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.
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| 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.
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| 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
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