Cedar Bridge, Madison County, Iowa....

When I first started using a large format camera, I would often use different types of film.

This is the Cedar Bridge, from July 2003.

Horseman 45 LE, Rodenstock 210mm 5.6 Apo-Sironar S.

Fujifilm NPS 160

Kodak T-Max 100

With all of the photo apps available, it's easy to convert the color version to black and white. There are many reasons to choose one over the other, a topic that can be discussed endlessly, elsewhere.

Large Format Film in Polaroid J66

My parents had a Polaroid J-66, made between 1961 - 1963.

Using a camera designed for obsolete film sizes is fun - with a little patience and experimentation, you can get some interesting results. For this camera, there is a huge opening in the back - almost perfect for a piece of 4 by 5 inch large format film!

To load the film, I put the camera and film, still boxed, of course - into a light-tight changing bag. You do this by feel. To get the proper shutter speed and aperture for the HP5 film I taped a piece of neutral density plastic filter over the light sensor, and opened the aperture to its maximum setting.

This setup, of course, is a one-shot wonder. I decided to wander over to the Ghery Bandshell, in Millennium Park.

The result was spectacular - the exposure was near perfect. Part of the charm for this type of experiment are the little anomalies - the softness, vignetting, some geometric playfulness....

This was surprisingly sharp, considering the plastic lens. Two of the notable imperfections - the light leak, and slight geometric distortions, as the film isn't necessarily perfectly flat - due to the mismatch of film type, and the characteristics of the improvised loading method.

This was probably done in 2005, on a frigid winter day - snow, and brilliant sun.

Ghery Bandshell - Polaroid J66, with Large Format Film