From Crown Point
I was faced with a scene of fairly high contrast: an incredibly bright background, and a shadowed foreground. I've tried these scenes before, and got unprintable negatives. I decided to do an experiment this time. I wanted to compress the highlights while retaining detail in the shadowed areas. Using Ansel Adams' book "The Negative," and largeformatphotography.info as sources, I first, I tried a two-bath process using Kodak D-23 and a mild Kodalk bath. I got a splotchy negative. Next, I tried Kodak HC110 diluted 1:119 (Dilution G) and Semi Stand development, and got this negative. The foreground was fairly gray, and my exposure was 7 seconds at F32. Development time was 22:15 minutes at 66 degrees, with agitation every 4 minutes. I didn't subtract development time to correct for reciprocity effect because I wanted to preserve more luminosity in the clouds. In retrospect, I could have stopped at 20 minutes, and probably wouldn't have to burn in the sky as much. That said, if I had done normal development, I would have a hard time getting detail in the distance. I'm pleased with the results.
This was the first test drive of my new 165mm Schneider Super Angulon lens. It covers 8x10 with room to spare.
This is a negative scan of the 8x10 negative. As such, my scanner won't cover the entire area. I'm also not pleased with the lack of sharpness. I will replace it with a scan of the print after I proof it.
Camera: Deardorff 8x10.
Lens: 165mm Schneider Super Angulon
Film: Ilford FP4+ developed in Kodak HC110.
From Crown Point
I was faced with a scene of fairly high contrast: an incredibly bright background, and a shadowed foreground. I've tried these scenes before, and got unprintable negatives. I decided to do an experiment this time. I wanted to compress the highlights while retaining detail in the shadowed areas. Using Ansel Adams' book "The Negative," and largeformatphotography.info as sources, I first, I tried a two-bath process using Kodak D-23 and a mild Kodalk bath. I got a splotchy negative. Next, I tried Kodak HC110 diluted 1:119 (Dilution G) and Semi Stand development, and got this negative. The foreground was fairly gray, and my exposure was 7 seconds at F32. Development time was 22:15 minutes at 66 degrees, with agitation every 4 minutes. I didn't subtract development time to correct for reciprocity effect because I wanted to preserve more luminosity in the clouds. In retrospect, I could have stopped at 20 minutes, and probably wouldn't have to burn in the sky as much. That said, if I had done normal development, I would have a hard time getting detail in the distance. I'm pleased with the results.
This was the first test drive of my new 165mm Schneider Super Angulon lens. It covers 8x10 with room to spare.
This is a negative scan of the 8x10 negative. As such, my scanner won't cover the entire area. I'm also not pleased with the lack of sharpness. I will replace it with a scan of the print after I proof it.
Camera: Deardorff 8x10.
Lens: 165mm Schneider Super Angulon
Film: Ilford FP4+ developed in Kodak HC110.