LF camera | Lidija Ivanek SiLa

Adox CMS II developed in Adonal

February 8, 2021
by sila

With pandemic lockdown in Ireland that goes on and on, I was forced to dig dipper in to my drawers and be more indoors. I found a few sheets of an Adox CMS II for my 4×5 Toyobo and arranged a still shot. For development of these sheets I used Adonal, which is Rodinal based. A bottle that I have for more then 3 years. I used regular ratio 1+25 / 20C for 8 minutes of constant rotation by hand (Jobo tank).

Pretty pleased with the result.

The best thing is that this experiment made me want more. Never before was a still life my category. Pandemic might be the perfect time for this.

I have one other odd film from way back – Rollei Ortho 25. My films are all stored properly in a cold and dark place, just fyi. I don’t even remember what was the idea behind acquiring such films, maybe just curiosity, well will see what I can do with Ortho and can it be developed with Adonal too?

Wow, so much great prints available here

Analog photography

It was the sea

March 29, 2018
by sila

Ocean, large format photography by Lidija Ivanek SiLa

I was always drawn to the sea. They say, once you’ve tasted the Adriatic sea, you’ll never find satisfaction anywhere else. This I find to be true.

Horizon points to an empty space above the ocean. The Atlantic Ocean is not a satisfaction. It’s not even pleasant. It’s frightening and magnificent, it’s brutal, raw and cold, yet full of life. In that empty space above ocean, my eyes are searching with eager hope.

Analog photography

Traveling with LF camera

February 22, 2018February 22, 2018
by sila

They say that carrying around large format camera is not practical, that you need more time to set it up, that you will somehow miss some of the good scenes… But, I found out that my LF Toyo 45a is quite practical to carry around. OK, my backpack was definitively heavy and I am a small lady, so not easy. The majority of the weight was from the lenses and from my tripod. Fear of losing good scenes (the light changes quickly etc) – I actually find it was the advantage. I choose my scene carefully and in reducing the number of shots I achieved better satisfaction and quality.

Here are few of my photographs taken on the trip to Kerry. I used Adox CMSII film developed in R09 (no particular reason, but it’s the one that I had in the house).

Ireland with LF camera by Lidija Ivanek SiLa

Kinsale Photographic Society on the Kerry trip

Analog photography

Cathedrals of Cork

January 15, 2018
by sila

It is the architectural beauty that I find interesting in the cathedrals, exquisite craftsmanship, the sense of grandiose awe. I am creating those architectural photographs with my large format camera, not only that LF is perfect for architectural shots, but I use long exposure, slow process, and big camera. It is the same feeling that it can be felt in the cathedrals, apart from extreme cold between those thick stone walls, feeling of stillness, slowness, and huge, grandiose space.

St. Fin Barre’s Cathedral by Lidija Ivanek SiLa

Apart from cold, the space is scarcely lit. Only light from tall narrow windows and few candle lights, occasional light bulb that casts light mainly on the altar area. To see through the ground glass of my camera it is a struggle even worse to correctly focus or keep everything straight.

I used Adox CMS20II with ISO12.

St Colman’s Cathedral by Lidija Ivanek SiLa

Let me finish today’s post with words of Croatian architect:

Architecture is medium for communication. Communication between people and people with God. Nikola Basic

All of my photographs are available for sale as a original works of art.

Analog photography

Bromore Cliffs

August 2, 2016November 3, 2016
by sila

When ever we travel, we try to source for local produce, ideas, support local, small cafe, or anything that helps local business, anything that actual helps people living in that place.

On Bromora Cliffs we were pleasantly surprised by one family initiative …more on their site Bromore Cliffs.

Bromore Cliffs on 5x4 film by Lidija Ivanek SiLa — Bromore Cliffs on 5×4 film by Lidija Ivanek SiLa

Analog photography

Large Format Photography

May 25, 2016November 3, 2016
by sila

First test shots with my old/new camera – Toyo 45.

It was a long journey till this moment. Since 2007.

I had an idea that one day I will switch from digital to analog and even to work with the big, old style, bellow kind, large format cameras. After slow progression towards the goal, I could say I have arrived to that desired point. I entered into the exiting new photographic field of LF cameras.

There is no point to explain what is so special to work with the old, mechanical cameras, so I won’t.

First test shots were made with Fomapan 200 film sheets, knowing that I will need a bit (haha) of practice until I can actually start doing something valuable.

Ireland is not for the faint hearted, that was my line following this (see below) picture on Facebook (for all of you who are following me on Face).

In Ireland there are no perfect days for getting out on the cliffs and shoot. Every day is as it is, and you need to do your best with it. That day the wind was strong, and the ground was covered with layers of spongy soft grass. There is no way to stick your tripod into something stable. But it was a dry, sunny day and that is almost perfect in Ireland.

I shot 4 sheets and all of them were actually successful. There was some things that was corrected in software after scanning, but all in all not bad. Composition is …well, just for the test. I used a CP filter and that’s it.

I used JOBO 2520 tank for sheet development and I did it by hand. I need to adjust few more things with that. Also, I recently bought MOD54 drying rack and it is OK, simple and functional.

My scanner is a bit of a problem. I have a flatbed scanner Canon 9000F and it doesn’t have a modus to scan a 4×5 sheet negative. Again with a little creativity I managed to do that, but I am losing a few millimetres from the sky and ground edges. And I have some problems with the SilverFast software. If I can bypass Canon and SilverFast it would be perfect.

Adox CMS II developed in Adonal

It was the sea

Traveling with LF camera

Cathedrals of Cork

All of my photographs are available for sale as a original works of art.

Bromore Cliffs

Large Format Photography

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