A Large Format Morning

So Thierry and Adrian got their 4×5 cameras up and running. Thierry’s still needs a few touch ups, but is otherwise working well. Adrian’s is resplendent in green hammertone and brown vintage leather – he figures this is how Busch should have made a camera back in the ’50s. See our separate page on the Busch race for more details.

The next step was to get them out in the wild. Thierry is new to large format photography, and Adrian’s has been gathering cobwebs since he figured toddlers and the slow pace of large format don’t mix. Fortunately, toddlers grow up.

So Sunday morning, the invitation was out to arrive at the John R. Park Homestead on the shore of Lake Erie to photograph the dawn. Tom came along too, but Trevor somehow didn’t arrive – something to do with the birth of his daughter the night before. Priorities.

He missed a beautiful morning shoot. A line of clouds on the south horizon over Ohio added a nice accent to the otherwise clear sky. It didn’t take long to go through all the 4×5 film budgeted for the morning. Black and white, of course.

The results speak for themselves. There is nothing like the fiercely detailed and honest images from a large format negative.