One 4x5 from Grand Bay - using Acufine developer

It's been too long since my last update! Many gigs last week prevented me from shooting almost anything. I went out Saturday with my friend Ed to shoot for fun out at Grand Bay. I just had my 35mm. I have taken so many pictures there I am rather bored with it so I haven't been there since last year. However, there was some very interesting green stuff floating on the water, coating the entire surface. I was unprepared for how neat it was. I ended up returning yesterday with my 4x5. I took a couple color shots and one b&w.

The b&w one was in with some other holders that I took some other shots today with. I really messed up and rated my shot I believe 4 stops underexposed. This was a bad error so I decided to experiment with some semi-stand development for long periods of time. But I developed this shot from Grand Bay accidentally first. I used Acufine 1:5, shook it vigorously for 1 minute, and then let it stand for 2 hours. I shook it every 30 minutes for 15 seconds. Despite the extreme over-development compared to the recommended time on this shot, correctly rated @ 100, the negative looked really good. Even more interesting, the amount of detail and acuity is stunning, much better than T-Max RS usually gave me. I will have to try out Acufine some more with "normal" photos. The other shots that are messed up are still developing but things are looking okay possibly.

Here's the shot. It is taken with the Nikkor 360mm telephoto at f/32 for 15 seconds. Toned in PS:

Thomasville Excursion

Thomasville is a historic town about 50 miles west of Valdosta. I have been there a few times in the past for various concert performances, but not recently. I didn't have anything important to do this past Sunday so I drove there with my girlfriend and spent the morning and afternoon exploring with the 4x5 and rangefinder.

It was a gorgeous day and was a real treat to shoot some of the historic buildings and locales out there, as well as some other interesting subjects. First up are a couple architecture shots from downtown. This first shot is looking across the street at the store "At Home in Thomasville." It was taken with a Schneider 150mm APO lens:

Next is a beautiful house (maybe antebellum?) near downtown as well as some condominiums, both shaded by a live oak tree. Both of these are also taken with a 150mm lens. They were also toned in Photoshop:

Here is a shot of the tower of the new courthouse that is still under construction. I used a Nikon 360mm lens:

Thomasville is also home to "The Big Oak," an historic live oak over 300 years old. It is gargantuan and has cables attached to various limbs to help hold itself up. This image was taken with a Schneider 58mm lens and cropped:

Finally, I have an interesting image that I am planning on retaking. I was wandering around Thomasville when I saw various old rusty items outside of a building. This turned out to be a shop called "Relic's," specializing in old architectural treasures. It was a fascinating place. The store wasn't even open but there was tons of stuff all over the place behind the building. I took a panoramic shot of the rear of the building but unfortunately had a light leak and didn't quite frame the shot correctly. This was taken with the 58mm again but I am going to do it again with a 47mm for even more dramatic effect:

For reference, all 4x5 images are with T-Max 100 film.

Some 35mm images after the break!

35mm at Langdale Park

I blogged a couple days ago about Langdale Park and posted a couple 4x5 images. While there I also shot a roll of 35mm film and have just finished scanning the images.

Shooting 35mm for me is an exercise in the joy of film photography. The process is not as arduous as 4x5 and the ability to shoot 36 shots per roll (I never shoot 24 exposure rolls) gives me the ability to experiment and try different things. Furthermore, the speed and versatility of 35mm allows me to take a camera and a few lenses in just my pockets and do almost anything.

My first real 35mm camera was a Nikon F5, probably still the king of 35mm cameras. It was a wonderful camera, but not portable - I would rather shoot digital most days. Sadly, it died in an unfortunate boating accident. This is actually what prompted my switch to medium format. After forgoing 35mm for quite a while I have recently starting shooting it again with vigor.

My camera of choice these days is the Nikon SP, a rangefinder from the 1960's. While many people today are familiar with SLR cameras, the rangefinder was the standard camera back in the mid-20th century. The most famous RF camera was and still is the Leica M-series. I was casually shopping for a Leica when I discovered the Nikon S-series, and since I am already a big fan of Nikon gear I splurged on an S2 and then an SP. The S-series was made famous in the Korean War as a cheaper alternative to the Leica with superb optics.

The Nikon SP is small enough with a lens to fit in a side pocket of my pants. Carrying it, I can fit two lenses in my pockets along with a light meter and am set for most anything. I usually prefer a 50mm along with a 28mm and 85mm. The main benefit to the SP is built-in frame lines for lenses from 28mm-135mm, but on other S-models you might need viewfinders for the other lenses.

I shoot a variety of film with the SP. I prefer b&w film but I will occasionally shoot color. These images were shot on Fuji Superia 100. I got this color negative film very cheaply and it is mostly for fun, as the technical image quality isn't as high as slide film or b&w. The film is past expiration and has a significant orange cast on some shots. If it's particularly egregious I usually just convert the image to b&w (converting to b&w also allows control over colors as if you were using various colored filters, which can be very helpful in some situations).

These first two images showcase the wonderful "pastel" quality that the older Nikon glass gives to color images. I really like the way the Nikon S lenses render colors.

This next image was converted to b&w and is a similar exposure to the one I posted before that I took on 4x5, but with a slightly longer lens (equivalent). While internet-sized images do not show nearly enough detail to make accurate judgement on most things, I think it is pretty clear how superior the 4x5 version is:

Here are a two more images from the park shot on the Nikon SP and converted to b&w:

And finally, here is another 4x5 image shot this morning from Langdale Park. I wanted to go early in the morning to see the light at a different time of day. This image was shot on the Nikon 360mm f/8 telephoto at f/32 for 8 seconds shortly after sunrise. The film is T-Max 100 and was developed normally with T-Max RS.

I think the increase in resolution with 4x5 is apparent! But not every shot needs or can be shot on a large negative.

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Langdale Park - first 4x5 images

On Inner Perimeter Road, near Exit 22 on I-75, is little-known Langdale Park. This park is a massive preserve that straddles the banks of the Withlacoochee River. I discovered this park about two years ago, but due to rain it was mostly flooded for quite a while. I have finally started exploring it more recently and have a couple images to share.

The first image was shot with a Schneider 150mm APO Symmar f/5.6 lens on my Zone VI Wista field camera. This lens is similar to a 40mm lens on 35mm and is one of my favorite focal lengths. The camera was set to f/16 and the exposure was 1 second. The highlights were tamed by a circular polarizing filter. I used T-Max 100 film and developed normally in T-Max RS:

This next image was heavily back-lit from the sun reflecting off the water. Again using a CPL filter I was able to tame the high-contrast scene and get a usable negative. This image was shot with a Nikon 360mm f/8 telephoto lens. This lens is the longest I can focus on my field camera due to the limited bellows draw. The lens can also be used as a 500mm and 720mm by changing the rear element. The exposure was at f/32 for 2 seconds.

As you can tell I am a fan of "warm-toned" images. I feel the slight coloration enhances the image.


I decided to print the first image in my darkroom. After a few tests and such I was able to print it satisfactorily. It was still a very high-contrast negative so I ended up using a #0 filter on it as well as overexposing it and shortening the development to decrease the contrast. I was using up the last bit of some expired Ilford VC Fiber paper so it is a little curled. Here is the result (an 8x10):

Langdale Park is quite big so I look forward to further exploration in the future.