Spring Flowers Digital 4x5

It has been a great spring for wildflowers here in Texas.  After a wet winter and spring with some nice drought breaking rains we have had a great wildflower display.  Bluebonnets have already come and gone.  It was a good show.  Now we have a variety of red, yellow, purple, white, etc.  A visual feast.


I took the 4x5 out today to see if I could capture some of that spring color.  I had some Velvia 100 I wanted to shoot but I also decided to take the 50D along and hook it up for some digital work with the Arca-Swiss.


I carefully waded out into the wildflowers and found a good spot with some bare ground for the pack.  Then I set up the Arca-Swiss.  I went with the 210mm to compress the flowers.  I shot a couple of sheets, then switched over to the DSLR to see what it could do.


When working with the DSLR I can only use the longer lenses to get anywhere close to infinity.  Now the 210mm on a crop sensor DSLR is like using a 300mm on a full frame camera as I am only using a small piece of the image circle.


Open up the lens like I normally would.  Use Live View to compose and focus.  Use Aperture Priority mode for the image.  Viola-image.


I get the 4x5 experience with instant digital feedback and I did not have to spend $30,000 for a high end digital back.  I just get a smaller file and cannot use wide angles.  However for what I was doing I thought the longer lenses would be a better choice.


I saw a few Indian blankets and thought they might be a good subject.  Used the 10x on Live View to really check focus.  Then it was just wait for the wind to lull for just a second.


Then when I caught that lull, I got this one.  Canon 50D, on Arca-Swiss 4x5 with a 210mm Nikon lens.