heavy tourism is making them busy. I've lived all my 42 years here and I still find the views incredible. Thanks for sharing your work - it really is gorgeous 👍🏻
Oh, aye, the hormonal grumpy old wifey in me wants to tell you Suilven is pronounced Soolven. Just though of another place too - the castle, Eilean Donan is 2 minute drive from my house. Everyone takes photos of it from ground level but there's a single track road, (used to be the main road to Inverness), that runs along the hills behind the village of Dornie that the castle is next to. If you go along the road until it rejoins the main road, you'll find the most gorgeous views. The castle, the 5 Sisters of Kintail, Skye, the lochs joining up and swirling about - Lochalsh, Loch Duich and Loch Long. It's really a lovely way to get different views and worth taking a half hour to just potter along slowly. 👍🏻👍🏻
Thanks, I'm in Scotland again in April so thanks for the tips.
I shoot both, they are both photography and both great
One thing I love about shooting film is...that with it you can often STILL capture images at higher resolutions and formats that just cannot be done today with modern digital cameras.
For instance, as I understand it...a LF image has much more resolution than even the most $$ Phase One and Hassy's on the market today (digital).
I for one, like to shoot my MF camera at 6x17....large pano.
Yes, you can shoot digital multiple images and stitch them together....but that's not the same as shooting a whole wide pano with one shutter click....not really a good way to use a ND and long exposure say for smoothing water on digital stitching, but you can with my camera.
So, there's still room for film if for nothing else, but that it still out performs digital in some respects still.
WOW
I hate tripods, dark cloths and ground glass screens.
I prefer a press type 5x4 where the lens stays on and you focus with a rangefinder and shoot with a wire frame finder.
I used a Speed Graphic back in 1961 when I was 16. Fast shooting.
What kind of Darkcloth are you using? I've been using a dark sheet, and I've been looking for something that will work better in the daylight where the ground would reflect the daylight back into the ground glass.
It’s a dark cloth made by paramo who are better known for outdoors clothing. It’s not cheap, but I’m happy with it.
Hi what large format camera do you use?
Hi John. I use a Chamonix C45F2 camera with a couple of lenses, a 90mm and 150mm.
Large format camera is great if you live overlooking an unspoiled Scottish lake. But, if you live in the seedier parts of Detroit you have a choice, burned out cars, burned out houses, or burned house trailers. Large format in Detroit will just you a bigger picture of failure.
awesome video russell I would really appreciate even though your channel is larger than mine if you could come over to my channel and give some suggestions!! Thanks it would mean a lot
Are you planning on doing some vlogs? That adds an extra dimension if you are out and about with your camera.
If you're defining a technology by it's recording device then calling any technology analog doesn't define anything. That's because both FILM and DIGITAL are both analog devices. That's because both digital and film cameras use analog recording methods.
With digital cameras the sensor is an analog device and film cameras use a chemical method to record information.
So stop calling a film or digital cameras analog.