Saturday 10 March 2012

Exposed or not?

I'm now really concerned which of the 5x4 sheets have been exposed and which haven't.  I've been taking three per location (normally I take two, but wanted belt and braces) which means there is usually a gap before I go out and take the fourth sheet (reverse side of the third).  So when I come to take the fourth sheet I'm questioning myself as to whether I exposed the 'a' side or was I careless and use the 'b' side.  I can't be 100% sure. Two or four exposures at one go works better than three I would conclude. Now I'm hesitant to take anymore just in case I double expose...it's fraught with difficulties this large format photography lark!

4 comments:

  1. You're supposed to turn the sheath over when you expose. White side showing unexposed, black side exposed.

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  2. BTW you can also write on the sheath with white chinagraph as a record.

    My standard practice is to permanently number the dark slide sides by side, 1/2, 3/4 etc. then you can make contemporaneous notes of what each one is and it's exposure more easily than writing it on the sheath.

    When you're shooting large format a lot of your procedures have to be insurance routines, it's too easy and there are too many opportunities to confuse, double expose and fog.

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  3. Thanks Clive. I think I'm just not getting out there frequently enough for it to become habitual yet...so I'm always questioning myself. My dark slides are numbered but its when I'm out taking the photos I'm not quite as systematic as I could be. None of it feels instinctive yet, so I get things in the wrong order and make the mistakes of a beginner sadly...

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  4. It's useful to have an assistant when working with 5x4 to take care of those things. ' }

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