Shooting More Ilford FP4+ with the Intrepid 4x5 Mk4
This church interior is a fantastic example of the amazing tonal ranges achieved on large format. Shooting the same film stock on 35mm or 120 roll film doesn’t come close to this. Using the the smallest aperture on the lens meant I had to go for a long exposure but there isn’t a hint of issues caused by diffraction. 60s 90mm F64.
Even with a camera as compact as the Intrepid Mk4, shooting large format is always a somewhat cumbersome process. There’s a lot to think about and set up before you take your shot and reactive photography largely goes out the window. Unsurprisingly this means the types of films available reflects this. While there are some high-speed films like Ilford HP5+ and Portra 400, there’s no Portra 800 or Ilford Delta 3200. Instead, we have many other low and medium speed films like Portra 160 and Ilford FP4+. The latter is what I will talk about in this blog.
The ruins of Houghton House which is said to have inspired the House Beautiful in John Bunyan’s masterpiece The Pilgrim’s Progress. More on him later. 1/4s 90mm F32.
I started out with a box of Ilford HP5+, a good, cost-effective start with a high-speed film that keeps you away from the dangers of reciprocity failure during long exposures. You often use small apertures of F22 or smaller in large format photography and more so when you start out and are less familiar with movements. However, once you get the hang of it all, it’s straight forward using a slower film to get even more detail. I scan these sheets of film by taking three photos on my Nikon D850 and stitching them together in Lightroom, and even this quick and dirty method gives me 279MB files with oodles of information.
Originally much grander in size, the mansion was partially dismantled in the late 18th century and the ruins acquired by English Heritage in the 20th Century. It is free to access during daylight hours. 1/8s 180mm F22.
Tightly cropping in, you can see just how much detail there is in such a small proportion of the frame. On a textured surface such as this the grain is practically invisible.
Coming from Ilford’s ‘plus’ line of films the look and feel is similar to that of HP5+ but when you look closely you can really see the difference in grain. On HP5+ you could still see it but on FP4+ it’s so small it’s practically invisible unless you are looking at areas completely devoid of any texture. Rest assured that if you really need to capture every last fine detail, this film stock will do it. What I love about large format as well is that with such a large medium you really capture tonal gradients in a way that just isn’t possible on 35mm or even medium format. There’s just so much more life in the photos, a realism that more closely matches what you see with the naked eye. That’s the real magic.
Looking through the rear of Houghton House, leading out to the front door and the path of approach. 1/4s 180mm F22.
Given the high running costs for its previous owners the roof and interiors were stripped out to be sold on. The remains then further fell into disrepair. 1s 90mm F32.
Unfortunately, I did also take this camera and film with me on a trip to Norfolk, but all the photos were lost after I made an error in handling the film holders and exposing all the sheets to light. It’s the sort of mistakes you make when you are unfamiliar with a system, but you live and learn. I can’t blame the film on that one! At least I was also shooting with my Kodak Retina iiiS that day which you can read about here.
I think I originally wanted to shoot this in landscape orientation but couldn’t fit the top of the weather vane in. However portrait orientation worked well to utilise the two paths as leading lines. 1/15s 90mm F22.
Shooting outdoors I managed to largely avoid shooting with B or T mode, although there was no way around it when shooting inside the church. Once you get a hang of reciprocity failure it’s really not a big issue (unless you end up with very long exposure times of say ten minutes), it’s just another quirk of film you have to get used to. I personally much preferred to shoot FP4+ over HP5+, if I am going to shoot this slowly then I might as well try to absolutely maximise the detail coming out of the camera. Next up for me though is one of my favourite film stocks – Ilford Delta 100 (I am honing my large format skills with black and white before I take the plunge and spend bigger money on colour film) Unfortunately the box is still sitting unopened, and I haven’t quite decided what I will shoot with it. Perhaps an exciting day trip out somewhere is in order.
Bunyan’s Oak, John Bunyan is said to have preached from inside this ancient and weathered tree in order to escape the authorities. He was eventually arrested and sentenced to a 12 year prison sentence for the crime of ‘field preaching’. During the time after the restoration of the monarchy there was a big crackdown on nonconformist, people who practiced Christianity outside of the Church of England. 1/8s 180mm F22.
The detail in the bottom of the trunk is nothing sort of exquisite. It’s like hundreds of rivers downing down to the sea. Large format was perfect for capturing this. Click to enlarge. 1/4s 180mm F22.
As ever if you have any questions or comments then please do leave them down below.
You can read my previous blog about shooting this set-up in London by clicking here.
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