[Largeformat] Bad weather, good light

["Frank Filippone" <red735i@earthlink.net>]

From: "Frank Filippone" <red735i@earthlink.net>

" Even with Fred's modified light meter, that New Mexico light is brutal!
The
contrast is just a little too much for prints, ......"

Well, speaking about the San Francisco Adobe Church in Rancho de Taos, NM, I
was there last October to catch the fall color....
Because my wife was with me ( and I could not figure how to get the larger
tripod on the plane without damage ( No carrying tube, bag, etc.))  I was
using the Hasselblad.  The weather was beautiful the first few days then we
went to Taos and the sky clouded over.  When we got inside the Rancho, then
walked the 50 feet to the Church, it started to hail.  We sat inside the
Church until the hail stopped, went outside for some of the most powerful
skies I have ever seen.  I shot like crazy and got several images I am proud
of.
I was shooting Reala and got wonderfully saturated and not too contrasty
images that I am having printed.

The point to this story........Sometimes bad weather is the best weather to
shoot in..... it lowers the contrast, softens and brightens the shadows, and
makes the skies, at times, wonderful.  And print film is not our enemy, it
is a tool to be used.  I am a little tired of hearing how Velvia is the only
film to use.... There are predictable circumstances that are contrasty for
Chromes.  Keep a roll/CFH of color negative film at hand always.

To get back to Large Format, I wished I had had the 4x5 with me that day,
but with the intense cold and wetness, it would not have worked that day.
Inside the Church at Santa FE where the amazing circular staircase is
located, the Hassy was only able to capture a few details.  I needed the
rise and maybe tilts to pull it off like I wanted ..... Oh well, another
trip....

Frank Filippone