Iceland: a 4x5" Portfolio

[Vieri]

In mid-November 2024 my wife and I went to Iceland, for our 9-day Workshop there and an extra 8 days dedicated to my personal work.

Out of all our late 2024 destinations, Iceland was the one that worried me the most. Snowy and icy grounds, high speed winds, sand, moving water when photographing in rivers, waterfall spray, ocean spray, snow and rain, made Iceland possibly the destination least friendly to 4×5” photography of all those we visited since I started working with 4×5” film in September 2024.

To prevent this, in Iceland I was even more careful than usual about my tripod technique. I used all the tricks I knew, and that paid off. We found seriously difficult conditions, and while I did end up losing some long exposure photographs to micro-movement, I lost way less than I feared I would.

I just posted a blog article about this trip, including a 16-photographs Portfolio and my recommended Workflow for maximising results when shooting in adverse conditions. You can find it following the link below:

ICELAND: A 4x5" PORTFOLIO

Below you'll find a few photographs out the Portfolio for you to enjoy:

All photographs have been taken with Ilford FP4+, rated at 100 ISO, and developed in Pyrocat-HD for 12 minutes and 30 seconds, 30 seconds of agitation at start followed by 2 agitations per minute. The film has been pre-washed in water for 5 minutes prior to developing.

Best regards,

Vieri

 

[Jeff15]

As usual, Vieri, very good images ...

 

[slat]

Very nice.

 

[Vieri]

As usual, Vieri, very good images ...

Thank you very much, Jeff, glad you enjoyed them!

Very nice.

Thank you slat, happy you liked them!

Best regards,

Vieri

 

[greybeard]

I've shot 4x5 years ago and I know just how much work goes into schlepping one around. These are beautiful. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Vieri]

I've shot 4x5 years ago and I know just how much work goes into schlepping one around. These are beautiful. Thanks for sharing.

Hey greybeard, thank you very much, happy you liked them!

4x5" is definitely more work, and more bulk and weight. Since I don't like to carry too much, I did all I could to build a small and light enough kit - I put together an Arca-Swiss camera that weighs about 2.6kg, and I selected the 4 lenses I typically carry so that the kit would be the smallest and lightest possible (Schneider 47mm Super-Angulon XL, Nikkor-SW 75mm f/4.5 S or Schneider Super-Symmar 80mm f/4.5, Nikkor-W 150mm f/5.6 S, Nikkor-M 300mm f/9). I carry 6 double film holders, for a total of 12 shots, and a very small and light filter kit from Kase with polariser, 3-6-10 stop ND, orange and red filters (all magnetic, 82mm with a step-up ring on each lens). My bag is under 10kg, which is not bad, considering.

But, I am loving the results, and until I am able to I will try and keep carrying the weight and bulk!

Best regards,

Vieri

 

[smoke665]

As always beautiful work. As a side note, I suspect that these would be way more impressive printed large, hanging on a wall, than the small compressed digital images here. Also, while not a criticism, one of the strong points of your landscapes has to be the beautiful colors you capture. Sadly the B&W leaves me wondering what you actually saw when the shutter clicked.

 

[Vieri]

As always beautiful work. As a side note, I suspect that these would be way more impressive printed large, hanging on a wall, than the small compressed digital images here. Also, while not a criticism, one of the strong points of your landscapes has to be the beautiful colors you capture. Sadly the B&W leaves me wondering what you actually saw when the shutter clicked.

Thank you so much smoke! I haven't had a chance to print any of these photographs yet (I just finished them before leaving for or spring Workshop season) but I can't wait to try some when we are back home after Easter!

About colours, that is very interesting - the way I see it, that leaves it to you as the viewer to add your own colours to the photographs, inspired by what the b&w suggests, something I find a rather magical thing compared to simply seeing the colours that were there...

Best regards,

Vieri