Shooting the California redwoods using large-format film with photographer Ben Horne

 

 

Photographer Ben Horne, well-known for his use of large-format analog cameras, recently went on a photo trip to the redwoods in northern California. Horne had previously visited the area with his wife for camping trips, but he has never visited the redwoods on a dedicated photography adventure.

Shooting with a large-format analog camera comes with distinct differences in the overall workflow. For starters, Horne's gear is on the larger and heavier side. Further, he can only capture as many shots as he brings film. On this trip, he used different kinds of film, but used a fair bit of Fujifilm Provia film, which Fujifilm digital shooters may recognize as the default Film Simulation. In some cases, Horne opted for Velvia, which he feared would be a bit too high-contrast, too grainy and too punchy. Unlike digital photographers, he also has to wait until he gets his film back from a lab to actually see how his images look. You can see all of Horne's behind-the-scenes videos from the redwoods below.

After returning home and waiting for his shots to come back from the lab, Horne was finally able to see his images for the first time. In total, Horne sent away nine sheets of slide film and seven sheets of color negative film to be processed. Below, Horne shares his photographs and discusses what he likes and dislikes about each of them. 

(Via Ben Horne)