The Photograph Considered number fifty four – Peter Campbell

I have been a photographer on and off since my early teens, not in a professional sense but an enthusiastic photographer nonetheless. Over the last 15 years or so I have graduated from 35mm photography with various cameras to 6×7 format (Mamiya 7) and then onto my Chamonix 45N1 camera. I still use all formats, but I love working with the bigger negative size and the detail I can achieve from them. I have done a couple of workshops with Alex Bond here in Perth so I have good basic understanding of large format photography, but I still regard myself as a novice compared to other members of this group.                                                        

  I process my film, mostly B&W at home and have a small darkroom, so I can do my own printing as well. Kodak Tmax and Ilford Fp4 are the two film stocks I mostly use, and I process in either ID11 or D76.  I process my 4×5 negatives in a Patterson multi 3-reel tank with a mod54 insert, which does up to 6 sheets of film. I scan my negatives on an Epson V850 flatbed scanner and do a little dodging and burning in lightroom.

In July 2025 I embarked on a road trip from Perth, across the Nullarbor to the Flinders Ranges. Having been to the Flinders once before many years ago, I was keen to get back and do some photography. Firstly I headed to Arkaroola and enjoyed a couple of good days there, mostly doing colour photography with my Mamiya and Velvia 50 film. My plan was then to travel back to Wilpena and spend a week there. On my way back down the Outback Highway I turned off to Edeowie Station where I spent a wild night. Torrential rain and cyclonic wind forced me to pull down my roof top tent in the middle of the night and spend an uncomfortable night in the front seat of my ute. This was the start of several days of bad weather. As they say, good plans often go astray and rain, low visibility, wind, and freezing temperatures persisted for the next three or four days. Many of the unsealed roads around Wilpena such as the Bunyeroo Scenic Drive were closed during this time. The café in Hawker was my go-to place for much of the time! Plan B was to head further south, via Orroroo, Peterborough to Burra where I spent a couple of days. The rain did follow me to some extent but the countryside around Burra was so lush and green, and there were plenty of photo opportunities. I explored many of the back roads around Burra and made this image on one such trip.

A long fence line stretched away in the distance towards a low range of hills. Three wind turbines sat on top of the distant hills, which were shrouded in low cloud and misty rain. Two trees sat on either side of the fence line, making the scene perfectly balanced. The clouds were very angry looking but occasionally bright sunshine broke through, and I could see a small flock of sheep grazing where the sun broke through. Intermittent showers and a blustery wind were not ideal conditions for large format photography, but I persevered.  I used a  Schnieder Super-Angulon 90mm lens on my Chamonix, at f32 and ¼ second, with a yellow filter. I used Kodak Tmax100 for this photo and processed the film in D76 ( 1:1 dilution)

In my darkroom I printed the negative on Ilford Multigrade Classic FB 11×14 matt paper. I usually don’t print any bigger than 11×14.  My darkroom is very cosy, 2.3×2.3 metres! A one-person darkroom!  I built this room in one corner of my garage, and so I had limitations. It’s small but it’s workable, for me anyway. When I started using 45 sheet film I needed a 45 enlarger. By chance I was speaking to the owner of a film lab here in Perth, who mentioned that he had a couple of De Vere 504 enlargers in his storeroom. He offered to sell one and I snapped it up. It’s in good working condition and I have been very happy with it. My darkroom is really only big enough for one enlarger, but I also have a Leitz V35 enlarger which I use for my 35mm negatives.

I am now retired and so I have the time to devote to photography. I have always been a hiker, here in Australia and overseas and have always carry a camera with me. Nowadays I don’t hike as much, or as far, but I still carry the camera! Like most landscape photographers, I have been influenced by Ansel Adams, John Sexton, Michael Kenna and many others.