Field Work - Blackhand Gorge - Large Format Friday

[@malcolmrendle6622]

love all of that shiny brass on the front of your camera. Your woodland photos aways have such clarity... unlike the confused grey mess that I end up with,,,,,,

[@MatMarrash]

Thanks Malcolm. What's often not shown online is the majority of foggy photos that do end quite muddy.

[@ScottWalton]

I enjoyed it Mat. I used to take my 4x5 to Black Hand Gorge when I lived in Columbus. I never made it to the side where you started though (which looked like a nice forest). I always went to the side with the asphalt path. I sometimes took my bicycle so I could ride further out more easily. Anyway, it was great to see that place again. Thanks for sharing.

[@MatMarrash]

Thanks Scott, it's such a large preserve there's always something new to discover. Cheers!

[@terrywbreedlove]

Hell Mat good to see you again

[@hramakrishnaiah413]

Brilliant images and you are full of energy and very industrious.. Best wishes.

[@MatMarrash]

Thank you so much 😀

[@extremelydave]

Just found this video.... interesting to note it is now July and you are up to 9000 subscribers!!! Awesome!! This is an extremely interesting AND informative site Mr LFF!!!

[@MatMarrash]

It feels like this shoot wasn't that long ago, and low-key kind of missing the cold weather!

[@bernardkelly235]

Very instructive, Mat. And some really nice photos. Thanks for repeating your advice about cold temperatures and lenses. I guess I’m just a worry wart. Now I’ll venture out more.

[@MatMarrash]

Thanks Bernard and happy shooting! :)

[@victordesabata]

Omg that shot at 10:40 ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@MatMarrash]

Thanks! Can't beat a calm, chilly morning with some fog!

[@UncleDansVintageVinyl]

Great shots, and great instruction. I have 4x5 gear and shoot that a lot--but, man, you and Ben Horne have me yearning for 8x10!

[@MatMarrash]

Thanks Daniel! And here I thought seeing the exhausting work of the 8x10 would talk people out of it, lol.

[@stuartflipflops]

LFF is always a great motivator to start the weekend, I.e. get out and shoot. Thanks

[@MatMarrash]

That's always the key is getting out to shoot. To be honest I wasn't feeling "it" the night before but so glad I hauled out of bed once I got there. Cheers!

[@chrisloomis1489]

Love that patched coat Mat .. You got better knees than I do.. but Oh I want to shoot bigger than 4x5 ... Love the new LEONARDO from STENOIPEKA.

[@MatMarrash]

Thanks Chris, I hadn't checked their site in a while. Man, they make a lot of cameras now!

[@alanshanks1432]

Your enthusiasm is infectious. I’ll be out with the 5x4 this weekend.

[@MatMarrash]

YES, mission accomplished! This is great news Alan and happy shooting!

[@jonathanhotopf1823]

Another great video, nice to have out and about shoots

[@MatMarrash]

Thanks Jonathan! Seeing everybody's responses to the Field Work series is brewing all sorts of new ideas.

[@kenklontz1945]

Glad you are getting more support you’re doing great 👍😎

[@MatMarrash]

Thank you Ken! :)

[@morsulusk89]

Another beautiful video Mat. Thanks again for the effort you make. Lovely misty conditions you had that morning. The mist is one of my favourite conditions to take pictures in nature. My favourite image of all, the one in 6:46. Beautiful work Mat. Best Wishes!

[@MatMarrash]

Thank you very much Samuel! Here's to more misty morning shoots to come.

[@MichaelWellman1955]

This my favorite way to start a Friday. A no wind day is a perfect day to go out and shoot LF. Thanks for the video.

[@MatMarrash]

30F swing in temperature overnight? Check. < 5 mph winds? Check. Welp, time to go looking for some pictures!

[@theoldcameraguy]

Loving these Field Work episodes. My wife grew up in Zanesville and spent a significant portion of her childhood at Blackhand Gorge. I’m so conditioned to reach for HP5 that I sometimes forget what a great stock FP4 is. Congratulations on your 5k milestone!

[@MatMarrash]

Thanks Dave! FP4 has grown on me over the years. I used to think I needed the extra bit of speed from HP5 but most times FP4 will suffice and the range it handles is wonderful. Blackhand Gorge is a very neat place and I always see something different with each visit.

[@stevebills2427]

I'm really enjoying the LLF Channel. Great video as usual, can't wait for the next one!

[@MatMarrash]

Thanks Steve, glad you enjoyed it!

[@BullVW]

I'm glad you went on the "wrong" trail. I loved the shot at 10:46

[@MatMarrash]

Thanks, I feel the same way! Don't think the "better" trail would have had as much to see with all that fog.

[@jasonzy425]

Just wanna say thank you for putting so much effort into these videos.

[@MatMarrash]

Thanks for your appreciation! I've been working like this in LF for a decade, and now I've finally got a camera to show everyone how much fun it is. :)

[@MrCouvade]

My wife noticed the pompadour is gone. Even my wife a no photographer enjoys your weekly video

[@MatMarrash]

Hahaha, thanks Michael! It's not gone forever, I just got up to early and hairstyling would have eaten a half hour into all that fog!

[@stefanmelzer9943]

I'm really looking forward to watching your videos every weekend. Thank you so much.

[@MatMarrash]

Thank you very much Stefan! :)

[@jamescleaveland5837]

Another great video Matt! That wide shot with the stump on the left in the morning fog was 👌 Wishing you good light.

[@MatMarrash]

Thanks James, definitely a favorite from that morning's shoot. Cheers!

[@brineb58]

I wonder how you time, it seems like you do it in your head!!!

[@MatMarrash]

Hey Brian thanks for the comment! For exposures < 8 sec. I count them out but for the longer ones I use a stopwatch on my phone.

[@zerihunhailu8922]

Always informative, motivational and encouraging. Thank you so much

[@MatMarrash]

If this video can get one new photographer to head out with a large format camera, I'm a happy man. Thanks for the comment!

[@JessHobbs]

I'm so jealous of that beautiful fog, I wish we could have a few mornings like that here! I've also got to get into large format, I'm keeping my fingers crossed it happens in the Spring! Great video, and congrats on 5k subs!

[@MatMarrash]

Thank you Jess and let me know when you get going with large format, I've got some LF goodies I can send your way! :D

[@arty2917]

Congrats on 5k! It’s going to be much higher before you know it.

[@MatMarrash]

Thank you so much, it's humbling to see so many folks interested in large format! :D

[@eliverto]

Hi, first here... Greetings from Brazil

[@MatMarrash]

Thanks for stopping by Eliverto!

[@billhackley3540]

really inspired me to use my red filter with some rollei 80S, awesome images, making use of the wide angle vignetting great idea

[@MatMarrash]

Thanks Bill! My go-to when the light starts to get hard is to cut off a good portion of it with filtration. Typically that means IR, but I rarely shoot with in outside of Spring and Summer. Maybe that should change!

[@Agedwheel]

Great video!! What were you eating the film add? I love the images as well. Nicely done

[@MatMarrash]

Thanks Michael, I was rating the Ilford FP4+ at ISO 64. My B&W developer of choice, Pyrocat HD typically loses film speed with traditional emulsions.

[@fbraakman]

Great video as usual. I didn't catch the effect that the blue filter had on the image? Enjoy the examples of swing as well.

[@MatMarrash]

Thanks for the comment! Admittedly the effect is subtle in these two shots, but try comparing 03:33 with 05:02. The trees and leaves darken considerably and the haze of the fog becomes a little more intense.

[@fbraakman]

@@MatMarrash Thanks Mat.I do see the difference.

[@provia17]

I noticed on one of the early shots you checked to make sure the shutter was closed BEFORE you pulled the dark slide.

[@MatMarrash]

Thanks Robert! There were a few shots that I felt like I was rushing through to try and catch the fog, but had to double-check that shutter!

[@frankhdh]

Thank you for the detailed descriptions. My first choice every Friday to learn even more about large format. You use spot meters all the time, so I treated myself to an Ashai Pentax V to get started. If you describe what exposure the light parts of the picture and the shadows have, it would be very helpful for me if you could mark it on the picture taken with the appropriate measurement. - Your pictures are very impressive, especially because I also love to photograph trees.

[@MatMarrash]

Thanks for the comment and suggestions Frank! I think with episodes where I'm not making as many pictures that could definitely be an option to include. Glad to see another photographer that enjoys "frickin' trees"!

[@KiranBhatWoodworking]

Hey Mat! Good video! You are clocking a lot of miles with that heavy LF camera on your back!

[@MatMarrash]

Thanks Kiran! Best workout plan - no membership fees, just buy film!

[@KiranBhatWoodworking]

@@MatMarrash lol! Hope you are able to get all the supplies still!

[@MatMarrash]

@@KiranBhatWoodworking Very much so, LF is doing better than I've seen it in years past. Except maybe color, which is starting to get very pricey.

[@KiranBhatWoodworking]

@@MatMarrash I still have some Velvia 4x5s in the freezer... you know when I get back to photography!

[@agustingambadondich]

Hey Mat: great video. Thank you so much for sharing so much knowledge. Im still learning A LOT with my 4x5. Its kind of hard to adapt sometimes, to be honest, because of the kind of compositions i usually chose (which could be quite different than the ones you use here and in other episodes) Every time i went to the forest with my 35mm film camera, i most likely took the 50mm (just in case) but most likely, i was out with a 100mm or sometimes a 180. Im limited by the length of the bellows of the 4x5 i own now, but thats also the beauty of it sometimes: adapt, and learn. Of course, the optimal would be to buy a "better" camera (meaning more capable, or with some features i would enjoy more). I dont know if that happened to any of the people here in the comment section, but it would be nice to hear some other transition experiences from other formats. Anyways, i have been enjoying you LFF episodes very much. Thanks a lot, and keep it up with this awesome work!!!!

[@MatMarrash]

Thanks for your comment and experiences Augustin! Given that I started with a "less than optimal" field camera, I would agree with your thoughts on working with the limitations. Sometimes less is more, and too many options/movements/lenses gives us analysis paralysis.

[@67jmadison]

Fantastic video, Mat! It was really interesting to see any tilt/swing used for landscape photography. Thus far I've only used those movements for portraits, not really yet knowing how I could best incorporate into my landscapes.

[@MatMarrash]

Thanks Madison! The most important thing for movements that I didn't mention in this episode is a little bit goes a long way. The two shots where I used swing were no more than 10 degrees of swing.

[@samehfahmi2068]

I used the warmup shot practice the other day while shooting 4x5 for the first time in a while. It really helped with the rest of my shots that day :-)

[@MatMarrash]

That's the way to do it, Sameh!

[@tjh44961]

It's interesting to me that compositions that would be "meh" if shot in color, look so much better to me when shot in black and white. I guess that's an illustration of what textures add to an image.

[@MatMarrash]

Thanks Tom, there were a few compositions that I think could have benefited from color, but B&W is my go-to for creative and budget reasons alike. After years of working with the same B&W emulsions, I love being able to play around with their contrast with filtration, exposure, development, and scanning/printing.

[@richardstollar4291]

Would love to see a comparison between the with-blue-filter and the without shots. I don't have a blue filter in my kit so am very curious - should I get one?

[@MatMarrash]

Hey Richard thanks for the comment. Admittedly the effect is subtle in these two shots, but try comparing 03:33 with 05:02. The trees and leaves darken considerably and the haze of the fog becomes a little more intense.

[@MatMarrash]

In answer to your question, if you shoot a lot of fog and snow, maybe think about getting one. I own five B&W color filters: red, orange, yellow, green, and blue. Blue is my third most used filter, green being a distant last place.

[@richardstollar4291]

@@MatMarrash Thanks Mat, I'll get one - it's winter now so it'll get used. Waiting for more snow here to get out on the mountain with my 4x5. Love your channel by-the-way!

[@samehfahmi2068]

two things. 1) I'm exhausted watching you do these hikes. Do you have someone handling your video side or are you flying solo? 2) I noticed that you meter several spots in the scene you are about to shoot, how do you come to your final settings?

[@MatMarrash]

Thanks Sameh, I'm flying solo out there, have been for most of my LF hikes the last decade. Great for getting to bed on time! For metering, I'm looking for dynamic range of the scene and where my shadows with detail land. The dynamic range informs my development, and the shadows tell me where to set my exposure, thereby "placing" them at the right value. A watered down version of The Zone System from Ansel Adams' "The Negative".

[@cwinay1]

Could you please pause a tad bit longer to display your beautifully captured image so that the viewers don't have to hit the pause button every time? Thanks!

[@steveh1273]

Love experiencing another's interpretation of LF photography. Where did you end up focusing on the section about movements 06:48 with the slanted row of trees 1/3 or 1/2 way into the scene?

[@MatMarrash]

Hey Steve thanks for the question. Since I didn't want to lose some of the foreground pine needles on the tree to the left, I ended up focusing just in front of the bark on that pine tree. Then with the high f-stop, that brought focus about 1/2 way into the scene. Depth of field is always a challenge on 8x10!

[@DenisStosic]

Dear Matt, you make your videos in a way, that most of us would like to start right now with LFF. Thank you and I guess that someone already asked, but can you share which model of 8x10 camera and lens you used in these video, please. Thank you and be safe!

[@DenisStosic]

Sorry, disregard my question, Tachihara 8x10. To answer me :-).

[@MatMarrash]

Thanks for the comment Denis! With large format, camera choice is built up like a big deal, but at the end of the day, they're all big light tight boxes. Some can move around in funkier and more controlled ways than others, but I've seen great pictures made with a cardboard box, garbage bags, and gaffer's tape for a camera! Whenever I post the work in higher res on Flickr, I'll add tech info to each picture's description: www.flickr.com/photos/mat4226/

[@MrLukeod]

Nice video and lovely shots. Quick question - for that first shot at three minutes, metered for 4 secs, 16 for reciprocity, did you mean 6 seconds for reciprocity? Not trying to be pedantic; just curious as I was surprised at 16 secs for FP4!

[@MatMarrash]

Hey Luke, sometimes between takes and what I'm seeing on the meter, what gets exposed and what I call out on the camera are different times. IIRC, I did expose for 16 sec. but only because my metered time had changed for f-stop purposes. Here's the chart I'm using: filmphotography.blog/2017/09/24/ilford-fp4-updated-reciprocity-information/

[@MrLukeod]

@@MatMarrash thanks Mat - that makes sense. I imagine it's hard enough pulling these videos together without people asking these kind of questions!

[@MatMarrash]

@@MrLukeod it's all good, another thing that I'm prone to is "when in doubt, blow it out!"

[@MrLukeod]

@@MatMarrash Yep - I'm with you on that! Thanks again for the replies!

[@terrywbreedlove]

I have a filter factor question using a spot meter. If say we are shooting 400iso film and using a red filter which robs two stops. Can I just set my meter to 100iso and get a proper exposure ? With all else being equal.

[@iNerdier]

Yes!

[@MatMarrash]

Hey Terry you sure could, any way you find easiest to compensate for the filter factor, go for it. Word of caution, every time I've ever done it by adjusting the ISO, I've forgotten later on and made a big exposure mistake.

[@terrywbreedlove]

@@MatMarrash I am so afraid of messing up. That I check everything 29474 times before taking a shot 😝

[@MatMarrash]

@@terrywbreedlove A good habit to have!

[@GRAYnomad]

Did you enter a time warp at 3:30? 😁

[@MatMarrash]

Definitely! Nobody needs to see 30 sec. of me breathing and waiting for the exposure to finish, lol.

[@GRAYnomad]

@@MatMarrash 😁

[@jt4369]

6:40. How on earth was that 8 seconds? At most, you gave 4 seconds.

[@MatMarrash]

I'm always trimming down exposures in the edit, anything longer than ~ 2 sec. is shortened for the final cut.

[@jt4369]

@@MatMarrash Ah, sorry. I reread what I wrote and it came off as confrontational. Apologies.

[@MatMarrash]

@@jt4369 no worries, and thanks for checking out the channel!