I enjoyed my first large format camera visit to Munich’s Olympic rowing lake so much that I returned a week later, this time with 3 other large format shooters! Join me for more big negative views including some Kodak Ektar sheet film.
With great Sunday weather, plenty of film loaded into my 4x5 holders, and a meetup with 3 other large format photographers, this was definitely going to be a cool few hours back at the awesome Olympic rowing lake venue in Munich. Our main focus, once again, was on the massive stands, with plenty of interesting shapes and 50 year old architecture. Interestingly enough, we all ended up focusing on the seating area, with an interesting combination of late afternoon shadows and the texture of dirty (even broken) seats. Luckily we were mostly out of the way from the general public, although I am sure a few of them running or walking along the path must have wondered why on earth we all had our large 4x5 cameras pointing directly at a row of seats.
As usual, all shots below clickable for full screen viewing, trust me you will want to see these large format shots in full screen.
Some simple phone shots of the lake.
It is not everyday that you see four large format cameras out and about. We have two others in our “Munich Large Format shooters” group, so maybe one day I can say we are half a dozen 4x5 shooters!
My first shot of the day, somewhat overexposed though. I also feel the final composition was a bit busy, I should have focused more closely on the first set of three windows on the left.
The phone shot is not my camera, but it shows a nice setup. I think I used a red filter on my shot and despite some pretty strong flaring from the sun, I am happy with the image.
I had forgotten I had about 6 sheets left of Kodak Ektar 100 film, so I decided to bring 2 with me. This stuff is EXPENSIVE (€5 a shot without counting development), so I usually reserve it for shots of the Alps.
I quite like this image, although as I shot this with my 90mm lens there is quite a lot of sky. I have included a cropped (crop?! sacrilege!) version below too.
A shot of the back of the stands. A cropped shot reveals (with great detail!) signs showing directions to a beer garden and restaurant area.
Seats, so many seats!
I already took some shots of the seats last time, but the repeating pattern, strong shadows, and interesting textures from the dirt on 50 year old seats is basically a magnet for any photographer.
I am really happy with how this shot came out.
I nearly put this shot as my cover shot for the post, but decided the other one showed more of the lake and tower. I really like the colour of the water in this shot though, and yes, cropped again underneath as I am a sucker for panoramic shots.
If you look to the other side of the lake you can see the original Olympic flag masts.
The more eagle eyed can also spot a large format camera at the bottom of the frame!
This also could have been the cover for my post (but I really wanted to get some more colour on my front blog page).
I absolutely love this shot (who says shooting directly towards the sun is a bad idea?).
The two broken seats at the top of the image somehow get lost as the focus leans towards the bottom and the strong sunlight and shadows. I still like this shot very much.
Overall observations
As you can imagine, I had a great time on my second outing to the rowing lake. I think these are some of the best shots I have taken with my Linhof large format camera. I guess it also helps to be surrounded by other large format geeks. I am also very pleased the colour Kodak Ektar shots came out well.
Some shots of crazy big 4x5 negatives below.
I am getting into the groove with my large format shooting, so expect to see more ‘World in Large Format’ posts coming soon!
Thanks for stopping by!
Neil
