My shots (from around tassie)

[Maris]

Alex, I see Tree, Sprent with a blown out sky along the left edge. The lower left hand corner has a density jump from the rest of the grass.
Tree, Midlands #2 has lost detail where land meets sky on the right hand edge.
Tree, Midlands #3 has a little bring zone where land meets sky on the left edge. Darken or crop this bit and the picture is about as good as it gets, bar nothing.
Midlands, Tasmania, foreground grass too "hot"; needs subduing with a mild burn.
Gratuitous comments indeed but that's what I'd chase if I were making these into gelatin-silvers in my darkroom. But then they wouldn't be authentic Alex Gard pictures.

[alex gard]

Thanks for pointing those out. Always looking to better myself and pick up on niggly details like that.

The Midlands shot with the way overblown grass was overexposed by probably 1/2 stop and not developed accordingly. I tried burning it out digitally but it looked quite displeasing, I'm not proficient enough in digital editing to get around that issue just yet. There is very littledetail in it on the negative. Yellow/dry grass with a red filter certainly comes out super bright on a sunny day...

The tree, sprent shot was taken before I discovered a pretty bad light leak between bellows and camera back (not sealed properly). The light leak affected everything on both those edges you pointed out, even more so with a longer focal length like 210mm where the bellows are pretty stretched.

The other points you mentioned where land meets sky is almost certainly from the MOD54 teeth and my rough development. Funny I thought I'd got the technique to avoid it as the last few batches I'd developed didn't have this problem but I must have done something wrong to bring it out again in this lot... perhaps using the stirring rod, not rigorous enough... who knows. But thanks for pointing out those issues. I'll sit down and fix them and see how they turn out.

I don't have access to a darkroom yet. Kind of between places at the moment but hope to get a flat in the next cpl of months and will set up a darkroom so Ican start printing.

[alex gard]

Midlands, Tasmania by Alex Gard, on Flickr

[Maris]

Good one Alex. Midlands, Tasmania is getting international praise and deserves every bit of it.

[alex gard]

Here's one from my very first batch of 8x10's
I haven't been out and about shooting anything since that last lot of "Midlands Tasmania" photos, so quite a while. I only just got myself a van which I've turned into a camper, I haven't had a car until now. Felt really good to be able to get out on the road in my own time and just shoot some pics. Probably gonna need more 8x10 film holders though, only have three at the moment.

Also, Maris, how do you carry your Tachi around (I mean, in a bag)? I got one of those photobackpacker units that was supposed to fit the tachi but the knobs for the rear standard gearing protrude too far and it doesn't allow me to zip it up. So now I'm just using it to carry my 8x10 holders....



8x10, 420mm
Fomapan 200, Red 25A
R09 1:50 10 mins
Epson scan, no post production (except for crop because I'm getting some pretty heavy scratching from the CL81 processing reel)


Meander, Tasmania by Alex Gard, on Flickr

[Maris]

Alex, I envy you. A van, a camper, an 8x10 camera, and all of Tassie to distill into glorious landscapes.

I carry my triple extension 8x10 Tachihara in a Aus Club travel pack with a full opening front. I've compartmented the bag with bending ply softened with glued on closed-cell foam. The Tachihara knobs for the rear standard stick out too far to put the camera in the bag horizontally so it goes in vertically and is covered by a folded focussing cloth.. Extra padding protects the knob nearest the bottom of the bag from bumps. The top of the bag has a cross compartment for a couple of lenses and a meter. The day pack bag that rides on the the travel pack contains 5 film holders, cable release, and filters. Lashed to the bag is a Goretex coat and rain pants in case the alpine weather turns nasty.

All up, tripod included, the gear comes to 22kg. I'll walk 10km flat or 300m altitude gain. I reckon there's no point in doing more. I don't want to get to the top of the mountain and find I'm too wasted to photograph! My other strategy is to never to carry the 8x10 on speculation. I walk the ground first and pick spots to set up the camera. On photography day I'll walk to the furthest point and make exposures during the trudge back. This way when I'm out of film and out of energy I'm back at the car...blessed relief.

[Lachlan717]

Alex,

Have you considered further cropping of the last image?

[alex gard]

What would you recommend, lachlan? Open to suggestions! Just enjoying all that sweet negative space...

[Lachlan717]

I find the light patch in the bottom left to be a massive distraction. Also, the post about a third of the way up from the bottom also distracts.

When I look at this image with the bottom cropped off (to just above the post), it just feels more balanced to me. Just my two cents worth.

Congratulations on the quality of exposure/processing. You've been producing some outstanding exposures!

[Maris]

I agree with Lachlan717. The picture without the patch and the post is more concentrated. The tense eyeline between the tree and the mountain makes for a strong image. Incidentally, is the mountain Quamby Bluff?