I’ve been trying to catch up on some film developing lately. Particularly the backlog I have of large format 4x5 film. It is incredibly slow going as anyone who has ever worked with 4x5 or even larger film knows. With my current home setup I can only do four sheets of film at a time which need to be drip dried and then scanned one negative at a time. A little tedious perhaps, but still a fun process.
I don’t think I’ll ever get bored of looking at 4x5 negatives though. Even when I make a photograph that is a bit mediocre (not saying this image is mediocre, but hey, it happens…) I still marvel at the detail and the range of tones and depth to the image. When I hold a 4x5 negative up to the light it can be like looking through a tiny window frame. So much going on that can catch the eye.
This image was made with my Cambo Calumet 4x5 rail camera. It’s a beast of a machine to say the least and I’m not going to deny that I’m still not entirely used it working with it. I’ve had it for just about three years now and I still feel like I fumble my way through a lot of the process. That doesn’t mean I would ever give up on using it however. Quite the opposite. All the fumbling and slow moving and mistakes that I constantly make just inspire me to use it a whole lot more.