I’ve always been intrigued with large format film photography; the slow pace, unmatched quality/resolution and not knowing if you got the shot until weeks later when the film has been processed/scanned. Since I primarily shoot with a Nikon D850, which claims to be on the same level as medium format film, I knew I had to step it up a bit to justify going the film route vs. sticking with digital. I ultimately decided to go with a 4×5 field camera and a somewhat wide angle 90mm lens (28mm in full frame DSLR terms) to give it a try.
I’ve shot some roll film in the past on a traditional SLR, but nothing can prepare you for the steep learning curve of loading sheet film in darkness, composing a shot upside down and backwards, focusing on the ground glass, etc. There are just so many opportunities for something to go wrong.
Since I didn’t want to be rushed on my first shot and I didn’t know how the film would handle wide dynamic range scenes, I knew I wanted to avoid a sunset/sunrise. I decided to go to the South Yuba River, just outside of Nevada City, to a rock I’ve shot before because I knew the composition I wanted and what the light would do.
Using a makeshift dark cloth and loupe, I was somewhat confident I was able to get a nice composition with the entire scene in focus. I used my DSLR as a light meter to get what I thought was the proper exposure. I brought with me 2 film holders, each with 2 sheets of film. 2 sheets of Velvia 100 and 2 sheets of Delta 100 (black and white). Just in case I messed something up with loading the film, I exposed all 4 sheets of the exact same scene hoping that at least 1 color and 1 black and white would turn out.