BW Film Landscape

[batey_1020]

Well im off to New Zealand in 2 months time and this will be my first trip with Film as my main camera equipment (P&S for the happy snaps only).

When i was using digital my favorite thing was Landscape but i always shot in color and never really with B&W in mind. On the od occasion post process to B&W. I haven't had a chnace to shoot landscape since i changed to film but will be making time to get out for a few shoots befor i go. Ill be shooting an M4 (hope it comes back in time) 50 anf 35 f2 crons and thinking of a 21mm voightlander for xmas.

Anyway i would really love some tips from the landscape shooters around here on things like:

Film - what are you using
Filters - Whats your go to filters
Bracketing - do you bracket exposure when you think you have a really nice composition but just want to make sure you get it right?
Light meter - do you use one or an EV chart?

What other sort of things do you pay close attention to when your out?
Just wanted to generate a bit of disscusion on B&W landscape really.

 

[ferider]

Hi - I just came back from a trip to Yosemite. I posted some pictures here, if you are interested: http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=126015. Here is another thread on Alaska from last year: http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=110825. And here is a 3rd thread around Death Valley: http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=100321.

In Yosemite, I used TriX (Arista Premium 400). In Alaska and Death Valley, mostly APX100 (Rollei Retro 100), both developed using Rodinal. I like grain in my landscapes, so things might be different for you, depending on your taste. I use yellow (k8) and red (r25) filters quite a bit. And yes, I bracket, both for exposure and DOF. The latter is sometimes necessary when I shoot hand-held. I develop my negatives for my scanner, so things might be different if you wet print. I always use a light meter.

Cheers,

Roland.

 

[Bingley]

I shoot a fair amount of landscapes in b&w, most of which are posted over on my flickr page. Here's a link to a set of photos from a High Sierra trip this past August. http://www.flickr.com/photos/47441613@N00/sets/72157631369545994/. For that trip, I used a Leica IIIc, with an Elmar 50/3.5 (coated) and a CV Skopar 28/3.5 for b&w. I also like the CV Skopar 50/2.5 for b&w too.

My go-to b&w films these days for landscape work are TMax 400 and TMax 100, both of which I tend to pull one stop (so I expose and develop TMax 400 at 250, and TMax 100 at 50). I'm looking for a long tonal range without excessive contrast. I'm not looking for pronounced grain. Having started off with Rodinal, I'm now using HC 110 dilution h, and am pretty happy with it (I like Rodinal, too, but Agfa has gone out of business and the original stuff is getting hard to find).

My preferred focal lengths for landscape in 35mm are the 50 (about 75% of my photos are taken with this focal length) and the 28. I use a yellow filter (either K8 or K12) a lot. I do bracket exposures occasionally, particularly if the scene has contrasty light (e.g. areas of dark shadow as well as sunlight). My meter of choice these days is a Gossen Digisix, which is very compact and lets you take both incident and reflective readings.

Like Roland, I develop negatives for scanning rather than wet print.

 

[NeeZee]

I don't do landscapes often, but when I do I quite like it in B&W. A red or orange filter is a good idea if you want to capture clouds, sky and water more dramatically and a yellow one for general B&W landscapes.

I like APX100 in Rodinal for these occasions. Here are two examples taken with my Leica IIIf, a CV Skopar 25/4 and a red filter:


Untitled by NeeZee102, on Flickr


Untitled by NeeZee102, on Flickr

Just remember, that you lose about three stops with a red filter...

 

[NeeZee]

exposure was sunny 16 by the way - no lightmeter.

 

[batey_1020]

Thanks for the respose guys. I really enjoyed the examples and they really suit what the kind of environment i will be shooting.
Bingley thanks for the extra infor about why you use that particular film and pull it. I dont have a good film knowledge and little things like that tend to start me off on a reading spree to find out "whhy is that so".

The yosemite photos are great. Such an awesome place. I want to get over there climbing in the next few years and can't wait.

So is anyone using ND filters on BW film. Ive used them on digital a bit and really like having them in my kit. Have thought about an ND 3 and since all my gear is the same filter size it helps.

 

[Bingley]

I don't use ND filters, but note that most filters for b&w film will require you to open up one to three stops depending on the filter. That's what an ND filter does, of course, but w/ a yellow, orange or red filter you're also filtering out certain kinds of light for aesthetic effect. So, for example, I will develop TMax 400 at 250, but with a yellow filter I'll expose at 125. If I need the extra stop, I'll remove the yellow filter and expose at 250. To take another example, I often develop Tri-X in Diafine, in which case I set my meter to 800. But if 800 is too fast, I can put a yellow filter on and shoot at 400.

 

[David Charlwood]

New Zealand

New Zealand

The light here is quite intense, so, I am currently using:
Colour: Kodak Ektachrome E100G with Skylight filter.
B&W: Kodak Tri-X 400 with Yellow No 1 (K2) filter.
Exposure meter: Sekonic L-308S Flashmate (I don't bother bracketing).
Hope this helps.