Going Large pt.II Thoughts and results.

Here they are! A little bit late but here come my first experiences and results with the "little" 4x5 beast!

First of all let me say something:

We all heard and said that film slows you down but this takes it to a whole new level. The first    portrait took me about 15 minutes between composing, focusing, etc. 

I took a photograph for a uni project that was architecture related and for one single picture I    spent almost 2         hours looking composing, metering and calculating stuff (probably too much time wasted but at the end spent     there 2h 30 to take 1 photo).

So, yes Large Format slows me down and not only when taking pictures but also when walking  or going anywhere. Jesus christ it's heavy... I've calculated and the camera weights about 5.5Kg with everything mounted, and the tripod I've been using weights nothing else than: 5-6KG so yes walking with 10Kg on your back doesn't make you pretty quick. (Does your back hurt now?    mine does, and a lot...)

My second point is about using the camera itself. And boy it's a joy. All the movements and endless creative possibilities that's the main reason I wanted the camera and probably the first one I wanted to try a camera like this.

So, yes, the third point is what everybody is waiting for me to say: BOY THE NEGATIVES ARE HUGE!

The moment I took the sheet out of the developing tank I froze. Never seen so much detail in a photograph and at this distance, once I scanned them , the first one to notice the potential was my computer that literally froze when I tried to scan the sheet at maximum quality with interpolation. So lesson learned: Don't scan the 4x5 over 4600dpi.

Without further due, here are the first results. I hope you like them as much as I. Although the results may not be perfect I'm really satisfied considering it's the first time I ever used a camera like this.

I've ordered the pictures. These are literally and chronologically my first large format photographs ever.

Iaia Portrait (First Large Format Photo FLFP) copy.jpg

 

 

 

Suisse Express (BCN-Geneva-BCN in 36 hours)


A week ago I got a call from a friend, apparently it was a normal conversation, but he said he had something to propose to me, (a crazy think I hoped, and so it was).

Let me paraphrase: Dude, you wanna come to Switzerland on Monday and come back the next day at night? To which I answered: Hell yeah!  But how are we gonna go there?  Then he answered: BY CAR!

How could I say no to such a cool plan?! So that's what we did, this Monday we met at 9 and started our express road trip to Geneva with 1548 km to cover ahead! 

But, a couple days before starting our journey, I had an inner dilema: Which camera should I bring? Should I go for 35mm? Medium Format? Slr? Rangefinder? And then I told to myself: Joan, you've been devoted to film photography since the start of the year, you haven't shot a digital camera since (almost) November of 2014, why don't you dust off your little digital travel companion for that occasion? And so I did, I dusted off my beloved Fuji X100 to document the whole experience. (Which after a long time of not using felt like shooting with a new camera and made me think about making a review of my experiences with it but that may come in another post).

Hopefully you can enjoy the photos as much as we enjoyed the trip, which was short but full of magnificent experiences.