My very first post

[ksmattfish]

Finally...

Film: Tmax100 4x5
Camera: Anniversary Speed Graphic
Lens: Schneider 150mm f/5.6
Filter: Red #25

I can't remember the f/stop, shutter speed, etc... This was shot on the north side of my house, in the middle of the day. I used my tripod and cable release. The scan is from a silver gelatin print on 8x10 Ilford glossy FB.

Much thanks to Doxx for teaching me how to resize!!!

 

[photobug]

Matt- WOW! Super shot! :shock:

This pic has a very.... rich quality, for lack of a better word. It makes me almost feel the color, which a lot ot color shots don't do.

Simply awesome! 8)

 

[ksmattfish]

Matt- WOW! Super shot! :shock:

This pic has a very.... rich quality, for lack of a better word. It makes me almost feel the color, which a lot ot color shots don't do.

Simply awesome! 8)

Thanks. I wish I could take the credit, but it all belongs to Tmax100 and a 4x5 neg. You should see it in 16x20; I can't even find the grain with my grain focuser.

 

[vonnagy]

holy cow your first post??? wow, i've been reading and appreciating your comments for quite some time, and this is your first post?

needless to say, simply breathless. That is one beautiful shot, the leaves, the white flowers, framing of the shot, the tone... I can't really critique- its beyond me

we bow before thy skill!

it somewhat reminds of a shot of lesser quality i did a while back:
http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1860&highlight=nz+weed

thanks for contributing the photo and all prior comments and suggestions

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i've come back after I snooped around to see the other photos you've posted today - you seriously need to get a website up for them dude!

 

[Thorniest Whisper]

Wow indeed! I had to keep looking to see if you really titled it your first post. I gotta say I love it.

 

[Dew]

lovely contrast and composition ... great detail in the flowers

 

[ksmattfish]

Wow indeed! I had to keep looking to see if you really titled it your first post. I gotta say I love it.

Well, I guess it's not my first post, just my first photograph posted. The majority of the photo technology I'm using these days is about 10 to 20 years older than I am and it took me a while to get set up with a "digital darkroom".

 

[bogleric]

Very nice shot. The contrast and lighting is surreal and keeps my attention for quite some time. Excellent shot :!:

 

[ksmattfish]

In reality the leaves of the Hostas are a brighter green, possibly even slightly brighter than zone 5 (middle gray) and the flowers are white. I knew that I wanted the leaves to come out very dark so I used the #25 red filter to cause the bright green to underexpose. I took a comparison shot without any filter, and although the lovely texture is still there it is no where near as dramatic.

 

[voodoocat]

I'm speechless. I'm so glad you joined the rest of the world and got a scanner.

 

[mrsid99]

Absolutely great!
Normally B&W is not my bag but this is something else, however, I can't help but wonder what it would look like in color.

 

[craig]

Yeah whatever! Why do we need to see the two small buds on the upper left hand side of the frame? I am playing the devil's advocate of course. Of all my years in the darkroom I never even came close to making a silver gel print. Beautiful job! I will play the devil's advocate again by asking how far will digital go? Certainly matching a gelatin silver print is farther down the road? Maybe if I had a 20,000 dollar Leaf system on my 4x5?

 

[ksmattfish]

Absolutely great!
Normally B&W is not my bag but this is something else, however, I can't help but wonder what it would look like in color.

I'm going to get some green toner. This should tone the leaves green and leave the whites of the flowers. I think that this is the rare kind of image that is going to work with green toner.

A silver gelatin print is just a fancy way of saying traditional darkroom print. If you are getting BWs from a lab, most likely it's not a silver gelatin print. But if you are printing in a darkroom at home or in a class you are making silver gelatin prints.

The richness of texture and tonality comes from the 4x5 neg. I am amazed that it still comes through will such a small image file (thanks again, Doxx!!!). To make the 8x10 this file is scanned from I enlarged the neg about as much as making wallet size pics from a 35mm neg.

These hostas are on the north side of my house. The leaves grow almost to the size of a dinner plate. The flowers come in late August and are very fragrant. Their main job is to hide my gas meter. This was the only viewpoint I could get using my 150mm lens (I was as close as I could focus) that doesn't show house, fence, gas meter, etc...

I can see what you mean about the buds. I actually gave them some burning in to lessen their distraction; it would be worth checking out a print with burned in even more. With the 4x5 neg, cropping them out would hardly affect quality, but I can't bear to lose any of the vertical length, and it would alter the positioning of the main flowers.

I could have snipped the buds. Occasionally I do remove dead weeds or a fallen branch if it is in the foreground and distracting, but I didn't want to alter the living plant. Besides, I wanted to enjoy the flowers later. That's why I don't take many pics of sunsets; I'm too busy enjoying them with my own eyeballs.

This is the camera and lens that I used to take this photo.

 

[Tyjax]

If you get tired of that camera I can find a good home for it. Great shot. Love the zone range.

 

[photoman]

Very nice photo i love the contrast

Do you normaly shoot 4x5 film, or do you have a preference to format?

I wish i could get that type of tonality out of my film :? . Maybe i should look into buying some filters for b&w


Excellent photo