Welcome to my Ultra Large Format Photography Journal.  I share my personal thoughts and experiences with my family and friends in the hope they will gain a deeper understanding of who I am and how much I love creating ultra large format contact prints.  I consider this process to be the ultimate medium for self-expression. Ultra large format contact printing is slow, contemplative, and never needs to change today or a thousand years from now.  It's already perfect, and no improvements are desired or needed.  If you want to watch some videos of me and Tim Jr. working in the darkroom, then you can follow our YouTube Darkroom Diary, where we bring you behind the scenes with us. 

ULF Diary 11/27/2022

While I focus a lot on serious fine art image-making, I like to get out and ride the backroads with my big ultra large format cameras and create images that I appreciate and enjoy.

Over the last week, we have had some enjoyable cool, and foggy mornings. I love to get outside first thing in the morning and enjoy the beautiful countryside. I am still happy and grateful even if I don't take a single exposure.

I have been working more with the 8x20 format. I really love the perspective, especially for landscapes.

I will share a few of the images that I took this last week and share a few thoughts about each one below the image. 

8x20 ULTRA LARGE FORMAT IMAGES

Siloam Springs - Foggy Morning © Tim Layton (www.timlaytonfineart.com)

First, I will start with what I love about this image and then share some thoughts about what I would like to see differently. 

The morning fog is magical.  Anytime I get the chance to photograph foggy morning landscapes, it puts a smile on my face. 

I love the lone cow on the left side of the frame.  It brings something interesting and fun to this image. 

The only thing I don't like in this image is the group of trees on the far right.  There is nothing I can do about that because that is how nature made it, but I think the image would be cleaner and more compelling if those trees were not in the image.  For this reason, I don't consider this a "keeper," but I do enjoy it, and I had a fun time with Tim Jr. in the field taking this image. 

Siloam Springs - Cow Landscape © Tim Layton (www.timlaytonfineart.com)

This scene was about 10 miles from the barn above.  I knew that it would be an ideal landscape for the 8x20 format. 

I don't consider this one a "keeper" because it doesn't have something compelling to pull the viewer in, but I do like the image concept, and my plan is to return when there is snow on the ground and wait for that special moment when the closest cow to me in the image has its head up and looking at me. If the cow in the front of this image were looking forward, it would have transformed this image, in my opinion. 

I have more to follow in the next day or so, so stay tuned. 

You can follow my YouTube Darkroom Diary, where Tim Jr. and I bring you behind the scenes in our darkroom, where we work on our latest Ultra Large Format projects. 

Tim