Clients loved 4x5 inch sheet film. Not just because of the amazing detail, amazing depth of field control and the ability to make geometric corrections in camera, but also because a commercial shoot involved the use of 4x5 inch Polaroid test shots. It was a format art directors could really come to grips with. The Polaroids were big enough to see clearly without having to use a loupe. They could be written on for note taking. The clients could sign the backs of the prints so photographers could prove later than the client really, really did approve the shot before final film was exposed.
I loved the results of Polaroid's 100 speed, black and white test materials. A lot of people used Polaroid Type 55 which also produced a printable negative but for me the Polapan Pro 100 was the ultimate.
A lot of people back in the 4x5 inch film days used color Polaroid test materials but I hated doing so because temperature controls were important in getting anywhere close to a representation of the color that transparency film would finally deliver. People spent way too much time on set trying to get "perfect" Polaroid colors apparently not realizing that there was no way (other than luck) that the color of the test prints would end up matching the transparency films.
Polaroid tests were my favorite way to test out new lighting set ups and the relationships between background levels and foreground subject levels.
This is a Polaroid test I made back in the late 1980s. B. was the art director on the shoot and she graciously agreed to stand in during the lighting design so I could see what was good and also what might need to be changed. She was a patient subject because it was her project on the line... And because she's by nature quite patient.
The image was made with a Linhof Technika 4x5 camera and, obviously, a Rodenstock 210mm lens with no filters.
Now, if we needed big test shots we'd just tether a camera to a computer. But what's the fun in that?
I love my collection of old test shots. I only kept the good ones. 4x5 shooting was time consuming but really it was easy and fun and offered so much control. And, as I've written, clients loved it. Put a four inch by five inch transparency next to a 35mm slide and it was laughably easy to know which one the client would pick. And once addicted to large format it's very rare that they ever went back to 35mm...
Last post of 2023. Stay safe tonight. Come back tomorrow.
3 comments:
just brilliant. The photo I mean. Just brilliant.
R.A.
During my professional years almost all my paid work was 35mm, but my "hobby" was doing portraits with 4x5 -- a Deardorff with 180mm Schneider. I loved the pacing and interaction with the subject, and the way the big wooden camera brought a sense of importance to the sessions.
I did shoot Polaroids, but gave most of them to my subjects.
One of my favorite portraits from those days is hanging on the wall in front of me, and the old Deardorff is on the shelf behind me. It is the only film camera I'd ever be tempted to use again.
I shot so many portraits on my Toyo 4x5 back in the day and equally many Polaroids. It certainly required more discipline and skills than any digital photography. My favorite Polaroid was the Type 55 but I also liked the color Polaroid (forget the type) even though it never matched any actual film color. In cold weather the processing was tricky though. You rubbed the Polaroid between your hands or in really cold put it against the car heater vent. When the Fuji FP100 came out it had pretty realistic colors compared to any Polaroid. I still have a box full of test Polaroids and I'm happy I have saved them.
Cheers, Matti
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