Dealing with the Elements

Large format photography is affected by the weather more than any other photography game, both because of the nature of the equipment, and of its size. The two big issues are wind and precipitation — I find managing one or the other is generally OK, but both together present a real challenge. That said, sunshine too is not without problems.

Sunshine

Even here in Scotland, where on a perfect blue sky days the ambient temperature rarely exceeds 20C, it gets rather hot under the dark cloth; this then leads to condensation on the ground glass and focusing loupe, and, of course, glasses. For this reason, it is well worth to have a dark cloth that is white on the outside (see here for how to make one on the cheap). Other than that, not hanging about too much helps.

Wind

Because the LF photographer invariably works with long exposures (rarely less than 1/8s, but often more than 1s), wind-created vibrations have a significant impact on the sharpness of the resulting image. The main factors at play here are the physical properties of the camera and of the tripod.

Not all cameras are made equal; a heavy studio monorail is likely to be rock solid when all the controls are locked down, but it is a beast to drag up a mountain, while a folder is always going to be more prone to oscillations. But even there the differences can be significant — I find the Chamonix F2 camera much better in this regard than the (much cheaper) Intrepid.

When it comes to tripods, broadly speaking, you get what you pay for, and size matters.

A good quality tripod not only ‘feels’ rigid, but quickly dampens vibrations. In the past LF photographers tended to prefer wooden tripods designed for land surveyors, as wood happens to be very good material in this regard, better than metal, but they are large and heavy. Modern, good quality, carbon fibre tripods provide a lighter alternative, but at a significant cost.

On a calm day, using a lightweight folder like the Intrepid or Chamonix, I can get away with a tripod designed for a DSLR, but something lot more robust, like a series 3 tripod, is needed when it’s windy.

The principal weak link in the tripod system is the head. The typical ball head designed for a DSLR (the one with a stalk on the top of the ball), will not cut it even for a lightweight folder, as the stalk is simply not rigid enough, and even just replacing the head on a DSLR tripod will give a significant improvement.

Unfortunately, modern heads designed for LF cameras are heavy and silly expensive, but if you are lucky you might run into an old Linhof Grosser Nivellierkopf on eBay or some such place — if you see one, get it. While this head offers a fairly limited range of movement compared to more modern ones, it is rock solid, lightweight (comparable to a DSLR ball head), and combined with a cheap pan plate, works great for landscape photography (you will need a big washer to mount it on a modern tripod; a 3.5” hard disk is perfect for this).

Equipment aside, the main trick for dealing with wind is to anchor the tripod. It is common to dangle some sort of weight from the tripod weight hook at the underside of the tripod platform (like a bag filled with stones); while this generally prevents the tripod from toppling over, the swinging bag introduces vibrations into the system, which is contra-productive. Instead, I carry about 3m of paracord in my camera bag, which I hook on the weight hook, and tie it to a big stone (or two) so that the cord is under tension (paracord, being made of nylon lends itself well to this). I find this makes it possible to take pictures in fairly strong wind, and it also prevents the camera from toppling over when I am not looking (I have been meaning to get one of those screw-in anchors people use for dog leads, for when there are no stones, but there usually are some stones around).

This should be done before putting the camera on, and I am in the habit of doing this even when the wind is not very strong, as the consequences of a sudden gust can be expensive.

Other than that, I look for a localised lee where to place the camera, and wait for a lull in the wind before taking the photo, if at all possible.

Rain

The camera itself is weather resistant to the extent the bellows are, and the modern ones are, but the lenses and shutters are not even remotely sealed, so rain is definitely a problem.

If it is not windy, by far the simplest way to deal with rain is an umbrella; big tripods usually have an attachment point for accessories, which can be used to rig an umbrella to free both hands, as working the camera with just one hand is awkward, but not impossible, but it needs to be detached before taking the picture, to avoid unnecessary vibrations.

A big cheap rubber hood is useful to protect the front of the lens from the rain, but one has to be careful so it doesn’t interfere with the image, particularly when using significant camera movements — always check for this at the actual aperture the image will be taken at, as that has direct bearing on the size of the image circle.

Once setup and waiting for the right moment to take the image, I cover the whole camera with a dry bag; I carry a 30l ultralight backpack liner for this, which is big enough for a 4x5 camera, and the buckle on the rolltop makes it possible to secure it between the tripod legs, stopping it from flying off. This way I can wait for ‘the light’ for however long I need to. (However, if the bag needs to go on and off multiple times it will get wet on the inside rather quickly.)

If you are planning to take photos while it’s raining, it’s worth to make a raincoat from a bit of a tarp to cover the whole lens and shutter assembly; it will need some way of securing, and it should not interfere with operating the trigger, but your shutter will thank you by long service.

Other than that, I carry good sized silica gel sachets in the camera bag to absorb moisture inside the bag, and, of course, dry everything ASAP.