So...why large format?

     Something that happens quite frequently when I go to shoot the Graflex is, it tends to draw a crowd. This is generally a positive experience as people seem genuinely interested in the camera and it's history and use. Most people have never seen such a camera and the device tends to fascinate people. Particularly younger folks. They tend to look on curiously as you set up a shot, but sooner or later they come by as their curiosity gets the best of them.
     Most know it's old and that's the first comment they make. "That's an old camera." Or, "What is that?" I even had one person think it was some sort of video camera as the back of the Graflex has a hood that pops out and looks something like the hood of a video-camera monitor. Then comes the next question or rather statement. "It shoots film?!" and "How does it work?" To which I patiently and enthusiastically explain it to them. Most people, particularly and encouragingly young people really seem to appreciate it. But then comes the inevitable question. "So, why do you shoot it?"
     It's a valid question. "Why do I shoot large format?" Well, there are a number of reasons. Today's society is so fast paced and technology driven that I think we forget to take time to slow down and enjoy much of what is going on around us. I've sat at our local Zoo and have seen people go to an exhibit, take a picture, look at it on the screen and then walk off. They never took the time to enjoy the animal in front of them. To observe it's behavior. So for me it is a way to slow down. It is in a way my own personal form of rebellion against our "forever rushed" society. But, it is much more than that.
     Shooting large format makes you think. It is very contemplative. You generally will think about what it is you want to shoot and plan for that shoot. It may be for only one location or subject and maybe only one exposure. There may be no capture of any image, the conditions may not be right. You tend to know your subject. You may learn the history or the geography of a place; it's significance, or you may know it in a physical sense as you travel over the land and learn it's features. You scout and explore the hidden places, the secret groves and streams that few people ever venture. You may visit a place several times and see something new each time. The purposefulness of the format forces you to contemplate what you are doing, what you are photographing. I find too, that when you are under the darkcloth, you shut the world out. It is just you, the camera, and your subject. Not only is the light diminished, but sounds are muted as well, you become more isolated.
     It is also very reflective. I find when I shoot that my mind will drift and think about a location and how it affects me. What is it about a place that I am trying to record? Why does black and white reflect that better than color, and vice-versa? Which film will render better? I will also find myself thinking a lot about the location and/or my subject long after I'm gone. The format makes you more a part of what you are photographing, you not only take away an image, you take a part of "it" with you. And you leave a part of you there. I still find myself thinking about places and people from when I first starting shooting large format. I can't say that about other formats, at least not as often.

"Snake Fence"
Pacemaker Speed Graphic 135mm Optar, Arista EDU 200.

   

                                                                             "Murfree Springs in Summer"                                                                            Pacemaker Speed Graphic, 135mm Optar Lens, (Objective Tilted for effect) Ilford HP4+

     It makes you a better photographer, as I have said before, you have to be mindful of everything. It's not like shooting an advanced 35mm SLR or DSLR. Even shooting them manually is still faster than the Graflex. But the technology can make you a little complacent if you're not careful. It slows you down. You don't have a lot of built in advanced technologies to assist you. You have to adjust your style of shooting to fit the camera, and once again think ahead and be creative.
    The other very important aspect is simply image quality. The sheer size of 4x5 film lends to a better quality image for a variety of reasons. The negative is simply much larger than that of 35mm/full frame sensors and medium format, to say nothing of APS-C size sensors. A "full frame" sensor or 35mm negative is approximately 1.33 sq. inches. While a 4x5 negative is 20 sq. inches! Almost 20 times greater, and 4x5 is the smaller of the large formats. 5x7, 8x10, and even larger sheets of film are available to produce unbelievable quality for those who know to produce them.

4x5 Large Format Negative vs. 35mm "Full Frame" Slide

     Each type of camera, whether they are small format, medium or large formats all require and produce different forms of visualization. Each has it's own unique qualities, and each photographer at some point gravitates toward one to take photographs. I find large format unique and very enjoyable. To see the image on a ground glass before composition is a special beauty in itself and the inverted nature of it makes one view the image in a new and different way. You pay closer attention to edges, shapes, and composition, than through a smaller format viewfinder. 

     So, for all of these reasons and more is why I have come to enjoy large format. I have only just begun my large format journey, but it has been a wonderful trip so far. The deep contemplation and reflection associated with it is a tremendous  advantage in my mind. And the flexibly of the Gralfex to be able to shoot handheld if need be aids in the flexibility and transition. I hope that if you are interested in photography, that you will give the larger formats a try. Film is much more forgiving than most realize and there is a special type of freedom found in this contemplative approach to photography.

Thanks for reading and until next time, search for beauty and creativity in the great world around us!

Bob

Early Failures

     Shooting my Graflex was a pleasant experience, and it was growing more and more so. I was learning the theories behind tilt and shifting lenses for a variety of effects. Eric was continuing being his helpful self in guiding me along the process. Developing was still being a little bit of a hassle as I struggled with scanning the much larger negative. In all though my new camera worked marvelously and I marveled at how those dapper reporters of yesteryear carried and used these larger instruments to document the world around them. I also enjoyed the minimalist aspect of shooting this camera. I had but one lens! An Optar 135mm 4.7 lens. Not carrying a bag full of lenses was in many ways liberating and it is something I now do on a more regular basis with my 35mm's.
     Yet, in all of this a problem was developing. My little Graflex Optar was of course old and it had seen much use and then little use. It began to stick on me when I tripped the shutter. It was only occasionally and I thought little of it. I had a Bronica lens that did me that way and it freed itself up after some use. So I prescribed more work for it to do. I doubt you'd want me as your physician. "You feel sick? You need to sweat it out, go give me 10 laps around the clinic! That'll do the trick!"
     Well obviously, since you are reading about failures, it didn't.
     I decided that the next few places I'd take my new friend were some of my regular haunts, Oaklands Historic House Museum and Stones River National Battlefield. These are some of the most beautiful locations in my home town and I was anxious to capture them on 4x5 film. I first went to Stones River, or just "the battlefield" as we call it locally. I found a nice paved path that moved in a straight line away from the tour area and was encircled by trees and bordered with "snake rail" fences. I was excited to try some tilt effects and set up my shot. I went through the motions of preparing the camera and fiddled with the tilt mechanism until I got the desired effect of adjusting the focal place closer along the plane of the ground. An effect not possible with traditional 35mm and digital lenses. I locked my focus. Everything was set. I depressed the plunger of my release.
    "Tick." This wasn't the usual double "click-click" I normally hear. I looked at my optics and I was disgusted that the shutter was stuck open. I pushed the release arm the rest of the way with my finger. And slightly aggravated I reset to shoot it again. I did and once again it was just a "tick." But the shutter was closed this time, so I figured it took. It didn't. That ended up being a blank negative, with no exposure. The first did record an image however.

"What's Wrong?" Graflex Pacemaker Speed Graphic, Optar 135mm (stuck open), Kodak Portra 400

     Yep, that's my ugly mug trying to figure out what went wrong. The straight lines weren't caused by the stuck shutter. That's something else. More on that later.
     Thinking that I had only wasted one sheet I moved on to the other location I wanted to go and photograph. I nice open spot with two cannons and ammo carriages near the main visitor center.
This time I clicked the shutter many times to be certain it was working properly. It was, so I readied the camera and made two exposures. The first once again didn't open properly and I got a negative with no image. The second did take and I was happy that I knew I had at least one shot, if I did everything correctly. I had done everything correctly hadn't I?
     Well, I got home and prepared to develop. I used my darkbag and made the "tacos" to fit in my tank. But something was wrong. The funnel of the tank didn't feel like it had locked properly but it felt secure, so I assumed it was and put the lid on. As long as you have the tank funnel and spindle connected in the tank it is light tight. Opened the lid to do a pre-wash and I heard a rattle. I looked and I saw film emulsion in the hole where the spindle was supposed to be, it wasn't secure. I quickly put the lid back on but I knew it was too late. I opened it back up in the dark bag and resealed everything. I decided to develop anyway, there was a chance that one made it. Turns out, they didn't.
     As a result my cannon shot looked like you are going back into time through a portal.

Portra 400, Shot through a temporal displacement field (yeah that's it)

     This is one of those "happy accidents" as Bob Ross would say. It was a "failure" that turned interesting. I was happy to see my tilting would have been successful. This is the care one must take. My lens issues put the first damper on my excitement. I should have sent it off then, but I was still confident it would work itself free of it's issues. Indeed my next shoot went without a hitch. But it was a problem that would continue to plague me all the rest of the year until I finally had to do something about it. This episode was very frustrating in what I was hoping to accomplish. As I couldn't blame it on equipment failure but also my own carelessness.
     In photography, you are going to make errors. That's normal, and it's fine. It's part of the journey. So in your own work don't get frustrated if you miss a shot, or get the light wrong or botch a composition. Learn from those mistakes. It's easy to be bothered, but turn it into a determination to learn and correct them.

As the painter Bob Ross once said, "We don't make mistakes. Just happy accidents."

Thanks for reading and until next time, search for beauty and creativity in the great world around us.

Bobby

Early Successes

     After getting the Graflex and cleaning it the best I knew how, it was time to go and take some pictures. Only one problem. I had forgotten to order film! So I went to Nashville to a couple of stores I knew would have some 4x5 as I didn't want to wait the three days if would take to order via mail. So after visiting a rather large Pro Shop in my area I was disappointed to see they had nothing. So hopping back in the car I headed for the only other shop that I thought might have some. They did, one box of Ilford HP4+. I paid for it and headed home wondering how this film would be as I had never shot it before that time.
     I found the style of shooting large format isn't like other cameras and photography that I was accustomed. I will often just grab a bag and get in the car and go where ever the road takes me. I'll plan my trips, but the Graflex I felt deserved some more planning before I took it shooting, especially considering it was $1 to $3 per shot!
     I thought to keep it simple and visit a couple of places around my home. One is an old barn, another was a dogwood tree I saw in bloom near the road as I drove into town. I grabbed my bag I had loaded with my Graflex, four film holders filled with HP4+, cable release, light meter and a makeshift dark-cloth. I also brought my Nikon D700 to assist with metering if needed.
     I stopped off at the old barn I drive by almost every day. It was an overcast spring morning. The lighting was pretty soft from the cloud cover and I didn't have very far to walk from the fishing access road that leads to the nearby river.
     I was very keen on metering correctly and coming from using an auto nothing film camera in my teenage years got me very use to spot metering. I metered on several different locations in the scene: the barn wall, the field, trees and sky and performed a simple average.
     One thing about large format you are forced above all other systems I've ever shot to slow down. It's like a rocket pre-launch checklist. Tripod secure. Check. Focus locked. Check. Aperture set and shutter blades closed. Check. Film holder inserted. Check. Review previous settings. Check. Remove darkslide. Check. You may now trip shutter...3...2...1...(click) And then you are done with the exposure, but not with being careful. It's time to protect that hard won image. Replace the dark slide but reversed to show the black "exposed" side. Don't mix it up here or you'll just get a double exposure, or worse you'll burn out the sheet when you pull out the holder or reopen the shutter blades for composition.

     Here is my first exposure with the Graflex.

Pacemaker Speed Graphic, Graflex Optar 135mm lens. Ilford HP4+ , developed in Rodinal

     While not the greatest composition in the world, I was thrilled when this came out. I felt, "This is actually possible!"

     After making a single exposure, I packed up and headed to my next stop. A large Dogwood in spectacular bloom. When I arrived it was quite a bit more windy than I expected, but not too bad. I set up to capture the whole tree. But the background was quite distracting and I decided against a wide exposure and decided instead for a close up.
     The advantage of extendable bellows is the ability to reduce the focus distance of the lens. Turning most any lens into a close up capable lens. So I set up on some blossoms and focused.

Pacemaker Speed Graphic, Optar 135mm lens, Ilford HP4+, Bellows extended for macro. Developed in Rodinal

   
     On the barn shot I used the rangefinder and the view screen to confirm focus but I used the viewer only for the flowers. After confirming my meter reading I loaded the film and made an exposure.
     Then I was done. I planned two shots and made two shots. I went home feeling very fulfilled and prepared my sheets to develop. This was an entirely new way to shoot to me. Oh I've planned shoots before, but this was vey precise and purposeful and deliberate. It was methodical and analytical. It was a way to really think about your subject before making a capture.
     I had some difficulty scanning the files as my scanner couldn't scan a full 4x5 sheet. So I had to  scan in sections and photo-stitch them together at first. This grew much easier as I got a scanner that specifically handles 4x5. Yet, this medium while very rewarding is one where care must be given. But I felt that first day that I had grown as a photographer. That my work would take a new turn. Little did I know the frustrations that awaited me.

Thanks for reading and until next time, search for beauty and creativity in the great world around us.

Bobby

Next Post: "Early Failures"

Welcome

     Welcome to our premier post. If you've come here you are either a friend or someone who is curious about large format photography. Either way, I'm glad you stopped by. I won't bore you with too many details of my personal photographic journey at this time, I'll leave that for another post. But in the 24 years I have been, off-and-on, involved in photography I have encountered many interesting type of cameras. This however is my story of how I discovered and started in large format photography.
     I grew up with 35mm manual cameras then later their more advanced automatic counterparts. Then digital came along. While fascinating and full of promise, not to mention instant gratification, I often found it wanting. Colors and tonalities just weren't what they are with film. And while I enjoy and shoot digital my love with this art lies with film. Not too long ago I began playing with medium format cameras: Bronicas and Yashicamats. I loved the larger negative and the slower more methodical approach. But there was still one format that eluded and even intimidated me a bit...Large Format Film.
     While I enjoyed medium format and still do with my little Yashicamat 134G, I was still missing something. It's not as fast nor agile as 35mm, and while I love it's more purposeful approach, there is something about the large negative of a 4x5 or 8x10 that is very appealing to me. The ability to where my eyes have the feeling of "stretching" into the photo, looking for colors and tones and details is greatest in large format. But yet, while I enjoyed large format photographs and viewed the works of great landscape artists, I still had no idea where to begin. Yes, I did a little investigative research, but nothing in depth, and nothing inspiring me to the point to make the leap into it. 
     I'm not necessarily a gear head. My infatuation with gear has grown less and less with time. A photographer's skill and vison far outweigh any camera, lens, film or megapixel. Yet, in spite of those feelings there is one bit of technology that has changed my life photographically. The incomparable Nikon F6. When the D800 and D4 are gone into digital obsolescence this camera will still be going, and while it is still merely a device, owning it has led me to some very important friendships, and a particular cadre of online friend photographers who share and encourage one another. One of them, a talented young photographer by the name of Eric Smith convinced me to purchase a Graflex. An American legend in its own right, the Graflex is simply an amazing piece of engineering. 
     After grilling Eric with hours of questions about the Graflex and Large Format in particular I began research into large format work and finding a Graflex. I knew I had to have the Pacemaker Speed Graphic, simply for its versatility and great redundancy. Yet, finding one in decent condition for the price I wanted to pay was not the easiest task, but after a couple of weeks and searching www.graflex.org, I found it. I forked the dough down and within a week it was at my doorstep. 
     Little did I know what I was getting myself into. I already self develop my own film, so the development part was straightforward enough once you get around the difference of a sheet of film as opposed to a roll. While the Graflex itself was in great shape, the lens it came with was not. It is an excellent little Optar 135mm 4.7, and while the glass was good the shutter had a bad habit of sticking at the worse times. I didn't blame the seller, this is not an uncommon occurrence and after some work, I got it freed up and working.
     So with my new Graflex and a handful of holders I set off upon this new journey shooting large format. I hope you will join me along the way, as my walk on this particular path of my photographic journey is a new one and I haven't gone very far. I hope I can spark a little interest in you in this wonderful medium.

I'll end this post with a quote from Ansel Adams...     

 “I hope that my work will encourage self-expression in others and stimulate the search for beauty and creative excitement in the great world around us.”

         

Until next time, search for beauty and creativity in the great world around us.

Bobby

My Graflex Pacemaker Speed Graphic on the first day of shooting it. Spring 2013.

PS - Here is the list of my photographer friends. Their friendship as well as their encouragement and talent as photographers continue to inspire me. 

Eric Smith: http://www.easmithv.com/ The culprit who got me into Large Format to begin with, Eric is an excellent photographer with a great heart for instruction as well as a great love of the traditional darkroom process. His assistance has been invaluable in learning not only large format, but a great many developing techniques. He possesses a gifted eye which, when teamed with his cameras makes for some very unique imagery.

Bob Kidd: http://www.bobkiddphoto.com/ Traveller, writer, blogger, and photographer extraordinaire. Bob has a great gift for teaching, but also in recognizing the nuances of day to day life and art that makes photography so interesting. Bob is prolific writer and his weekly blog "Sunday Street" is not something to miss. Bob is a great encourager and is always willing to give some very useful and wise insights. Be sure to check out his "Advent Calendar" this holiday season.

Mark Kittleson: A "newcomer" to our group Mark too is a lover of all things analogue. We look forward to what he has to share with us in the future. Mark uses a variety of formats and captures a diverse range of imagery. He is between webpages now and we'll post it as soon as it's up.

John Crane: http://www.johncranephotography.com/ John is quite simply one of the kindest and best photographers I know. John's work spreads across many disciplines using both film and digital to capture his subjects. Indeed it was John's work that led to me want to get a Nikon F6 in the first place based in no small part to his other webpage. http://www.nikonf6.net/  John's work is primarily in color and he spends a great deal of time in the outdoors in the western U.S.