National Shrine Detail

A detail of the rose window above the front doors of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC. The unusual border here is the result of using Polaroid Type 55 film, a terrific black and white peel-apart film that gives the photographer both a positive (print) and a negative. The film is designed so large format shooters can check exposure and composition at the scene, but the "type 55 look" of the negative became popular with fine art photographers.

I have several Type 55 images on these pages. I really like the film and its unique look. I often see photographers and magazines use digital techniques to try to recreate this look or other large format signature looks with 35mm digital originals, but the results never look as good as the real thing.

Photo geeks note: This shot was excessively dodged and burned in Photoshop to add contrast and make it "grittier" than the real scene. Also, the camera was pointed up quite a bit to capture this detail, and I made the camera back straight up and down to keep the lines from converging. Then I tilted the front standard forward to keep the depth of field where I wanted it. The result was that this was almost like a very large front rise movement.

LENS: 300/9 | FILM: Polaroid Type 55 | EXPOSURE: f/32 at 1/?" | DATE: 08/03

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