In mountains area – experimenting with ilford Delta 400
Hello here my friends – all you who do stop the run just for a few minutes to read a few words and to browse my next series of images, this time taken during one day trip to Mitzpe Ramon – a town in the Negev desert of southern Israel. I am always happy to return there – to this quiet and remote place (around two hours of driving from my home), to feel the wind of desert and the ancient mountains, to sit on the edge and to drink a coffee on the balcony of a Beresheet hotel.
A few words about this “experiment”. I’m still looking for the “right” way to shoot and to develop films. When I only started to learn the process, I read some mountain of information and recommendations on how to exposure, how to develop and which chemicals to use, and the more I read – the more I got confused, but also got one perfect thing – there are no exact rules, there are many different chemicals and developing technics. Some time ago I came across this interesting and definitely useful article The Zone System is Dead by Johnny Patience – and after attentive reading of the article and a part of the also interesting and useful comments, I decided to try not to just push film to one-two stops, but to mix “over” and “under” exposing and developing processes. It was very easy to choose ISO400 film as a target for experiment bcos of the variety of the stops possible can use to both sides of 400. But Delta was chosen by mistake, even I love the results, but I think it was too risky to experiment with ilford Delta.
So as said above I exposed this roll with Fujifilm GA645 medium format camera at speed 200 but developed in Kodal d-76 as 800 fast film. Here the whole roll :
It is all down to own preferences…I feel the only right way is if you think it to be so. Love the series, as always.
thank you Paula. agree with you and wrote “right” with the “” bcos i dont believe in right thing that right for everyone and for every situation.
Nice series but I agree that Delta is probay not the film for experimentation.
I like some of the old style emulsions, especially when doing ‘stand’ or two bath development.
Shadow & highlights are kept well within limits, due thicker emulsion.
As for the desert, that’s the one thing I really miss being back in UK, open wide sky, peace, a time for contemplating and no crowds!!!
absolutely agree about the wide open empty areas. hope to drive to the Dead Sea next weekend and hope that visibility will be nice and not like one week ago when an air was full of gray pieces of dust and water.
Absolutely magnificent! Showing the amazing contrast of the shadows from open skies.
That’s an excellent camera for professional such as yourself Victor!
thank you Annabelle ! im happy to see you active also in feedbacks here in my blog. I love this camera. Just finished today another ilford Delta with the same exposure method. the last frame was a portrait of one of my sons ;-))
Superb results Victor! As I said many times you live up to your moniker as the light and shadow warrior! You really present your best and I appreciate that!!
Hey Sam ! thank you for the kind words. i always avoid to put a shadows to my frames when i only started with a photography so now i compensate this ;-)))
Loving this. I haven’t shot Delta 400 for over 20 years – what a beautiful film.
Thank you Alex. instead of you i started to use film a few years ago and i discovered for myself this beautiful Delta 😉