Possibly my best Large Format shot to date?

EdBray

EdBray

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Edward Bray
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Orchids against cut black slate:

Whilst the weather was a bit gloomy and I had little else to do I set myself an exercise to photograph my Wife's White and Lemon Orchids against some Cut Black Slate which I had had cut a while ago to use as a background.

The main aim of the exercise was to use the front swing and tilt of my Canham MQC 5x7 to enable me to bring most if not all the flower heads into focus. As these heads were stacked both right and left and up and down it seemed the perfect type of subject.

The image was shot on Adox CHS25 5x7 film using a Schneider 240mm f5.6 Symmar-S lens which was set at f29 (I had to lose 1/3 stop to allow for reciprocity failure). I also had to allow 2½ stops for the bellows extension which then gave me an exposure time of 60 seconds.

The film was rotary processed using a Jobo Print Drum with Pyrocat HD at 24° C for 8 minutes and then fixed using some home-made TF-3 Alkaline fixer before washing and drying.

When dried the film was scanned using my V750 scanner at 1200dpi and then some localised exposure control was carried out using Nik Silver Efex Pro 2 before finally resizing and sharpening in Photoshop CS5.


Orchids against cut black slate 5x7 by Ed Bray, on Flickr
 
It's a very nice shot though I find the halo around the flowers a bit of a distraction, it detracts from the contrast between white flowers and darker background. Probably not much you could do about that though I suppose, aside from doing it again on different film stock.
 
Thanks, I will try similar again although using the movements was the reason for the image.
 
Very nice indeed the blooms that are pointing slightly away from the RH light have wonderful detail and characteristics with a very warm natural tone, just love the bokeh you created, I would be extremely pleased with a photograph like that.(y)
 
Nice work Ed, loving the detail even though I'm not a fan of orchids. I really like the tonal rendition you're getting out of the Adox.
 
loving this picture the detail is great and i love the subject very well taken
 
Thanks all for your comments.

RaglanSurf said:
Nice work Ed, loving the detail even though I'm not a fan of orchids. I really like the tonal rendition you're getting out of the Adox.
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I've just found out this week that they have stopped making it. I've managed to buy a box of 13x18cm and one of 5x7 but can't find anymore in stock anywhere.

.
 
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EdBray said:
I've just found out this week that they have stopped making it. I've managed to buy a box of 13x18cm and one of 5x7 but can't find anymore in stock anywhere.

.
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:eek::eek::eek: Bloody hell, better get stock piling!
 
A great shot Ed, the detail from that 5"x7" film is astounding.

CHS25 should hopefully be back soon as Adox are hoping to restart production at their German coating facility shortly with the closure of Efke. Apparently CHS100 will come first followed by 25 and 50.
 
Well I've got 3 boxes of 50 at the moment so hopefully that will last a while, large format means I only shoot up to four frames a day as processing more than that at a time is a bit of a chore.
 
I love the level of detail and the depth of field gained by the movements.

Out of interest, what causes the slight halos?
 
philthejuggler said:
I love the level of detail and the depth of field gained by the movements.

Out of interest, what causes the slight halos?
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It has been suggested on the Large Format Forum that it's something to do with Nik Silver Efex but I'm not sure.
 
Great shot and I like its slightly toned rendition. The halos I think could be caused by Silver Efex if you used their clarity slider - some combination of that slider with contrast can give that.

Also not sure if its just me but the orchid in the middle to the left seems partially out of focus which looks a bit weird.
 
Bloody Hell. If that was mine I'd have died and gone to Heaven.
 
dalex_257 said:
Great shot and I like its slightly toned rendition. The halos I think could be caused by Silver Efex if you used their clarity slider - some combination of that slider with contrast can give that.

Also not sure if its just me but the orchid in the middle to the left seems partially out of focus which looks a bit weird.
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Thanks. Yes, the top left Orchid is just out of the DOF which is a bit unfortunate but at the magnification there was not much else I could do.

trevorbray said:
Bloody Hell. If that was mine I'd have died and gone to Heaven.
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Thanks for the comment, still a large learning curve with large format and I am quite pleased with my progress so far.
 
The quality on this is breath taking!
 
Absolutely stunning shot, Ed, the detail in the image and the way you have arranged the lighting is just lovely.

As the halo around the flowers is possibly/probably caused by Silver Efex, it must be worth another try at processing?

There is so much detail in the image, and so much care has gone into the taking stage, that another approach at the pp stage should make what is already a great image even better.

Thanks for sharing.
 
Hi Ed, I really like this shot, its a classic and has a lovely softness to it! I can easily see it being on a generic card or even a wall print. I always think if I have to go back to an image to have another look it is worth it and I looked at yours about 5 times :)
 
Thanks gents, when I get back from my hols I'll have another go.
 
Nice photo but I wonder if the halo is apparent on the neg as it looks like Halation to me. Its possible this film doesn’t lend itself to longer exposures, at least in the highlights.
Has anyone else found this effect when using the Adox film mentioned?
 
horrocks said:
Beautiful detail, and you have just saved the highlights.
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ilikebowens said:
Nice photo but I wonder if the halo is apparent on the neg as it looks like Halation to me. Its possible this film doesn’t lend itself to longer exposures, at least in the highlights.
Has anyone else found this effect when using the Adox film mentioned?
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Thanks for the comments, I have used Adox 25 before in 5x7 and not noticed this but it may be due to the long exposure. As I said, Iwilltry again with a similar subject when I return home from my hols.
 
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