Noir Flohay take 2

Last Sunday I revisited Noir Flohay at the Baraque Michel. It was the second time this year. I planned to explore more the location and if possible to create some 4×5 black and white large format photographs. All those gnarly trees at Noir Flohay are beautiful subjects for some interesting compositions. My favourite of this photo walk is the featured photo.

The weather forecast looked promising, cloudy sunny and calm weather. At the site though it was very windy. This is not perfect for large format photography. The camera is not small and can be susceptible for camera shake during those gusts of wind. When it is windy it is also not easy to check for critical focus using a dark cloth.

I had loaded Fomapan 100 and Fomapan 200 in 4 filmholders. Using F32 resulted in shutter speeds around the 1/8 and 1/4th of a second. Metering was somewhat challenging due to the fast changing lighting conditions. But all in all good enough circumstances to create some decent photographs.

Looking back at this outing I would have stayed some more time at this beautiful place. Specially when the lighting conditions do change a lot it is difficult to create a photograph in the best circumstances. At my arrival the light was really flat. When I already used up my film the light in other words the contrast became better and better,

Only having 8 negatives of 4×5 film with you can sometimes be a limiting factor. However it all boils down in going for only a few compositions and waiting it out to activated that cable release in the best conditions.

Revisiting a place is always the best approach to get more knowledge of its possibilities and challenges. I hope to be back at Noir Flohay in the coming summer, autumn and winter season.

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