HP5, Rodinal, Gradient ND filter
I was laughing a bit the last few days as people discussed whether they liked or disliked Ken Rockwell. I take his post with a grain of salt, being aware that his #1 goal is probably to drive people to his site (he’s making a living off of it, after all) and I do agree he likes to stir the pot.
But, as others have expressed, he does know some things. The image above is a result of being reminded by Mr. Rockwell about split-density ND filters to lessen the contrast between sky and foreground. I had one of those filters but it had languished in my closet, forgotten, until a post by Mr. Rockwell reminded me.
That day when Peg and I went to the dry lake bed and worked, I used that split filter and captured many images that would have never worked without it. I have always liked shooting into the sun (or close to it) and this filter helped me salvage something from those images.
That point also reminds me of a lot of reading I’ve done over the holiday regarding finding your voice, photographically. I have spent time looking over my images and find at least a couple themes in images that appeal to me: one, dramatic lighting such as the image above and two, images containing paths or roads. The second theme relates to my work in all media (there’s a play I worked on centered on exactly that theme, even though I didn’t know it when I set out to write it), and it is fascinating to see it in my images.
Regarding the first, I guess I’d better learn how to shoot almost directly into the sun and at the same time minimize flair if I am to get much of anything, keeper-wise. The up side of this is that I believe I’m heading towards a better understanding of what I look for, which is a step in the right direction.
Lastly, just an update of sorts: as a Christmas gift, my wife bought a used Mamiya 645e from KEH. You may remember my adventure with Adorama in an attempt to replace the 645e that fell. This new one arrived, I plopped a battery in it, and took it out in the back yard to shoot a roll to make sure all was well. I am going to California next week and have planned an outing to either Muir Woods or Point Lobos for a day of shooting, and I had just ordered rolls of 120 Pan F for the occasion. I figured better I should be certain the new 645e worked.
Forth frame, the shutter stuck open. With the shutter open, the film winder, of course, is locked. I called KEH this morning and their reaction was “uh-oh.” They will repair it and ship it back, but I won’t have the camera for the trip to California.
I admit to being a little frustrated. While the 5D will give me wonderful images, I’m sure, the opportunity to capture those images on both medium-format film and digital was something I was looking forward to. Oh well, packing is certainly simplified.
Sorry to hear this. Yikes.
KEH has suffered a lot of damages during the last 7 weeks. I even just today received an “Sorry” email from their owner about the web issues they were having.
Please be safe on your trip. And I happen to really like the above picture and like ND’s (Singh-Ray) quite a bit.
Chris: You’ve been having lots of troubles with the various 645e cameras. Perhaps it’s time to move on to something else.;-) I don’t even own a split-ND filter, though I could have used one a couple of times. Enjoy your trip!
Bummer, Chris! Maybe a Hasselblad 503C would work better, or a Pentax 645 or 67 or a Bronica or a…. (Sorry I got carried away!)
I have both 1 and 2 stop GDN filters for my 67 and 72mm lens. I don’t use them that much and probably should. Enjoy your trip and be safe!
Love my ND grads for the few landscape shots I do make. I wish I could help with the 645 problems I can guess how frustrated you are getting.
Paul if you want to give the ND grads a try let me know and I can send one out for you to try out. I have extras as it turns out.
Hm…I wonder why I have never used them, ND filters…? Especially since I quite often gets irritated over that the sky is way to much exposed compare to ground….
That picture is really wonderful. It’s the depth and the river that disappears in the woods. I also like the yellow-greenish tone to it, makes it look time-less.
@ Ray: I’ve said this before, but I already have three Mamiya lenses for that system or I WOULD look in another direction.
@ Ove: Thank you, my friend, for your thoughts and observations.
During a photography class I took as a beginner, the teacher pointed out to us that even with digital, ND grads require less work than exposure blending in Photoshop or HDR. Of course, there are situations where an ND grad won’t work, but you can’t have everything.
In my case since I do most of my landscape photography with film anyway, I end up using ND grads fairly regularly now.
BTW, I think you’re trying to avoid flare, not flair. But sometimes they look good (this one below is with a Fujinon 300mm f/8 lens stopped down to f/64).
http://www.whitecranephotography.com/Landscapes/Wilderness/Large-Format-Landscapes/eSamish-Sunset-24x30360dpi/613901508_TqxCb-S-6.jpg
Rakesh, I visited your site, and really love your work. Thanks for your comments, and welcome.
Thanks! I’ve been enjoying your blog for a while now, so I figured it was about time I started participating
Happy new year (to all)!