11:48 Whaaaat??? This one is just jaw-droppingly stunning!!! What a surprise in the film reveal video because we didn't see this one in the Zion video diaries. Amazing colours!
Hi Kirsten! The subject with the leaves is definitely something I thought I would love, but there's something about the red and green color palette that bugged me about it. It felt a bit like a bowl full of Christmas M&Ms. Perhaps it's a photo I'll return to at some point. We'll see!
I actually liked the shallow dof one of the branches against the diagnosable lines in the rock - a bit abstract and great tones. The lone branch sticking out of the crevice is a winner though. Especially on Velvia.
Thanks Josh! On that shot, the shallow depth of field behind the branches wasn't so much the problem, it was more so that the branch itself wasn't in focus. That's one of the joys of working with large format. The DOF can be an issue at times, but thankfully it all turned out just fine with that shot.
My favorite was the one in the 28 minute timeframe that you later called an experiment. I think it did have that stain glass look and was interesting to my eye. I thought the very first photo you showed did not work for me. I look forward to the next trip.
Very interesting. I think my perception of that photo is very different because the end result is nothing like what I was seeing on the ground glass. It was vibrant, dimensional, and calm on the ground glass, but the version on film feels nothing like that. Who knows, perhaps my perception will change with time, but it really isn't what I had in mind that day. Thanks as always for watching and commenting Danny!
@@BenHorne That's the thing about perception. We each have it and it can change on a whim. Maybe I'm wrong and mine will change. Either way, it is interesting to see things in your own eyes and completely different in someone else's eyes. I hope you continue to share your perspective and perception with us. That is a gift you always give. Take care and I look forward to your next trip.
The maple leaves @11:50 I can see a future Ben Horne jigsaw puzzle. In the video it doesn't seem that the twig distracts but it's probably something that needs to be seen in person. Definitely love the little tree. As you talk about +1.5 to 2 my brain is telling me zone 6 1/2 and 7.
I think that's why I never really got into the zone system. It always felt so foreign to me and I would have to translate what a zone was to stops bright or darker than neutral. By the time I did that, the light probably changed. :-) I think the other reason I'm not a huge fan of the zone system is that it doesn't have the sort of precision I need with slide film. For me, there's a notable difference between +1.6 and +1.8, and working with the zone system feels more like working with fractions of inches rather than the ease of the metric system. I suppose it's all based on what we're familiar with.
@@BenHorne I never tried shooting slide film. I do want to make a fall trip up to the northern part of our state this year, and I will probably try it out then. I guess I feel the zone system is what you do, but it is probably easier to read on my old spot meter since it works with EV numbers.
Thanks Chris! That's a tree I would love to revisit with some color negative film. It was pushing the limits of slide film and the resulting photo didn't scan very well, but we'll see if I can do better with that scene in the fall.
So cool to watch these latest videos knowing which shots made the box set. It definitely adds another layer of interest and enjoyment as I just went back and looked at them again.
Thanks Joshua! It was definitely my plan to ship out all the box sets before posting the Zion videos, but that sure was a very busy fall! I'll try to do the same for this year as well, but we'll see how that goes. Thanks as always!
I love the first photo of the leaves on the ground. What a great eye on that. I would have never thought about that shot. But that is why you say slow down look around take it all in. Man just awesome teaching moment. Thank you
good reveal mr Horne , lots of neat nature and tree info in that amongst some useful photographer tips .... box arrived last week in the uk and it is complementing last years quite nicely on the walls.. some very nice images in the set too .. just a shame you never made it up to shoot the forests again ..
I'm so happy to hear the box set arrived safely! Thanks again for that! It sure was a good year for me in terms of photography, and will be a tough one to follow up. We'll see! Thanks as always for watching and commenting!
That's a tricky one because the final result is nothing like what I saw when I was setting up the photo. The warm light, the depth of the scene, and the peacefulness of the scene really didn't come through in the photo. That's one of the tricky things about viewing a photo like that on the ground glass because I'm essentially seeing it in 3D on the ground glass, yet the film feels very 2D. It's one of those photos where perhaps my perception will change with time as I forget about the actual experience. We'll see. Thanks for watching and commenting!
After all that is going on in our country right now it is so nice to be able to kick back and spend some time with Ben Horne and some beautiful film photography. Thanks Ben.
Think you found many great subjects, just a shame the light was not on your hand this time!! I had a look at the mezonita shot for a while and it frames the cactus perfect, only the main branch on the left is demanding too much attention like this. I would lower the camera a little and move it to the right, so that the branch on the right and left lead you towards the cactus. I'm already looking forward to the winter trip!!!
Thanks Sander! If I have an opportunity to work with that manzanita and cactus scene again, it's definitely one that I will need to spend some time fine tuning the composition. I really wanted the cactus to be more dominant in the composition, and more central, but there were so many factors at play. When I reached that scene on my fall trip, I didn't have as much time as I would have liked to consider the composition, but I'll keep my fingers crossed for next time.
It's amazing how tough those trees are, yet also so very delicate. They sure put up with a lot of abuse down in those washes. Thanks as always for watching Brian!
Nice photos as usual! I think that Provia sometimes looks a little too blue on the roots of trees and whatnot. At least it comes across that way on the video. I was waiting for you to comment on it.
Yup, Provia has a tendency to go a bit more cyan, and Velvia has a bit of a magenta cast. It's quite subtle, and sometimes only noticeable when you look at the film stocks side by side. Both will definitely go quite blue in the shade though. It can be a nice effect at times, but other times it feels very out of place. Thanks for watching and commenting Michael!
Thanks! The cool thing about working with large format is that the camera seems to almost disappear when I'm working with it. When setting up the composition, I see only the image on the ground glass in front of me, and when shooting the photo, I stand beside the camera with the cable release in one hand and the stopwatch in the other.
the image of the tree growing out of the crack is a stunner. personally I prefer the velvia version - brings it more to life for me :-). i also like the tree-litter image at 11:45
Thanks! I'm really glad that shot with the tree growing out of the sandstone turned out. I know I was pushing my luck a bit, but thankfully I had some nice and calm conditions.
I'm new to the big format so I don't exactly know how these cameras work mechanically and if a second exposure would be possible but have you ever tried flashing the film to retrieve a bit more details in the shadows? It would generally speaking, decrease the contrast but I guess it could help with the almost out of range shadow details.
Awesome shots indeed. Beautiful shots that reflect your love for nature. Only one question, with all due respect. Why don't you use color negative in those tricky exposures? We know that slide film latitude is not enough in some cases and since you are scanning the film it would be very useful. As I said, with all my respect to your work. All the best. Stay safe.
Thanks J! I typically reach for color neg film as well when the light is very high contrast. I didn't do that on this trip mostly because I was a bit lazy. Even though some of the scenes were seemingly low contrast, when I looked at them through my spot meter, I realized they actually had quite a bit of contrast. I think color neg film might have helped the boxelder tree with the crazy roots, partially because of the added dynamic range, but also because it would allow me to tweak the color a bit more. It's definitely a lesson learned for next time.
It's amazing to see the difference from the amount of reflective light places on a subject from the pine tree against the sandstone images. That and the tone differences (magenta vs. cyan) nature from the film that can add emphasis to a photographic story, such as that in the tree on cliff image. Notes to remember for the next adventure. Incredible work, Ben. (P.S. I hear something clacking away early on in the video. Are those hard drives the mic is picking up?)
Thanks Bryan! That scene with the pine tree was really cool to witness in person. I thought it looked pretty decent early on, but once the glow was fully hitting, it was tough to take my eyes off that scene. The pine needles were so vivid. I think the sound you were hearing in the background is indeed my hard drives. They're quiet most of the time, but sometimes they kick up. When I record my voiceovers, I setup a booth on the other side of the room to get as clean of a recording as possible.
Hi Ben, I enjoyed seeing these. Fun to see some that didn’t make it into a video or the box set. I was wondering how the Pentax digital spot worked out, if you ended up using it?
Hi Scott! I have played with the Pentax meter a bit, and in most scenarios, it does give me consistent results to my sekonic. My goal is to have it mostly as a backup meter for now. I do like how the Sekonic gives precise brightness of the subject through the viewfinder in terms of stops, and also the ability to easily dial in compensation for bellows and also for filters.
@@BenHorne Sounds good. I definitely had a couple instances on this trip of the rock being somewhat overexposed in blue light as you describe. I wonder whether it's how the meter is handling the blue light or just how the film responds. I wonder if the Pentax and Sekonic agree under those specific lighting conditions?
Hi Ben, I enjoy these videos at the light table very much. Quick question about metering. On the second image shown (the tree with the crazy roots on Provia) you said you’d metered for the brightest part of the scene way up in the top right corner. Do you mean you exposed the shot with that bright spot as a mid-tone or you placed it in a higher zone that would retain detail? I understand metering with slide film keeps you cautious around highlights but I wasn’t sure what you meant. Thanks for reading and the beautiful work.👍
Hi Miles! When metering for slide film, I typically do an average of the brightest area I wish to maintain detail, and the darkest area I wish to maintain detail. I log each of those meter readings into memory, then I hit the average button on my meter. I then look through the spot meter and it will tell me how bright or dark each subject is. So long as the subject brightness falls within what the film can reproduce, all is well. With slide film, the working range is between -2 stops and +2 stops.
Ben, after this reveal and looking back at this year, how do you feel about going digital now? (You’ve been hinting all along but now you can go back and think about it). I definitely think you shouldn’t go digital but would like to know where you stand now on this topic.
Hi Daniel! I have no plan to replace film with the digital kit, but it'll be there as an option for certain days that aren't well suited for a view camera. The digital kit will allow me to experiment a bit, and work in conditions that aren't ideal for a view camera (wind, rain, quickly changing conditions, etc). The key will be to find a nice working balance between the two. I'll have some more details about the digital kit and some work to share in this Saturday's video.
Re. the depth of field and sharpness on the outermost, left side, leaf on that beautiful rock face sapling, could you perhaps use something like a Highpass filter on a layer in Photoshop, for the few leafs, then brush it out of the rest of the image (so only the few fine details are affected), or even use Topaz Shaprpen AI and then drop both the original/edited-to-taste scan in PS and then, again, brush out all the parts that don't need sharpening? Pity to waste a beautiful shot if just one small, if telling, detail is out of focus, unless you are happy enough with it, of course.
I'm not too concerned about it really. In many ways, I think that just becomes part of the story of the photo, and any attempt to try and change it would only take away from the image. Also, it would have be printed very large in order to see that. Thanks for watching and commenting John!
A Nice Variety of images this year 👍 Further to my video comments -leaves at >11.30< are interesting change With a hint of a deer track top right 45 degrees. Which i Like 👍🙂 Boy you went through some film! 😅
Thanks Stuart! I think you're right about the deer tracks in that image. They are all over those hillsides, and actively groom the trees and other plants. Nature's gardeners.
This is the exact reason why I use an analog stopwatch. As opposed to a digital stopwatch where the numbers flicker past, you can watch the hand move on an analog stopwatch, and the Minerva I use has very detailed markings on the dial so you can judge tenths of a second quite easily.
@@BenHorne Nice one :) I manage second multiples with a beeping clock app and beat my hand (like a drum) holding the cable release - click - beat - beat - beat - release :D
These are all superb, you have waaay too few subscribers! there are a lot of people with far more subscribers and far less skill than you... anyhow, i wish i could afford to shoot 8x10 slides, i'm stuck with 35mm slides right now.
It's probably because I don't play the clickbait game. That's the secret to making youtube enjoyable though. :-) 8x10 sure isn't cheap, but since one doesn't shoot a lot, it's not too bad. Thanks for watching!
![BLACK BAG - Official Trailer [HD] - Only in Theaters March 14](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Du0Xp8WX_7I/mqdefault.jpg)
11:48 Whaaaat??? This one is just jaw-droppingly stunning!!! What a surprise in the film reveal video because we didn't see this one in the Zion video diaries. Amazing colours!
I know right, had to check to make sure I hadn’t missed an episode.haha That’s my favorite love the density that fills the canvas like Jackson pollack
Hi Kirsten! The subject with the leaves is definitely something I thought I would love, but there's something about the red and green color palette that bugged me about it. It felt a bit like a bowl full of Christmas M&Ms. Perhaps it's a photo I'll return to at some point. We'll see!
I actually liked the shallow dof one of the branches against the diagnosable lines in the rock - a bit abstract and great tones. The lone branch sticking out of the crevice is a winner though. Especially on Velvia.
Thanks Josh! On that shot, the shallow depth of field behind the branches wasn't so much the problem, it was more so that the branch itself wasn't in focus. That's one of the joys of working with large format. The DOF can be an issue at times, but thankfully it all turned out just fine with that shot.
My favorite was the one in the 28 minute timeframe that you later called an experiment. I think it did have that stain glass look and was interesting to my eye. I thought the very first photo you showed did not work for me. I look forward to the next trip.
Very interesting. I think my perception of that photo is very different because the end result is nothing like what I was seeing on the ground glass. It was vibrant, dimensional, and calm on the ground glass, but the version on film feels nothing like that. Who knows, perhaps my perception will change with time, but it really isn't what I had in mind that day. Thanks as always for watching and commenting Danny!
@@BenHorne That's the thing about perception. We each have it and it can change on a whim. Maybe I'm wrong and mine will change. Either way, it is interesting to see things in your own eyes and completely different in someone else's eyes. I hope you continue to share your perspective and perception with us. That is a gift you always give. Take care and I look forward to your next trip.
The maple leaves @11:50 I can see a future Ben Horne jigsaw puzzle. In the video it doesn't seem that the twig distracts but it's probably something that needs to be seen in person. Definitely love the little tree. As you talk about +1.5 to 2 my brain is telling me zone 6 1/2 and 7.
I think that's why I never really got into the zone system. It always felt so foreign to me and I would have to translate what a zone was to stops bright or darker than neutral. By the time I did that, the light probably changed. :-) I think the other reason I'm not a huge fan of the zone system is that it doesn't have the sort of precision I need with slide film. For me, there's a notable difference between +1.6 and +1.8, and working with the zone system feels more like working with fractions of inches rather than the ease of the metric system. I suppose it's all based on what we're familiar with.
@@BenHorne I never tried shooting slide film. I do want to make a fall trip up to the northern part of our state this year, and I will probably try it out then. I guess I feel the zone system is what you do, but it is probably easier to read on my old spot meter since it works with EV numbers.
I like the warm to cool gradient on the picture at 27 minutes and the vertical orientation.
That shot at 2:58 is insane. Love it man
Thanks Chris! That's a tree I would love to revisit with some color negative film. It was pushing the limits of slide film and the resulting photo didn't scan very well, but we'll see if I can do better with that scene in the fall.
@@BenHorne very cool scene eh, with the cold and warm colours
So cool to watch these latest videos knowing which shots made the box set. It definitely adds another layer of interest and enjoyment as I just went back and looked at them again.
Thanks Joshua! It was definitely my plan to ship out all the box sets before posting the Zion videos, but that sure was a very busy fall! I'll try to do the same for this year as well, but we'll see how that goes. Thanks as always!
I love the first photo of the leaves on the ground. What a great eye on that. I would have never thought about that shot. But that is why you say slow down look around take it all in. Man just awesome teaching moment. Thank you
Thanks!! It really was a cool scene to find. I sure was freezing that day though!
good reveal mr Horne , lots of neat nature and tree info in that amongst some useful photographer tips .... box arrived last week in the uk and it is complementing last years quite nicely on the walls.. some very nice images in the set too .. just a shame you never made it up to shoot the forests again ..
I'm so happy to hear the box set arrived safely! Thanks again for that! It sure was a good year for me in terms of photography, and will be a tough one to follow up. We'll see! Thanks as always for watching and commenting!
One of your best shots!
Thank you!
I rally like the stain glass photo you don't like, funny.
That's a tricky one because the final result is nothing like what I saw when I was setting up the photo. The warm light, the depth of the scene, and the peacefulness of the scene really didn't come through in the photo. That's one of the tricky things about viewing a photo like that on the ground glass because I'm essentially seeing it in 3D on the ground glass, yet the film feels very 2D. It's one of those photos where perhaps my perception will change with time as I forget about the actual experience. We'll see. Thanks for watching and commenting!
Just look at these films makes me feel great! I think that's why everyone should try to print their photos if they can't afford big format.
Dam, you almost broke out of your laid back monotone delivery twice, they must be good!
Some beautiful looking colour and tones in there.
Haha! Almost!
After all that is going on in our country right now it is so nice to be able to kick back and spend some time with Ben Horne and some beautiful film photography. Thanks Ben.
Truth!
Thanks Thomas!! Let's hope that this is the first day of a better society.
Think you found many great subjects, just a shame the light was not on your hand this time!! I had a look at the mezonita shot for a while and it frames the cactus perfect, only the main branch on the left is demanding too much attention like this. I would lower the camera a little and move it to the right, so that the branch on the right and left lead you towards the cactus.
I'm already looking forward to the winter trip!!!
Thanks Sander! If I have an opportunity to work with that manzanita and cactus scene again, it's definitely one that I will need to spend some time fine tuning the composition. I really wanted the cactus to be more dominant in the composition, and more central, but there were so many factors at play. When I reached that scene on my fall trip, I didn't have as much time as I would have liked to consider the composition, but I'll keep my fingers crossed for next time.
Loved the "tortured existence" comment on that second image. Great way to explain it!
It's amazing how tough those trees are, yet also so very delicate. They sure put up with a lot of abuse down in those washes. Thanks as always for watching Brian!
Nice photos as usual!
I think that Provia sometimes looks a little too blue on the roots of trees and whatnot. At least it comes across that way on the video. I was waiting for you to comment on it.
Yup, Provia has a tendency to go a bit more cyan, and Velvia has a bit of a magenta cast. It's quite subtle, and sometimes only noticeable when you look at the film stocks side by side. Both will definitely go quite blue in the shade though. It can be a nice effect at times, but other times it feels very out of place. Thanks for watching and commenting Michael!
always amazing how you can make such good pictures with this camera monster. fantastic. 😀
Thanks! The cool thing about working with large format is that the camera seems to almost disappear when I'm working with it. When setting up the composition, I see only the image on the ground glass in front of me, and when shooting the photo, I stand beside the camera with the cable release in one hand and the stopwatch in the other.
the image of the tree growing out of the crack is a stunner. personally I prefer the velvia version - brings it more to life for me :-). i also like the tree-litter image at 11:45
Thanks! I'm really glad that shot with the tree growing out of the sandstone turned out. I know I was pushing my luck a bit, but thankfully I had some nice and calm conditions.
I'm new to the big format so I don't exactly know how these cameras work mechanically and if a second exposure would be possible but have you ever tried flashing the film to retrieve a bit more details in the shadows? It would generally speaking, decrease the contrast but I guess it could help with the almost out of range shadow details.
Awesome shots indeed. Beautiful shots that reflect your love for nature.
Only one question, with all due respect. Why don't you use color negative in those tricky exposures? We know that slide film latitude is not enough in some cases and since you are scanning the film it would be very useful. As I said, with all my respect to your work.
All the best.
Stay safe.
Thanks J! I typically reach for color neg film as well when the light is very high contrast. I didn't do that on this trip mostly because I was a bit lazy. Even though some of the scenes were seemingly low contrast, when I looked at them through my spot meter, I realized they actually had quite a bit of contrast. I think color neg film might have helped the boxelder tree with the crazy roots, partially because of the added dynamic range, but also because it would allow me to tweak the color a bit more. It's definitely a lesson learned for next time.
It's amazing to see the difference from the amount of reflective light places on a subject from the pine tree against the sandstone images. That and the tone differences (magenta vs. cyan) nature from the film that can add emphasis to a photographic story, such as that in the tree on cliff image. Notes to remember for the next adventure. Incredible work, Ben.
(P.S. I hear something clacking away early on in the video. Are those hard drives the mic is picking up?)
Thanks Bryan! That scene with the pine tree was really cool to witness in person. I thought it looked pretty decent early on, but once the glow was fully hitting, it was tough to take my eyes off that scene. The pine needles were so vivid. I think the sound you were hearing in the background is indeed my hard drives. They're quiet most of the time, but sometimes they kick up. When I record my voiceovers, I setup a booth on the other side of the room to get as clean of a recording as possible.
Hi Ben, I enjoyed seeing these. Fun to see some that didn’t make it into a video or the box set. I was wondering how the Pentax digital spot worked out, if you ended up using it?
Hi Scott! I have played with the Pentax meter a bit, and in most scenarios, it does give me consistent results to my sekonic. My goal is to have it mostly as a backup meter for now. I do like how the Sekonic gives precise brightness of the subject through the viewfinder in terms of stops, and also the ability to easily dial in compensation for bellows and also for filters.
@@BenHorne Sounds good. I definitely had a couple instances on this trip of the rock being somewhat overexposed in blue light as you describe. I wonder whether it's how the meter is handling the blue light or just how the film responds. I wonder if the Pentax and Sekonic agree under those specific lighting conditions?
Hi Ben, I enjoy these videos at the light table very much. Quick question about metering. On the second image shown (the tree with the crazy roots on Provia) you said you’d metered for the brightest part of the scene way up in the top right corner. Do you mean you exposed the shot with that bright spot as a mid-tone or you placed it in a higher zone that would retain detail? I understand metering with slide film keeps you cautious around highlights but I wasn’t sure what you meant. Thanks for reading and the beautiful work.👍
Hi Miles! When metering for slide film, I typically do an average of the brightest area I wish to maintain detail, and the darkest area I wish to maintain detail. I log each of those meter readings into memory, then I hit the average button on my meter. I then look through the spot meter and it will tell me how bright or dark each subject is. So long as the subject brightness falls within what the film can reproduce, all is well. With slide film, the working range is between -2 stops and +2 stops.
great video
Thanks Tyler!
Ben, after this reveal and looking back at this year, how do you feel about going digital now? (You’ve been hinting all along but now you can go back and think about it). I definitely think you shouldn’t go digital but would like to know where you stand now on this topic.
Hi Daniel! I have no plan to replace film with the digital kit, but it'll be there as an option for certain days that aren't well suited for a view camera. The digital kit will allow me to experiment a bit, and work in conditions that aren't ideal for a view camera (wind, rain, quickly changing conditions, etc). The key will be to find a nice working balance between the two. I'll have some more details about the digital kit and some work to share in this Saturday's video.
Re. the depth of field and sharpness on the outermost, left side, leaf on that beautiful rock face sapling, could you perhaps use something like a Highpass filter on a layer in Photoshop, for the few leafs, then brush it out of the rest of the image (so only the few fine details are affected), or even use Topaz Shaprpen AI and then drop both the original/edited-to-taste scan in PS and then, again, brush out all the parts that don't need sharpening? Pity to waste a beautiful shot if just one small, if telling, detail is out of focus, unless you are happy enough with it, of course.
I'm not too concerned about it really. In many ways, I think that just becomes part of the story of the photo, and any attempt to try and change it would only take away from the image. Also, it would have be printed very large in order to see that. Thanks for watching and commenting John!
Ah, the elusive manzanita. Great. I totally agree with you regarding elements leaving the frame in the corners. Too contrived and obvious.
Thanks Jeremy! Yup, those corners can be tricky. If it looks too intentional, it ends up becoming a distraction.
A Nice Variety of images this year 👍
Further to my video comments -leaves at >11.30< are interesting change
With a hint of a deer track top right 45 degrees. Which i Like 👍🙂
Boy you went through some film! 😅
Thanks Stuart! I think you're right about the deer tracks in that image. They are all over those hillsides, and actively groom the trees and other plants. Nature's gardeners.
How on earth do you time a 3.2 sec exposure?
This is the exact reason why I use an analog stopwatch. As opposed to a digital stopwatch where the numbers flicker past, you can watch the hand move on an analog stopwatch, and the Minerva I use has very detailed markings on the dial so you can judge tenths of a second quite easily.
@@BenHorne Nice one :)
I manage second multiples with a beeping clock app and beat my hand (like a drum) holding the cable release - click - beat - beat - beat - release :D
Ben Horne ... Photographer ... Tree Herder ...
Hahaha!!! I do love me some trees!
These are all superb, you have waaay too few subscribers! there are a lot of people with far more subscribers and far less skill than you... anyhow, i wish i could afford to shoot 8x10 slides, i'm stuck with 35mm slides right now.
It's probably because I don't play the clickbait game. That's the secret to making youtube enjoyable though. :-) 8x10 sure isn't cheap, but since one doesn't shoot a lot, it's not too bad. Thanks for watching!