Caught Up on 8x10

I've finally caught up on processing 8x10 film.  I started shooting with a Sinar P view camera back in 2007.  While the novelty was fresh, I shot quite a bit of film.  Around 60 sheets in 2007 and again in 2008, and then about 70 in 2009.  In 2010 my shooting dropped off to only about 20 sheets.  Since then my use of the big camera has been sporadic.  The camera is so bulky and cumbersome that I mostly just lost interest in trying to drag it out into the field.  From time to time I would set it up at home, with studio lights and a backdrop, and take some portraits.  But since 2011 it only made it out into the field a couple of times.

Two things changed in 2020.  First, I retired... so this gave me a lot more time for photography.  And second, I bought myself a folding wood Chamonix 8x10 field camera.  This camera is MUCH lighter and MUCH more compact than the old Sinar P.  I now have a small backpack into which I can fit the camera, four lenses, two film holders, a meter, a cable release, a couple of filters and a darkcloth.  This is so much more portable, and enjoyable, than the old set up.  I've actually had it out in the field eight times since early December, and have shot over 30 sheets of film with it. 

It was easy to make the switch to this camera as the only thing I had to buy was the camera itself.  I already had all the rest of the paraphernalia, including 40 film holders, 7 lenses, a heavy tripod, and a few other odds and ends.  As I began to work with the new camera, I became refreshed with the 8x10 format, and I realized that I had a lot of exposed film, some dating back as far as 2007, that was waiting to be developed.  Over the past couple of months I have really put in a serious effort in getting caught up.  I am now to the point that all of that old film, as well as some of the current stuff, has been processed.

I generally wait until I have a batch of about ten sheets of film, of the same type, that requires the same development.  This makes the best use of the chemistry, my time, and water.  At the present time I still have 22 sheets of 8x10 film that need to processed.  But, these are all from 2020 and 2021, so there is no longer any old stuff kicking around.  And those 22 sheets are of six different types of film, so I need to get out and do some additional shooting to build up the quantities to process batches.

At the moment it is bitterly cold here in Alberta and getting outdoors with a view camera is out of the question.  It dropped down to -32C here in Edmonton overnight, and once the wind chill effect was factored in if felt more like -45C.  Out at the cottage in Nordegg it has been even colder, and was -38C when I checked yesterday morning.  Obviously I will have to wait things out for a bit before I can venture outdoors again with any of my cameras.  In the mean time I am scanning and filing away all of the negatives that I recently processed.  Some of these will show up here on my blog in coming days, including this one...  This is a still life I shot in my kitchen back in 2018.