My Love Affair With Large Format

Capturing my world with my 4x5

Andy Adams from FlakPhoto Digest recently asked his subscribers what first got them into photography. This got me thinking about the origins of my journey as a photographer. I can’t quite remember when it all started for me, I have taken photos for as long as I can remember, going through disposable cameras in grade school/middle school and high school constantly, and my parents very indulgently paying for film processing. (Remember that??)

Then in college I decided that I wanted to pick up an art degree on top of my other major, so I tried drawing, printmaking and painting and I found them difficult and frustrating. I understand now that the source of frustrations was more about my undiagnosed ADHD, and lack of skills and seeking immediate gratification. 

Which led me to trying photography in a more formal way. I wanted to get exactly what I saw in front of me on the page and I felt like the camera could help me do that. 

I started with a Pentax K1000 and a Canon AE-1 with a busted light meter. I didn’t realize that neither light meter worked well until I’d gone through about 20 rolls of film. Ad. broke college kid this discovery of under-developed film was devastating. 

As is typical of many of us, I first fell in love with silver gelatin, and the process of developing my own film and then prints on an enlarger. The second semester I was in the darkroom at my University they actually opened a new building with state of the art everything, and were selling their old enlargers and other outdated film processing stuff at bargain basement prices, but I couldn’t swing even those prices. I still regret not getting my hands on one of those enlargers. 

I also began to collect old camera at estate sales, and antique stores. I had a few old polaroids, a brownie, a holga and a few assorted things that could only be considered cameras in the loosest sense of the word. None of which were light tight. Personally, I think the light gaps are half the fun when trying to shoot with vintage cameras. It’s the same reason I also love developing expired film to see what happens. 

At some point in my college class work - I honestly can’t remember exactly how it happened, someone lent me a 4x5 camera, and my whole world changed. 

For those of you who don’t know what a 4x5 is - it’s a camera that shoots 4 by 5 inch negative film, meaning it has a ton more information than a 35mm frame and can be enlarged and manipulated in many different ways. (Think Ansel Addams, who shot the incredible nature and national parks photos in large format - both 4x5 and on 8x10.) 

I was obsessed, OBSESSED! 

A long time family friend had an old studio 4x5 he was no longer using, and he gave it to me to play with. It was a bear, it had giant metal rails - studio in this case means it was meant to be mounted with said rails and only the bellows would move. It was unwieldy and temperamental, but I gave it my all, and shot some pretty decent stuff considering I didn’t/couldn’t actually mount it anywhere and would just manhandle it into place. 

Clearly this wasn’t sustainable, so I made a goal to save up for a Toyo field 4x5. ‘Field’ meaning it weighs less than 1lb and can fold into itself for easy storage and setup. 

I took a bit of a large formal hiatus, and never did buy the Toyo.

But then, Christmas of 2019 my husband and family pulled off one of the greatest gifting surprises and bought me an Intrepid 4x5. Until I laid eyes on the camera, I had never even heard of Intrepid having stepped away from the photography world for a bit. 

Intrepid Camera has revolutionized the large format game, creating an incredible camera for an affordable price. (They are not sponsors, I just truly adore my Intrepid 4x5)

My family didn’t want to buy me a lens, they know that’s a very personal decision, so the camera came outfitted with a pinhole lens board. 

I was in heaven! I took it to Hawaii with me in February of 2020 (little did I know, some of that film is still yet unprocessed.) Having great conversations with all the TSA agents that had to hand check the camera and film. Turns out one of the TSA agents at the Kona airport shoots 8x10 film. 

If you’ve never seen someone shooting with a large format, let me tell you, it’s a complete spectacle. The amount of out and out stares I would get while setting the camera up, getting the loop and cloth in position and finding the correct bellows alignment and aperture setting. Hilarious. 

Hawaii was the first time I really got to take my 135mm lens out for a test drive. 

Every photo is at least a 5 minute process. Although the genius behind the pinhole means you get to skip the focus/depth of field step. But even still, it’s a process. 

And I love every bit of it.

Although admittedly, and especially when I’ve taken a hiatus from shooting, I invariably miss a step. It’s become almost a meditative practice for me going through the process of making a picture. Plus since the film is about $1-2 a sheet as is processing per sheet, mistakes can get costly very quickly. 

Recently I also got a Lomographlox Instant back for the camera that replaces the glass, and now I can shoot fuji instax film too. It’s not the same size - closer to 2 1/2 by 4 inches, but it’s INSTANT. It’s quite exciting! 

More updates on my 4x5 journey soon. Large format folks, reach out and let’s connect! 

What I’m thinking about today : I remember growing up jello was a mainstay of every potluck and was often in my (or my friends) refrigerator. My intake of jello in the last twenty years has drastically decreased. Now it’s only if I’m admitted to the hospital or had a tooth extracted - neither of which is high on my list of things to do. I suppose it could also be jello shots, but I’m not typically hangin out where those are, since I’m an old lady now.