A Digital Photographer Tries Large Format for the First Time

This lovely video from photographer Thomas Heaton sees him heading out in to the wilderness with his tent and an Intrepid 4×5 to try large format photography for the first time.

The joy and the difficulty inherent in shooting large format is evident as Heaton scouts out his location, seeking the perfect composition over the course of 2 days. With only 8 sheets of film to his name, every exposure counts.

Of course, he accidentally fires one off in his own face before getting his shot.

In a digital age where storage is cheap and the only consequence of shooting hundreds of exposures is a longer sort time, there’s something to be said for the slower and more deliberate workflow of large format.

Follow Heaton’s journey in the video at the top, and afterwards you can see the film reveal in his follow-up video. For more about the Intrepid 4×5, check out our article from back in 2014, when it was still in the Kickstarter phase.

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