Large Format Road Trip

[@ervczek]

Very cool to recreate Brokeback Mountain trip with a friend, thanks Jason!

[@TryinaD]

It’s not gay if you carry large format cameras

[@ervczek]

@@TryinaD I think we just got the "no homo" alternative in film photography world

[@LittleMissIssues]

@@TryinaD bahahaha I just spit out my coffee!!!! lol

[@injeolmi6]

I said it once, and I'll say it again, your longer videos are amazing. Thanks, Jason.

[@aarontimm]

hard bunp. short form drives me insane

[@escapo6895]

That chair is one of my favorite subjects. I've photographed it at least 5 times in the last 18 years. It used to stand in front of the range of rooms that are now burned down. Over the years it has moved, slowly making its way out into the desert. Great video as always, Jason. Cheers.

[@lukeherrala5618]

Is it somewhere along 395? I’d love to go photograph it. Totally understand tho if you want to keep the location hidden. Beautiful places like that get ruined when too many people know about it.

[@myahya1987]

35 minutes and 24 seconds of entertainment!!!! It's always a joy watching your videos

[@mil0931]

When the story starts with "Recently Caleb and I" you know it's gonna be a great story. Lots of shit pictures, and a great story.

[@MartinH81]

Haha that's a special flavor compliment :P

[@gmiddleb]

Gotta drop in here and say you're way too hard on yourself with some of these shots you say are "meh" - this is a lot of good shit here. I do not have the guts to shoot large format, and you're pulling it off. Good job dude.

[@Appleboot]

I take it as a running gag of his channel. I'm pretty sure he knows what he's worth.

[@AlumarsX]

@@Appleboot a penny

[@alyonfilm]

I shot my first roll 4 years ago. I was 14 years old, my grandma gave me her camera but I didn't like the results, stopped shooting film and went to the digital world. Founding your channel last year made me give it another shot. And now, film is my passion. Just want to say thank you! You're a really inspiration for me

[@enzovoortsribeiro]

This was so awesome to watch! I love to see longer videos that are 30-60mins. You did a really great job on this trip!

[@jackgeddesmedia]

I think this has to be one of the best videos you've done, Jason. Love how you talk to camera on location a little more in this video but still keep the sarcastic, monotone commentator vibe that you put in the rest of your videos. Love it!!

[@m.k.mcgill]

Fun fact: Ghost towns aren’t always abandoned. There’s a ghost town near me, called Shafter, where they mined silver. At one point, 4,000 people called it home, with about a dozen or two still living there today. I think the ghost town qualification is just that it used to be a productive town, but its resources have been exhausted.

[@jpdj2715]

The B&W image at 15:06 - people underestimate the contrast envelope (dynamic range) of film. In the old days, a film's performance was measured through a methodology called densitometry or sensitometry and the measurements got plotted into a graph. The X-axis of that graph would typically be in 10-base log of intensity*time of the exposure to the film and then the Y-axis was the "density" (something like the degree of saturation). Photographers were after the "straight piece" in the curve, as it was considered the "usable" dynamic range. Typically, that straight piece in the curve was a function of a 4 to 4.5 units on the X-axis and if we then remove the 10-bas log from these numbers we get i*t values in the 10 (starting at 1) to 100,000 (that would be 5 for a delta log i*t of 4) range. In EV (2-base log), such a range gets us to over 13, depending on where the film starts its straight piece. If we had scan software that can deal with the non-linear shoulders of the densitometry curve of film so as to make that linear, then we can gain a couple EV more dynamic range from film. The problem with film was that it is hard to get beyond 5 EV dynamic range in print. Monitor/displays are not lot better, though, and dynamic contrast simulations are very imprecise (not usable for the serious photographer).

[@abearham]

simplyfing the definition of portrait to just "subject and background" has unlocked something for me. i feel like I just had the biggest, dumbest realization just now

[@Tobizz3]

This guy is legit funnier than a few of my go-to comedians. Combined with a great photography experience, I love this channel.

[@phila3884]

That train platform used to be part of the Owens Valley narrow gauge railroad. The old Lone Pine depot is still standing, although it sits on private property just north of that spot.

[@camerachica73]

I love shooting 8x10 - I did a month long project a few months ago and it was bliss. I carry the camera in a proper backpack not a camera bag though for extra comfort and try not to hike to far from the car. I had to climb down many precarious steps to get to a location and knew I'd be there all day, so I hired someone to be the camel. Worth every penny and he even learned to write the exposure notes that I dictated to him. Sometimes you just have to do that!

[@tauepsilon4220]

I really like the photos of the two old trucks and 21:08 the house on the prairie. It catches the eye.

[@theos115]

the two cuddling trucks are so cute!

[@mikejankowski6321]

Yeah, that was a perfect description.

[@dylangergutierrez]

Looks like the notch code on your Ektachrome is correct. For your metering, if you're metering the way you generally do for C41 film (i.e. the shadows), that doesn't work for slide film. You generally want to put the colors you want most saturated in zones 4-6, and any highlight details above zone 7 or so may be lost. Lots of people say meter for the highlights in slide film. The wood in the shot at 13:40 looks properly exposed for. If that is in the shadows and you're shifting it to midtones, that means that your highlights are going to get pushed into blowout territory. Another thing to check is your lens shutter speed. Mechanical shutters get slower with time, and while half a stop extra exposure is fine on C41, it can mess you up on E6.

[@MichaelShainblum]

Loved the filming throughout this video and the images of course. Killer work man!

[@cliftonwhittaker260]

Very entertaining, Jason. I enjoyed your b&w shots, too. Good work. I shot 4x5 for several years. Every once in a while I kind of get a yearning to break out the old Linhof and give it another go. When I do I take a nap until the feeling goes away. Can't believe my wife and I backpacked all that equipment all over the Smoky Mountain Nat'l Park. I carried 35 pounds of photography equipment and she carried the umbrella (for the camera), lunch, water, and preprinted note cards for each exposure. I still have all of it in our files.

[@tim31415]

One of the beauties of sheet film is that you can adjust the developing to account for the exposure. ;-) I have some Ektachrome that expired in 2012 and has always been cold stored. It has lost some speed and recent rolls had to be overexposed by 1/3 stop for perfect exposure.

[@franz1068]

is there a rule of thumb how much you should overexpose?

[@tim31415]

@@franz1068 It would depend a lot on how the film has been stored. Apart from the very small (1/3 stop) shift over about 10 years, my cold stored film still looks pretty much like new.

[@FlosBlog]

15:12 I really like this shot, the chair in the kitchen and the one in the other room kinda signify the last traces of an alienated couple

[@MeowjinBoo]

this is the natural progression. started with an f100, got a fuji gw690, got a second one, a zenza, then i yolo'd and bought a great sinar f1 4x5 that was in mint condition off of craigslist that came with everything and a case for 350 canadian. Now some of my best photos are coming from that large format. Using the 4 x 5 I slow down so much, I get so many questions. What's even better is Jeff Wall sold me 10 boxes of portra 400, for 30 CAD a box, and 10 boxes of a velvia 50 from another seller for 50 a box. Doesn't get much better than that.

[@DaveMansell]

Haha I think you've really nailed the LF experience. It's full of heartbeak, talking to yourself and occasionally some accidental magic. Brave on the 8x10. I stay with 4x5 and even then it's ridiculous. Great videos.

[@toddkorolphoto]

Artist tape will be your best friend. After you shoot both sheets of film, tape the dark slides onto the holder and then you can't pull them out, because those bitches always come out somehow. I've wrecked many a sheet of film. The great thing about artist tape is it doesn't leave a sticky residue.

[@LittleMissIssues]

OMG the photo of the two trucks at 12:25 is SO BAUTIFUL!! It's like a Maxfield Parrish painting! GORGEOuuuuuuuuS!!! :)

[@metrostills]

This is one of your best videos yet, but I don't know anything about videos. I do know watching you use that antique beast is fascinating, and the shot of the kitchen turned out amazing. Thanks for the work you post here.

[@theo_korner]

Having handled expired Ektachrome myself I recommend metering it box speed and push 1 stop in dev each 10-20 yrs it has expired depending how it was stored

[@MyHunter9090]

Why push in dev rather than rate the box speed higher?

[@theo_korner]

@@MyHunter9090 normally with expired film you would rate the box speed lower, but slide film is a reversal film. This means it has two developer steps in processing, one to create a mask similar to a BW dev, and one to develop the colours in the mask. Using two development agents does not respond well to over or under exposure of the emulsion, so you compensate the loss of reactivity caused by long storage by extending the time of the first development stage

[@MyHunter9090]

@@theo_korner sorry yeah I meant lower than box speed, so over exposing. Oh so you can only compensate the loss of sensitivity of old color reversal through development because overexposing it would ruin the mask from the first stage of development?

[@theo_korner]

@@MyHunter9090 I did a little mistake, you push with the first developer and do the colour development normally. this will create the correct mask. overexposing will maybe not ruin the mask but it wont have good contrast and very blown out highlights/washed out lighed parts of the image because it creates too much exposed silver halides in the emulsion which get developed in the first bath

[@yendor2043]

I have really enjoyed watching your videos during the pandemic, thank you for continuing to make great content with your buddy.

[@nanoblock6602]

The shot at 30:44 is so close to an Edward Hopper painting its unreal. Such great use of light and spacing.

[@matthewjenkins7155]

You should check out big bend ranch state park in Texas, right next to the national park. after a 5 mile hike one way on dome trail, there is a hardly discernable turnoff, that takes you a mile to a completely abandoned, full mining town from the 40s. With cars, mess hall, old safe, chair, and refinery and mine carts. Truly the coolest location and would love to see you shoot it. Camping there is awesome too - very primitive.

[@robertfleckenstein5031]

You know, one of the greatest aspects of Your 8x10 images is that they portray (depth). A characteristic that you really have to be mindful of when using that format. I don’t know why but that size of film tends to flatten subjects and using foregrounds, and in your case, leading lines also, is almost a must, to get away from that, to me, unfortunate feature of the “Grand Camera”. Bob.

[@cc_323cc]

Thanks for sharing your expedition! Now i’m sure my Zeiss Ercona is as far down this film hole as i need to go. You did get some Nice Shots ! 👏

[@hamster216]

Really enjoyed this video this morning while I ate breakfast. Gave the morning a very simple and relaxing feel. Thanks Jason!

[@kacperwilk4535]

Stunning! I love those longer videos, music, comments everything is perfect!

[@alhOOO2O]

One of my all time favourites from your videos; loved the introduction to a really interesting piece of gear, and thought you created some incredible images with it

[@rossa7215]

Good for you guys to go out and brave the elements with large format! I enjoyed seeing this, and you got some nice results. I noticed you were not using any lens shade in these when you were outside doing landscape shots. Even just holding the dark slide above the lens would have helped. Also, the film holder dark slides are black and white. White for unexposed film/black for exposed. It looks like you had that reversed.

[@sawallthat]

you're so hard on yourself! all of these photos are truly incredible!!

[@karolkowalski8319]

Love the framing at 0:25 ! The way you used that corrugated sheet as a frame for yourself is ingenious!

[@iancontreras7688]

I really dig those exp ektachrome shadows. Those lavender/blue shadows are kinda wicked.

[@mana66777]

Love the symmetry of you both coming back to the same place at the end. As a great man once said, “It’s like poetry, it rhymes”

[@milesian1]

Love that special Portra “love” view. I think it would have been especially good taken from the perspective of the crop at @6:17. The contrasts of shapes and colors are fantastic.

[@Invincibleagent]

Very late to this - but the scenery there is bloody beautiful. I'm from a place that is mostly just farm fields with the occasional bleak looking hill.I wish I could take photos of somewhere like this more often! You are very lucky.

[@clintwoosley9512]

Such great storytelling. I really appreciate you critiquing your compositions for us. I’m all digital but learn so much by watching the way you thoughtfully frame your work. Thanks for making these videos.

[@DaveAdams222]

I was cartwheeling through KZbin and tripped and fell into this channel. I don't shoot film but your videos are some serious entertainment. A nice switch up from everyone always feeling they need to yell at me to get their point across. I dig it.

[@kenblair2538]

Great work with that 8x10. Ansel Adams would be proud. KB

[@thebendu33]

I like how technical you are in the photoshoot process and how funny you are in the video. it's not usual, and those who do it so far do not do it as good as you do. wow you can see m french with that last sentence.

[@evanwileysmith]

This might be my favorite video you've ever made. Up there with the Northern California trip and the first human photo mini-doc. Keep up the great work. Really appreciate your channel.

[@adroc9101]

Alabama Hills in B&W was a very nice shot. 👍🏽

[@alessioferreri]

Super cool video Jason. That drone shot for the opening scene in Nevada, pure Gold. Cinema 🍿

[@acentoni]

Came to say this.

[@PavolCeluch]

That photo of the chair with mountains in the background is 🔥

[@DGJTvlogs]

pay day is the same day as grainy upload day but really this is all i look forward to

[@markgoostree6334]

I have noticed that many of your photos look much like the photos in my own collections. I find that comforting in some weird way. Too bad the first abandoned building was so screwed up with the spray paint. At your mining town, the movie "The hills Have Eyes" came to mind.

[@wardyousef02]

1:26 heard it and didn't give a sh!t After seconds realizing what i just heard Back 10 seconds to make sure Burst out laughing🤣

[@jasongold6751]

Your humor made the arduous trip worthwhile! Your success rate is very good! I always test old film 1st! BW is always OK! I think that if one stops down, the image circle gets wider! Some lenses not! Great locations. Great photos. Me, being old, being lazy as a coon, always grabs a 35mm camera and 2~3 lenses! Usually one film! But being driven could add a body! One for film of another kind. Not a dead slave. Large format is for Hercules, if well paid. Super video. Remember good advice costs nothing and it's worth the price! BRAVO Guys.

[@wardo653]

I spend god knows how much on streaming tv and this is the best thing I’ve watched all week. Love u guys.

[@christianblicherbrader5954]

Just bought my first roll of 35mm, and stumbled upon your channel. Already a fan of the content, but I may add, that for some god forsaken reason, the thing that made me comment is the frame on 30:18 - something about that composition and that light that is just spot on. Probably just a subjective thing, but now I got that opinion off my chest!

[@gabezucker5847]

Just went to Alabama Hills end of January for the first time to shoot some friends engagement photos! The landscapes out there are unreal

[@Fourpads]

Ghost town - a town with ghosts. Abandoned ghost town - even the ghosts have left.

[@lennyvlaminov9480]

Impressive, what a crazy project. So nice photos, great video

[@CallahanDaniel]

Would love to hear about how you find your shooting locations.

[@scottyharp]

Amazingly fun video and just as amazing frames. Very beautiful! Good jorb!

[@chunkypeanutbutter505]

Please keep uploading long videos and even longer ones. I love your vids!!!

[@Marc-WOA]

IMMA LET YOU FINISH. But let me like this video right now. So I can watch this when I get home from work and chill the F out while doing so.

[@stefangroenveld]

Wonderfully narrated. Thanks for the joyful ride...

[@qbishop1]

@9:00 I stopped the video and looked at that image for about 8 minutes. It's amazing.

[@fandyus4125]

I saw you complain in the beginning about the cost of the frames. I'm pretty sure you can knock it down by a lot for B&W by either buying Fomapan, or using x-ray film. The latter is probably the cheapest option, but you'd have to cut and load the sheets yourself if I remember correctly.

[@cohens8613]

I love how the compositions in his videos and his pictures are great independently, but together they’re a masterpiece

[@AyeMinAFS]

The video production on this video is amazing. Must have been so much work along with the already taxing work of shooting large format. Really awesome work!

[@marblehead1954]

These were Great! Like that “Boston” hat, big sign in Kenmore Square it’s actually considered a landmark. Ray

[@walterc.clemensjr.6730]

Never had I ever had such a visceral reaction to a upload notification.

[@louis_ng]

33:56 lol I was just at that house yesterday taking some photos.

[@marcargentique]

Another great video. Plenty of great photos in there! I particularly loved the black and white ones by the lake. Id be curious to know which ProMist you used in those and the settings for that Motel night photo.

[@jaimeduncan6167]

Nice work, thanks for sharing. The quality and detail of large format is just amazing.

[@mrteatime4116]

babe wake up new grainydays vid dropped

[@kevin-parratt-artist]

Can't say exactly why but I wasn't feeling like staying with this, .. and then you get started. .. ok.. a few minutes more. There I was, standing there Samsung Tablet in hand, coffee getting cold, still not dressed.. ok, I could have put it on hold and come back, but stopping to scroll back and rerun several moments. It took me almost twice the straight run time to finally get to the end. 😊 Thank you guys, this is excellent. ☆☆☆☆☆ Is that a Keith Caham camera? Cheers, Kevin.

[@CHRISTOPH-B]

This and „Bad Flashes“ are by far my favorite channels. 🔥🔥🔥

[@pottipottison1164]

I like watching these on friday mornings with my breakfast porridge and coffee before going to work

[@simonerouart9383]

These long videos are incredible. Certainly not the best suited to the youtube algorithme but still very pleasant to watch From France, those locations look incredible, very impressive to see all these abandoned places. Beautiful work !

[@razijukes9435]

its good day when Jason posts!

[@davidduffy9806]

Your frequent references too the ease of murder is unsettling, but then again it's great finding the like minded.

[@charleyfolkes]

Feels like $800,000 huh ? I love that area up there. Too bad Bodie was closed.. I like your long Mono Lake shot and your last HP5 in the video, and the Vivian Meier feel of that chair out in nowhere ! Agree totally on the Whiskey remorse.

[@villegas24]

this is one of the best set of pictures i have seen from you

[@BryanBirks]

Even though you talk a lot about sucking, I applaud you for your video making while shooting large format. It’s a bastard doing that. Really dig the shots at 8:38 and 14:55. Your black and white is very underrated.

[@ThePhotoDept]

wholesome.

[@-mr-brokken1471]

finallyyyyy ive been so excited the last weeks for the new video. Since I started shooting this year your content is one of the best one the web

[@BadFlashes]

Ok, Ready for round two.

[@artemaleksanyan4419]

This was a really cool video, I really liked a lot of the shots. The editing and storytelling were great too, I really enjoyed this format

[@onif1054]

it'd be cool if you left a link to the high res scans so we could zoom in

[@CptCutter81]

The fact that I can't get a print of the old Railway Station at Dusk makes sad on the inside *and* the outside. These shots Slap!

[@williamsingman1489]

Great video. You’ve inspired me. I have a beautiful Ebony 4x5 sitting on a shelf beckoning to me.

[@drewcunningham2]

I have never shot 8x10" but I do shoot, and have shot, plenty of 4x5" film. I truly believe the hassle is worth it. My most treasured personal images were all captured on either 6x7cm film or 4x5" film. - BTW: another amusing and interesting video - keep on keeping on!

[@alexdarby3773]

Excellent video. Reminded me of some photo trips I had taken with a friend and a large format camera. Have to do that again soon.

[@nick4506]

there is alot of stories in the owens valley. there's was only one bank and when los angles bought out the farms water rights to the river to make the canal the farmers deposited the money and the two brothers that owned the bank took all the money and skiped town to Mexico never to be seen again. this was before fdic insurance so los Angeles paid the farmers again.

[@healer378]

Do T setting and let the lens open with F stop 62 for two hours then close the lens. Results in total darkness is awesome specially with color slide in darkness.

[@Paramocinema]

Love your photography man!

[@Foxglove963]

One of your first images in the ruined buildings shows your car close by. This detracts from the isolation and detoriation. I like your camera, my 8 X 10 was homebuilt but is does have the necessary movements. Good luck.

[@jllanesphoto]

Large format is difficult, but well worth the trouble. Great video, great images. Thanks for taking us along.

[@alfredbassDoP]

28:15 my favorite photo! im such a sucker for Chairs or Sofas abandoned.

[@olafruiter4604]

Hey man, you got me. I have bought myself a Zenit TTL with a 58mm Helios lens and a roll of Ilford HP5 (all for 5 bucks at a thrift shop, btw) and i am going out shooting film for the first time tomorrow. I will probably hate you and never watch your chanel again once I get the roll developed, but until then thanks for the inspiration you've given me.

[@thevoiceman6192]

Nice work. I always cross process my slide film especially if it is expired. Brooklyn film camera gets Polaroid 8x10 film every now and then.