I took the above picture in 2012 on a sheet of 8×10 color film. I enjoyed it a lot. It’s the view from the Rowena Crest Overlook in the Columbia Gorge, Oregon. It’s a favorite spot of mine to take pictures. I don’t live very close anymore, so it’s a little harder to reach, bu not too hard. Instead of living 12 miles away, I live 64 miles away.

I haven’t used 8×10 color film in a while, and it’s not because I don’t want to. It just costs about $15.00 per sheet. It’s expensive. That said, I have been thinking about giving it a try again. I would need to get a new darkroom set up first, so that I can load the film in complete darkness.

I have a few more examples.

I took this picture in the same year as the lead picture in this post. It’s the Portland waterfront and the Hawthorne Bridge, as seen from behind OMSI. And, yes, the sky really was that blue.

The morning sun was coming up from behind, and it reflected off of one of the skyscrapers along the waterfront. It was a beautiful morning.

I love Cathedral Park in Saint Johns, with its iconic bridge. I have done a lot of 8×10 black and white pictures of it, but this is the only color negative I made of that size.

The main reason to use 8×10 film is the sharpness. You really can’t get any sharper unless you go to Ultra Large Format film, which is hard to get, and much more expensive. I’m not sure it even comes larger than 8×10, but who knows?

I have told this story of why I want to use 8×10 film on previous posts, but I will tell it again in cast you have not read it. Back in the mid-1990’s, when I was just getting serious about photography, I saw an Ansel Adams print–It was “Clearing Winter Storm.” What amazed me about the picture was not just the look and feel of the picture, but the fact that I saw the individual pine needles on the trees! And, the trees were not that close. I said right then that that was what I wanted to do, and, more importantly, that was the way I wanted to do it. It was the main reason I did not embrace digital until I had to give up my darkroom in 2015. I still use 8×10 film, although my Deardorff is out of commission for a while. It developed light leaks, and needs reconstructive repair. I have a backup camera in the meantime, but it’s just not the same, or as portable.

Thanks for looking!

–Gary L. Quay

Technical Data:

Rownea Crest, February 2012
Camera: Deardorff 8×10
Lens: 300mm Nikkor-W
Film: Kodak Portra 160 VC

Portland Across the Willamette River
Camera: Deardorff 8×10
Lens: 300mm Nikkor-W
Film: Kodak Portra 160 VC

St Johns Bridge in Color, October 2009
Camera: Deardorff 8×10.
Lens: 300mm Nikkor-W
Film: Kodak Portra 160VS 8×10.