Large Format Film Holders: Keeping Track

Call me stupid. I have been doing large format since late 2013. A set of problems confronted by large format photographers is keeping track of film holders. They inherently lack identity and once film has been put in one it is impossible to tell what is in there without the trouble of safely opening it up. 

My First Large Format Image Nov 2013
(Ilford Delta 100 MPP MKIII)

This wasn't much of a problem in the beginning as I only had one film type Ilford Delta 100 then later some Fomapan 100 when The Delta was used up. This problem became acute when I purchased new and expired film a few years ago and accumulated over 700 sheets of film. Now I have Ilford FP4+ HP5+, Fuji Astia, Velvia 50 and 100, Provia, Pro 400H, Kodak Ektar, Ektachrome, Portra 160, Portra 400 and probably something else I have forgotten. You get the picture, lots of film types to keep track of.  Recent Alex Burke had said in a livestream that he has standardized on  Portra 160. Mostly to simplify things especially when backpacking. A little late for me to think about this idea. :)

The next problem faced is whether a sheet of film has been exposed or not. Normally this is done using the color coding on the handles of the darkslide which by convention are white on one side and black on the other. Different photographers use the convention in different ways; white means it has been exposed to light or it means it has yet to be? All I know is that my large format work is done in bursts as I reach for different cameras in different times of the year and it may be some time before I return to large format. Consequently, this convention never really burned itself in my brain. 

Finally, it is useful in some circumstances to know the identity of each side of the film holder. This means specific notes can be made about exposure and conditions for each sheet of film. Normally I have found this not to be an issue as each film sheet has a unique image. Recently I shot 4 sheets of HP5+ for developing experiments and found I could not reliably say which sheet had been exposed in a particular way. 

Initially I tried using a grease pencil to mark the darkslides with film type and exposure status. The grease pencil was not easy to remove in some cases. 

I decided amongst all of these requirements to be very explicit by labeling my film holders. It saves me from guessing and remembering or having to look things up. Especially when I pull a stack of loaded film holders from the freezer that I had loaded with film months earlier. I label each holder explicitly with the type of film. I use a Brother label maker and the labels peel off reasonably easily. Typically though I reload a holder with the same type of film. When this changes I just print a new label set, peel off the old ones and apply the new ones. 

On the end of each darkslide holder I make small labels that say boldly 'Exposed' on one side and 'Unexposed' on the other side.  They are unambiguous and large enough type to be read in most lighting conditions. This leaves the problem of course of remembering to flip the darkslide over when inserting after the image has been taken. 

Finally I apply a unique number to each side of the film holder. This allows me to record specifically which sheet has used in a certain setting. Not only does it help with perhaps development choices or bracketing but it can also help diagnose leaky film holders. 

In all cases I have found this unambiguous labeling has been a boon to keeping me focused in the field and reducing errors.  

Example Labeled Film Holders
(Note old labels from previous owners and my own grease pencil marks.)