Large Format Photography Australia

Lake Cootharaba, Swings
Gelatin-silver photograph on Ilford Classic VC FB photographic paper, image size 19.3cm X 24.7cm, from an 8x10 Fomapan 200 negative exposed in a Tachihara 810HD field view camera fitted with a Fujinon-W 300mm f5.6 lens.

These swings get a workout after school and on those long warm summer evenings.

Bravo Msris, That patch of sky and clouds is alluring and prompting quite some desire to try some Fomapan sooner rather than later in the event that this lockdown should ever be eased. the motifof the shot is rewarding also.

Quite agree. I have some 5x7 Fomapan 200 on the way. It's supposed to have a wide tonal range, especially in the highlights, which your image seems to verify very nicely.

Thank you Walter Glover and Barry Kirsten. You are both right. The 8x10 Fomapan 200 negative exposed at EI = 100 has plenty of shadow detail in the peripheral vegetation but the highlights, and that nice cloud, really carry the picture. So the trees and bushes were dropped to silhouettes in printing in order to give the sky and water room to deliver a nice run of tones.

As a matter of interest, Maris, what developer did you use for the negative? I intend using my all-time favourite PMK, which from experience gives beautiful expansion particularly to fully exposed highlights.

Barry Kirsten, I've got it easy.
Conventional panchromatic film in a large format size is remarkably uncritical about development; as long as it is enough. I continue to use the batch of Xtol I mixed back in 2007 that has been replenished ever since at the rate of 90ml per standard film. Xtol this well seasoned is of unknown but stable composition and it develops Fomapan 200 (EI 100) in 11min 15sec at 20 Celcius.

This is a good one Maris