LARGE FORMAT FILM WORKSHOP

During the course of this semester, I took part in a Large Format Film Camera workshop, which took  us through the whole process from set up to capture to development in the darkroom. Whilst I am familiar with darkroom techniques and practises, using the large format involved very specific development timings and new equipment for drying etc.

Large Format Film Capture 4 x 5 inch  

To take the images we set up a MONORAIL Large format camera. The advantages of using this camera in a studio are obvious. Firstly because the capture size of the film is in this case 4 x 5 inches - so a size able amount of data may be captured giving great detail to your finished work. Secondly, because of the bellow, you can twist the planes to alter your image across the focal plane of the image- so left to right as well as front to back in terms of focus and depth of field. The resulting image (of my colleague Nikita) was then developed in the darkroom. Here is the resulting image printed, which suffered damage during the development at the negative stage due to chemicals not reaching the central part of it. This shows the importance of careful development of your negatives, and the need to ensure they are dipped in to the development fluid evenly and for the correct time.