Walter, your perception of the deficiency in the above image is well warranted and correct. With regard to the rhomboid slanting roof, there is about another metre of clear roof, then from memory, things got busy and I liked the clean lines of what is on the negative
The 90mm would have been better, but necessitating one to move well away from the shelter of the truck. The wind was gusting up around 16-17 metres a second and all things being what they are, the 150mm was the way to go. If I had changed over to the 90mm and put the bag bellows on, I knew I would have been moving closer and still needing some interesting front rise. I wasn't in the mood to be buffeted once again by unrelenting wind gusts.
Now after all of that defensive writing, I can tell you that if we go back there again, I'll have the 90mm on from the get go!
Your reference to the southern light is interesting and has always intrigued me as the light actually comes from the north this far south and is very directional in the cooler months as the sun's arc in the sky lowers. With regard to FP4+, I tend to agree with you, but there is another contender. I have used Bergger pancro 400 for some years now and have found it to be the best film out of the films I currently use. HP5+, FP4+, Foma (in three speeds) and Bergger pancro 400.
It has always performed better in every situation where I've directly compared it against my favourite film, FP4+. Bergger pancro 400 really shines with the ability it has to hold shadow and highlight detail that FP4+ does quite well, but nowhere as good as Bergger pancro 400.
Below, is an example of fantastic shadow and highlight detail in quite harsh lighting with Bergger pancro 400.
viewtopic.php?f=13&t=1374During our quite long lockdown in Victoria last year, I did some cleaning up of my film and paper refrigerator. I was pleasantly surprised to find I had 7 x 100 sheet boxes of FP4+ left, not to mention 2 x 50 sheet boxes of Foma 400, 1 box of 50 Bergger pancro 400 and 2 x 100 sheet boxes of HP5+, then there are some miscellaneous boxes of film bringing my total somewhere near 1400 sheets of film. Needless to say, FP4+ is looking good for my immediate future photography.
Mick.