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about the photographer

8x10.se showcases the work of Swedish photographer Lars Åke Vinberg.

For the last ten years Lars has focused his photography efforts on large-format landscape photography. Lars travels extensively to some of the more exotic destinations around the world, but he also does assignment work.

For landscape photography Lars primarily uses an English Gandolfi wood field camera taking 8x10 inch film. The Gandolfi is now being phased out, replaced by a Toyo 810 G monorail studio camera, along with a quite substantial tripod. The Toyo is somewhat heavier than the Gandolfi (9 kilograms instead of four), but is sturdy enough for more extreme conditions like strong winds. Lars also uses the smaller film sizes sizes 4x5 inch, 6x17 cm, 6x12 cm, and 6x9 cm, with Ebony brand wood field cameras. Lars primarily uses color reversal ("transparency" or "slide") film. While at first this technology might seem a bit archaic in today's world of digital imaging, it is for some purposes simply the best tool for the job.

exhibits

Lars' first public exhibit is planned for February 2005, in Pasadena, California. Date and location are not yet finalized, but will be posted here as soon as the date is set.

size matters

Color film the size of 8x10 inches (203x254 mm) is rarely used today, because it is an expensive and cumbersome medium - Lars' camera backpack, fully loaded, weighs in at about 27 kilograms (60 pounds); just the cost of film is about EUR 15 per exposure. Why then use such a large film format? Well, simply put, size matters.

With a usable film area of over 60 times a normal 35 mm slide, or sixteen times the film size of a Hasselblad studio camera, the image quality of an 8x10" slide is simply stunning. Looking at a good 8x10" transparency "slide" on the light table is like looking through an extremely clean window: Tonality and detail is noticeably superior even to 4x5" film, there is no visible grain whatsoever, even in print sizes measured in feet or meters. The resulting prints, when well crafted, are simply breathtaking. Sadly, it is not possible to communicate on a computer screen the clarity and vibrance of an 8x10" photograph, it has to be experienced first-hand.

in the camera bag

Lars use three different wood cameras depending on film format - sometimes the 8x10 stays at home.

Cameras: For 6x9 cm: a Japanese Ebony brand SW23 in ebony wood and titanium; for 4x5": an Ebony brand 45S in ebony wood and titanium; for 8x10": an English Gandolfi Variant Level II in American walnut and aluminum, with extra bag bellows for wide-angle lenses. The Gandolfi is currently being replaced/complemented by a Toyo 810 G all-metal monorail camera.

Lenses: For 6x9 cm and 4x5" cameras: Schneider Super-Angulon XL 5.6/47; Schneider Super-Angulon 5.6/65; Schneider Apo-Symmar 5.6/100; Schneider Apo-Digitar 5.6/120; Schneider Apo-Symmar 5.6/180; Fuji Fujinon-A 9/240. For 8x10": Schneider Super-Symmar XL 5.6/150; Schneider Apo-Symmar 5.6/240; Fuji Fujinon-A 9/240; Rodenstock Apo-Ronar 9/480.

Filters: Lars uses an UV filter or a skylight filter for color balance, and sometimes a polarizer to reduce reflections. For high-contrast scenes, such as a bright sky against a foreground in shade, a neutral-density graduated filter is used to hold back the brightness of the sky. Occasionally a gray filter is used to extend exposure time by a factor of 8, when a long exposure time is desired such as when photographing waterfalls. More creative filters are not used - nature itself often provides a color palette that is creative enough.

contact

email:
Telephone (mobile GSM): +1 650 283-3347

Or click here to send a message.

mailing list

If you would like to hear about new releases then please use the contact form and check the mailing list box. Your email address will be included future mailings, but will of course not use your email address for any other purpose.

art and photography

While Lars' photography to some extent has an artistic appeal that goes beyond capturing the light of nature, he is strict about not labeling his photography as art. "The purpose of my photography is to communicate to the viewer my impressions and sensations, the presence of the subject, at the time the photograph was made."

the digital alternative

The highest resolution digital imaging chips today (2004, 25 megapixels, US$ 30,0000) are approximately equal in resolution to medium-format film, actually even better in some respects. Perhaps in a year or two the resolution of the best digital chips will equal 4x5" film, but that market will likely be limited so these devices will remain very expensive. As for 8x10" quality (perhaps 400-800 megapixels depending on who you ask), the demand for such an extreme resolution will remain so low that likely we will not see such an imaging chip mass-produced in the foreseeable future.

There are today scanning backs that can produce such a resolution, but a scanning back is unsuitable for landscape photography as it depends on unchanging light conditions and absolutely no movement in the subject scene during an exposure time of up to twenty minutes.  Any moving clouds or waves, moon or stars, or wind-blown plants for that matter, will make the scanning back unusable for this purpose.

As for other aspects of image quality (dynamic range, color rendering) Lars does believe that digital capturing will evolve to be a better capturing process than film.

When it comes to post-processing and print making - for color prints - Lars firmly believes that digital will be the way to go in the near future. Today's technology, in terms of scanners, software, color-control, and printing alternatives, promises much for the future. True, some of the craft of the traditional wet darkroom is lost - two hand-dodged prints are never exactly the same - but the gain in output quality is significant.

Black-and-white printing is a completely different matter. Traditional processes are still vastly superior to digital alternatives in black-and-white (some people will disagree with this opinion as well).

projects

Past and current projects & assignments include:

• Interiors for Ulfsunda Castle (http://www.ulfsundaslott.se/) in Stockholm (assignment, image bank for web and print);
• Photographs for marketing for New Science Svenska AB (http://www.newscience.se/), a Stockholm-based biotech investment firm. Our photographs were used in the web site (2003 version) and August 2002 investment prospectus. We also created the 2003 website, whereas production and overall graphic design was handled by S.A. Productions;
• The Bull Dust project: Lars is currently on a nine month photography journey in the Australian outback. Early results of this project can be seen on the collections page. The photographs, along with Lars' travel journal, are possibly intended for a future book project.

credits

Photographers Per Volquartz and Claire Curran for invaluable mentoring, support and advice. Also a thank you to photographer Jan Faul for encouragement.

The guys at Dataline Sweden AB, for helping out with bits and bytes.

Sandra Alicata of S.A. Productions, for pushing my graphic design abilities.

And, finally, Ricky and Sandra for inspiring me to "go the distance".

copyrighted material

This website contains photographs and other material that is copyrighted by Lars Åke Vinberg or by third party. Please respect copyright.

links

datalinesweden.se

Per Volquartz, of Danish origin but residing in California, is an outstanding photographer.

www.vinberg.nu - Lars' personal website, with personal information, travel diaries, some photography ramblings, and more photographs.

E6Plus - An excellent pro lab in Melbourne, Australia, specializing in E6 transparency development. Highly recommended, even if you reside in Europe or North America. Ask for John, tell him Lars referred you.

Ebony cameras - japanese manufacturer of some of the finest wood cameras, in ebony or mahogany with titanium hardware.

Gandolfi cameras - the oldest still-active wood camera maker, with traditions that go back to the 1880's.

Schneider-Kreuznach - one of the four major manufacturers of lenses for large-format photography. (the other three are Rodenstock, Fuji, and Nikon. Recently Cooke has made a return into the large-format optics market, with a soft-focus portrait lens for 4x5" as well as a remake of the classic Triple Convertible for 8x10".)

about this website

The first version of this website was developed using Frontpage 2003, ASP in VBScript, and an Access database. The second (current) version was developed by a straight port from VBScript to Javascript - still ASP. In-house the site has been rewritten using .NET Framework 1.1, C-sharp, and ASP.NET, awaiting migration to a web host supporting .NET. All design and implementation by Lars Åke Vinberg.