Earlier this year, during the middle of winter, I was at Ace photo in Ashburn, Virginia, my local camera store, picking up inkjet paper. I had no intention other than getting what I needed and hitting the road. But as I walked by the used gear counter I couldn't help but see a beautiful Zone VI 4x5 Large Format Film camera on display. I asked to see the camera and began to play around with it; checking out the movements, looking over the bellows and asking what if any lens they had available for it. I knew almost immediately I would be taking it home with me. What I didn't expect was my new found love and infatuation with shooting film again after almost 18 years since I sold all of my film gear and traded it in for the newest digital camera at the time.
So I returned home that day with my Zone VI and a 90mm lens (roughly equivalent to a 28mm focal length in 35mm). I knew I was gonna need more lenses, film holders, a focusing loupe and many other pieces of equipment before I could begin to go out in the field and start using this camera the way I wanted to. So over the next few weeks I began to search out the best deals on lenses, meters film holders and much more slowly putting together a field outfit for my landscape work.
In the end I ended up with four lenses. A 75mm wide-angle, 90mm, 120mm and 210mm. )I'll be adding a 300mm to the kit at some point soon). This election of lenses gives me focal lengths equivalent to 21mm to 70mm in 35mm format. A very good general landscape kit. I also added 20 film holders, a focusing loupe, Sekonik Spot Meter, extra ground glass and fresnel focusing screen, new filter for Black & White film and other random accessories.
Feeling confidant as summer approached, I decided to take a 30 day trip to the American Prairie and Rocky Mountains of Colorado and shoot all film. It was an adventure and was a little scary not having any confirmation whether I nailed the shots or completely screwed it up. I stuck to the process and shot all film. It was expensive and time consuming to say the least. After getting back home in mid July, I spent the rest of the month developing the sheets of film, all myself in newly built darkroom in my basement. And now finally having purchased an Epson V850 Pro, to scan the film, am able to share the results.
What you are seeing below is the result of six months of experimenting, failing, succeeding and sticking to this project. I hope you enjoy the images and will consider purchasing a fine art print. It'll go a long way into helping me buy more film and continue to produce work that comes from the heart. Thanks for joining me on the journey of discovery and expression through the art of photography.
** The gallery will continue to be updated with new images as I move through the scanning process.
