I am a beginner with LF, moderate B&W experience, and have opportunity to get a very nice scene of Iao Valley on Maui. The shot is from the 6th floor of what Mauians would refer to as a “highrise.” Unfortuately, it cannot be taken except through a window, and that tinted by a dark, reflective coating or film.

My initial prints are disappointingly flat and lack life. I believe this is due to the window because I've taken the same image from open air with smaller formats - those are much crisper and pleasing.

I’m using an old press camera, 135mm lens, No. 15 yellow filter, and am metering through the window. The film is HP5, developed in Rodinal 1:50, for 11 minutes (standard). I'm trying different contrast filters in printing, still kind of blah. It is already a fairly constrasty scene, so am a little hesitant to push.

Could I get a couple of suggestions from the more experienced photographers out there? Mahalo!

Will

-- William Spence (wspence@maui.net), April 14, 2002

Answers

If you could use medium format and shoot without the window glass, I would do that first. If the glass is unavoidable, place the camera as close as you can to the window, and minimize the light coming inside the room to reach the part of the window glass near your lens. (Carefully cover with a dark cloth or cardboard box without blocking any part of your camera's sight)

Did you try polarizer? Orange or yellow filter?

Unfortunatelly, I don't think you can do a lot in darkroom about this particular problem.

-- Ryuji Suzuki (rsuzuki@rs.cncdsl.com), April 15, 2002.