Tips for Large Format Photography on a Budget

As a film based hobbyist photographer I have relied quite heavily on resources from books, manufacturer tech sheets, and blog posts to keep myself knowledgeable and up to date on the seemingly endless facets of the hobby. The latter of those three being the most important and useful. Most books, while still great reads and fascinating, are quite outdated and the manufacturer technical documentation while useful are lacking in context and depth. This era is marked by ones ability to seek and digest information, to teach themselves, and in my experience blog posts tend to be the most useful for doing so. 

That is why I intend to start a series of posts that will detail aspects of my workflows and processes that I’ve discovered, learned, developed, and stumbled across. As such, outside of this statement I intend to be more concise and to the point - both in hopes these posts will be easier to digest but to also encourage me to continue writing them! 

Intended Audience - The hobby photographer who is curious about film based processes combined with modern digital workflows. Basically, those interested in how to shoot film in the digital era without having to necessarily break the bank or otherwise be an expert.

Shooting large format on a budget…

Since you’re still reading this I will assume you are no stranger to film based photography and have some idea about what shooting large format entails. Regardless I will be upfront and say that this is not a cheap hobby. Of the film formats this is by far the most expensive - in terms of raw costs (film, processing, gear) but also in time and effort. In the US a 36 exposure roll of 35mm Kodak Gold 200 and processing (assuming self scanning) can be had for around $10 if you look hard enough. The costs for a single sheet of 4x5 Kodak Ektar and processing (again, assuming self scanning) is around $8. That number grows geometrically as one goes to 5x7, 8x10, or above.

As you become familiar with your large format camera and experiment with composition, focus, and movements it is best to start creating your own unique workflow. Much of the early parts of experimentation mean simply shooting a lot and belaying the associated costs can make a lot of sense. No reason to break the bank until you’re comfortable doing so! There are ways to save money when first getting into this format. Below are a few I use to help ease some of the costs. (With regards to time and effort, that is a different cost that I assume one has a large budget for!)

Bodie, California Fall 2017
A few months prior I had managed to get a very good deal on a box of 4x5 Rollei IR 400 B/W film. This is a specialty film since it can capture near infrared light. In practice this means deep black skies and bright white living matter (when used with a R72 cutoff filter). It was a great combo with the Bodie Ghost town as I was looking for ways of showing how desolate the land and distant from civilization the town is.

Shoot B/W film

Simply looking at film stock costs makes this one pretty straightforward. Black and white film is a magnitude cheaper in larger formats than its color counterparts. In the Kodak family TMax is about half the cost of Ektar while with Eastern European films like Fomapan (or FreestylePhoto’s Arista EDU) can be had for less than $1 per sheet!

Additionally I find black and white photography allows me to work more closely with form, texture, and tonality. Very much a separate and deeper topic, B/W vs. color, it is a great way of approaching a scene or shoot. When starting out it is also a great way to nail down technical skills with your camera.

Process yourself 

It is always important to have a quality photo lab you trust but processing costs have been growing over the last decade as the analog market has stabilized. If you are just getting started with the format but already have experience with roll film I very much suggest starting out processing your own film. This is doubly true with B/W given how simple it is to develop.

If you are interested in home processing, 4x5 is the easiest of the large formats. Personally I use  a Patterson Tank Mulitreel 3 with a MOD54 “reel” which allows for six sheets to be processed in one liter of chemicals. There are also a number of other tank based options including several recent kickstarters in this area like the SP-445 (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1653453089/sp-445-compact-4x5-film-processing-system). 

The most “proper”, inexpensive, and simple way to home process is tray development. The downside is that you need a truly blacked out dark room and space. There is also a little more skill needed to properly rotate sheets and agitate but not that difficult to master. This method is great if you have a large batch of film as you can process quite a few sheets at once, in less chemical volume, after you’ve mastered the process.

Scan yourself

Scanning is always tricky, regardless of format, in my experience. It’s true that nothing beats a “wet” print or high end scanner - but it is possible to get quality results with more hobby friendly processes. 

Things are more complicated with the larger formats since whichever scanner you use needs a large scanning area. Since large format has always been a professional oriented medium most consumer scanners will only support 35mm and 120. This does not mean there aren’t scanners out there than can handle large format though! The best bang for the buck, but still not quite a few bucks, is the Epson v800 - which allows native scans of up to 8x10! If that is still above your budget there are still options.

DSLR scanning

Most people these days have a dSLR or mirrorless camera. A great tool that combined with a macro lens, tripod, and light table makes a great film scan station. With larger formats a larger tripod or wider macro lens will be needed but still a great, and fast, way to digitize your sheet film. The larger downside is the lack of resolution - one of the great reasons to shoot sheet film is the abundant resolution which easily out resolves any digital camera short of those that cost as much as a car. 

Scan and stitch

As simple as it sounds. Use whatever scanner you have that can partially fit a sheet of film, scan in parts, and digitally stitch together. Used with the dSLR method above and you can get some of that sweet resolution out of your sheets. For me, I use an old Epson v500 and scan in halves - stitching with photoshop. It is more tedious sure but I am able to capture a lot of resolution and have nice 48bit TIFF files. In the future I plan to do a dedicated post just about my scanning process.

Mobius Arch Spring 2017
I’ve talked about this image quite a bit. Suffice to say it is the first large format color photograph I’ve taken that I liked. While compared to shooting normal color film it was very much more economical it was also much more complex to “get right”. Regardless with the lower monetary burden of shooting I felt much more comfortable experimenting and shooting with the film.

Try slide duplicating film

This one is a more acquired taste. If you’re itching to shoot color sheet film but don’t want to stomach the costs, especially if you’re not completely comfortable with your camera yet? Slide duplicating or other “lab” films are a more economically friendly way of shooting color. For example, I bought a slightly expired box of Fuji CDU-II slide duplicating film a few years back for about 1$ a sheet. 

Unfortunately, these films are not meant for camera capture but rather exposure by laser or specialized lab equipment. What this means is that these films often have non-standard color balances (such as tungsten or others) which will require filtration. Additionally many don’t even have an official ISO rating - but in general are all very slow. That Fuji CDU-II I bought is around ISO 6.

If you have an affection for alternative film this is a good option but at the exchange of inexpensive cost for technical complexity.

Convict Lake Apsen at Dawn Fall 2018
This image was the culmination of much scouting and patience. The day prior I had hiked deep behind Convict Lake to find compositions and find this scene. Analyzing the scene I figured dawn light would be the best. The next morning in 20 degree weather I got myself up at 4:30am, made a big cup of coffee, and drove the 45 minutes to the lake followed by another 40 minutes of hiking. Finally I set my camera up and composed this frame, only to wait another 30 or so minutes for the light to be right. Well worth the required patience - it does pay to be prepared and willing to slow down.

Slow down 

Perhaps the most important of these tips, slowing down your process is the best way to increase the quality of your output. Basically put, quality is greater than quantity. Large format is exceedingly unforgiving as a tool to understand, control, and master. One should not approach it as they would with a 35mm or other format of camera. By that I mean it is not a format that inherently should be used for spontaneity, subtleness, and speed. It is a tool for realizing an image.

Put in a different way it is best to already know the photograph you want to take before you look at the ground glass. Spending the extra time and effort in preparation, timing, composition, and overall reflection will yield you much better photographs. 

I often struggle with this as I come from a background of shooting medium format. I will try to apply the same mindset to large format - seeing as I am shooting - which yields many rushed, poorly composed, and low quality shots. Yet, when I have explicitly slowed down by scouting a location, comprehending compositions and the light, and later returning when conditions are right I end up only exposing a few sheets which turn out very good.

Conclusion

Well I said I would keep things more concise which I think I did and yet here I am 1500 words later… As with anything else you read on the internet please do take these tips with a grain of salt. They are simply what I have done to help ease myself into large format photography when I first started. Some might appear obvious to you and others ridiculous - and that’s ok! Everyones photography journey is different, I just wanted to share a bit of mine :)