circa 1993. 4×5 View Camera. Tmax 100.
Every time I process this shot I do it differently. It was on the way from Sedona, early morning, the puddle frozen with some glare, and I just remember the usual feeling of – do I really want to stop to shoot this. I often had this feeling when traveling with the view camera. Did I really want to get out and go through the whole rigmarole. In those days, I was heavy into what I had learned about the zone system – Ansels way of placing tones on what we’d know see easily in the histogram. Anyway – eventually I expect to have at least 30 decent landscapes from all that shooting.
And this is a shot that I have put into the store, which sold once in a while. If I had to do it again – I would’ve used a longer lens to get some compression but I was shivering – and wanted to get the thing on film as quickly as possible. After all the setup, I only took this one shot. Then packed up and headed on to Flagstaff where I didn’t find a single thing to shoot. I should’ve just stayed here and done a few exposures, but it seemed like one of those throw-away Ansel shots that he had already done better. I think his was a rendition of Aspens. Mine of course is not pure, like his was. This one is filled with carvings, hearts, and whatnot in the tree bark, not to mention the road marker which I liked having in the shot.
This was towards the end of my first round with the view camera. When I got back to NYC, I sold it. Then I got the idea of using a view camera to shoot urban stuff with, and got my next camera which I used for the subway shots, and a bunch of other urban things. I can tell you that when you took that big negative out of the soup and held it to the light – it always gave you a good feeling to have such a chunk of film.
Sounds like view cameras are still around, and film is made for them (one of the commentators mentioned this – sorry forgot who). I wonder what would be a good light-weight modern view camera that you could lug around without breaking your back. No way I could make the place into a darkroom again – but this 4990 scanner is giving very good results. Esp. since I recently cleaned it up good and found the proper film holder and recent Epson drivers.
It takes you into an entirely different world than anything you can do with digital unless I suppose you can spring for a digital back. But the part that I enjoyed, was actually the shooting. The feeling of having the cloth over your head, and focusing on the upside down backwards image. Thinking about swings and tilts and all that. Who knows… let me finish up with what I’ve got and then maybe I’ll look around to see what’s up with contemporary 4x5s.
I know the Ansel shot you speak of, but, really Dave, this is quite lovely.
.-= Chris Klug´s last blog ..Finito- Round 2 Musings =-.
http://www.chamonixviewcamera.com/index.html
I’ve read good things about the above cameras as a lightweight field camera but have not actually used one.
As you can imagine, there are so many used view cameras these days, one can find a complete system for sale for a few hundred dollars.
4×5 film is available at B&H, Adorama, in your neighborhood and Freestyle Photo has an even better selection. http://www.freestylephoto.biz
That is amazing. I would never buy a view camera without handling it first. I’d probably start by looking around the local BIG STORES. My last one was a Toyo Metal Field Camera. I bought it because the previous camera (a Wista) – the front element used to shake in the slightest breeze. On the other hand – it was very lightweight. By the time you’re done loading your pack, you’ve got the holders, and the big lenses, etc. and it begins to gain weight that has nothing to do with the camera.
At any rate – it’s one of those things that I’m interested in – sort of for fun. I don’t know if it’s something I really want, or just enjoy window shopping, esp. these days when they are out of favor.