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EVALUATION

After researching landscape photographers and their work to gain inspiration I have created 5 final prints using a 5x4 medium format camera to shoot the photographs and then using the darkroom in order to create my prints.
  After researching the work of the likes of John Blakemore, I felt inspired to create rich and contrasty prints by ensuring my exposures were correct and that I concentrated on the developing process. When beginning this project, I had little knowledge on medium format, yet I feel I have developed by exploring the camera and independent time in the darkroom. I still feel there is room for improvements with my prints and imperfections with my prints but they have progressed massively from the start of the project.
  When starting the project I felt quite confident as my first negatives came back with good exposures yet after this a lot of my film came out blank and therefore I needed to learn more about the camera but after taking the camera out alone and taking my photographs in slow steps using the light meter my negatives became to come back with better exposures making it a lot easier to make prints.
  Although I feel confident with taking the photographs, I have occurred a lot of problems with processing which means that my negatives can sometimes become scratched from being handled too much due to my hesitation and this is something I believe I have developed in but I believe I need to develop further.
  Despite the problems that have arose for my during processing my film, I feel I have developed the most in the darkroom after spending time in the darkroom alone and taking my time whilst deciding on exposure times and doing extra test strips in order to gain accuracy I think that my prints are a lot better exposed after this project which I hoped for after looking at the quality of colour in other photographers works and how it affects the over all feel of the print. I tried to time my prints perfectly in the developer, stop and fix for this project whereas in the past I have not concentrated on this greatly.
If I were to improve my prints and project on a whole, I would definitely do a lot more shooting in order to gain more and more confidence with the camera and become really familiar with medium format so that it would be a easier process in terms of setting the camera up and setting it to the right exposure and shutter speed. I would also shoot more in order to gain more experience with my processing as I think that this is the thing I need to improve most as it has a huge effect on my over all prints if my negatives are damaged in anyway and most damage caused is during processing.
I feel I have improved over all on printing, which is something I am not new to but I have widened my knowledge by learning how to print with medium format, I have also gained skills on a whole by being introduced to a medium format camera but I would like to become more familiar to the processing process in order to become a more skilled photographer

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PROCESSING

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So today I went into the processing room after another shoot at the Marina with the Medium Format Camera, I had real difficulty with this procedure and have done with this whole project and I would like to progress in this in order to prevent damage to my negatives.
Today, the negatives on the end of the negative holder for the dev tank both came out really streaky where the developer had only reached certain areas at some points therefore I need to be more careful of this for next time as I have lost 2 photographs due to this and my other negatives have scratch marks on due to the clips therefore I will be more aware of this next time also.

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Darkroom

After processing some successful negatives and creating contact sheets I began to use the enlarger and make some prints.

Although I have never make prints to this size and using 5x4 film, I took to this really well when applying my skills I already had.

Despite having troubles processing meaning some of my negatives were damaged my prints are surprisingly successful in terms of contrast, tones and exposure.

After doing two test strips for each image, all my prints from yesterdays shoot were exposed for 20-22 seconds, I was happy with the consistency with the development process today with my prints and all my prints that I

created today are of the same tones and have a similar contrast meaning that they work well as a series.

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Eliot Porter Photography

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Making the most out of the weather, I took the medium format camera out to shoot today and left is todays set up.
I went out alone today for the first time with this camera which meant I had to rely only on myself to set the camera up.
Despite hesitating at first, I set the camera up without any problems and was able to shoot 4 sheets of film, as it was a consistently sunny day the camera didn't need much adjusting after I shot my first sheet of film but I used the light meter in order to make sure the exposure is correct on all of them which I will be processing later today.
After going out on my own to take photographs I feel a lot more familiar with this type of camera and a lot more confident about shooting medium format, I found it really effective going out alone and discovering the camera for myself and all its aspects.
I decided to shot some of the film portrait apposed to landscape in order to see the effects of this and experiment so I am excited to see the outcome.

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William Henry Jackson landscape photography

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One of the most famous english Landscape photographers is John Blakemore, he is known for both his landscapes and his still life photography both of which he used black and white format for and used darkrooms to create his prints, therefore I believe that he is a relevant source to look at whilst creating my own landscape photography using medium format black and white film.
The image left is one of Blakemore's most famous landscapes it consists of rich colours which could only be created with great technique in

 order to gain a perfectly exposed negative and experience and skills in the dark room in order to expose the print perfectly and use the develop, stop and fix correctly as the colours are intense and rich and therefore it is obvious the print has been developed correctly.
In all of Blakemores images, the landscapes are exposed perfectly and the colours are deep which gives the images an over all powering feel which I would like to create in my imagery and I will proceed to do this by ensuring that I time everything properly in the dark room.
The second and third images are full of strong textures which are defined

by the intricate detail and tones created this gives the photographs a real busy feel as there is a lot going on this makes the images interesting as there are no apparent main features and the whole of the print has stuff going on.
After exploring the work of Blakemore I have realised that developing and technique are important in the process of making a print and need to be timed perfectly as rich colours can be created and intricate details.

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Today, I went out shooting for the first time using a 5x4 medium format film camera, I learn the basics about how to set the camera up and set the exposure, shutter speed and ISO then step by step learned how to shoot my film using this camera.
A medium format camera has similar features to shooting with 35mm such as the way the camera works yet on a much larger more intricate way, the camera is fitted with a ground glass viewing in order to ensure precision and gain dimensions, the benefits of using this type of camera mean that bigger film is used and therefore bigger works can be created without losing detail.
I took both images using a light meter and set the camera at similar settings manually for both, after developing these I was happy with the outcome of the negatives as I believe they were exposed well.

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Andreas Gursky is a photographer known for his large format landscapes, he is influential to many landscape photographers today and is known for capturing the most expensive photograph in the world which is obviously something to be admired.
The images to the left were taken by Andreas Gursky and show some of Gursky's most famous Landscape works.
The first image by Gursky consists of quite dull colours and the sky is quite dark that gives the setting a dull feel, there is little life in the image without the chickens as the trees have no leaves

 there are no bright features or colours and the place looks quite humanly derelict and that makes the photograph interesting and makes us ask questions about the setting and place.
The second image has a brighter colour scheme due to the bright green colours which add a vibrant feel to the image but the most apparent feel of the image is created by the horizontal lines. The horizontal lines across the image are created by the different sections in the image, the sky, the grass, the water,

the grass in the foreground and the path.
In each of Gurksy's landscapes there is no human life and the image captures the nature of a place he quite often has a background and foreground making his images have layers, this makes the photographs narrate the place intricately and leaves us asking questions about the place and the history around it.

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Landscape photography captures an outside scene and usually doesn't have much human life and instead captures the nature of a place.
One of the most influential landscape photographers is Ansel Adams he created some amazing works in America during the early years of photography using black and white film.

This image left was taken by Ansel Adams and consists of really strong textures which brings the picture to life I think. The main textures are the clouds, the mountains and the trees these make the image have more going on and also add clarity to the picture.
The image follows the rule of thirds as it is divided by the sky, then the mountains and then the path leads us to the foreground of the image. The path in the image is a main feature and really makes the image as it leads us to the mountains and the features at the back of the image.
The image has a high contrast and as there are really rich blacks and the light colours are almost white in                                                                                      places.                                                    

This second image has a really tranquil feel to it as the image doesn't have the dark features like the last one. This image has a lower contrast and the features are more delicate.
The water is really still and has no movement which creates a really calm mood and doesn't create much features with harsh or defined textures, yet the clouds and the sky create soft textures in the background of the image.
After looking at Ansel Adams work, I would like to have the same rich and detailed aspects in my imagery.