New to LF Journal 2: first pictures

[Erik DeBill]

My adapter board for using Linhof lens boards on the Cambo arrived, along with my long awaited lot of film holders. The only thing that's still not here is the order that includes the backordered Tachihara. That means it's time to start taking serious pictures

Since I'm working until after sundown these days, I haven't had the chance to go take pictures in the daylight. Luckily I have a flash.

Not something I'd normally consider outstanding, but I'm feeling triumphant anyway

I used my 580EX at full power shooting into an umbrella at camera right. I did test shots with my 20d while Rowan and Silkie were out of the room, so I could work out the exposure. Apparently my umbrella eats light - I couldn't get smaller than f11, so depth of field was pretty shallow. I need to go read the equations in the back of The Camera to get a better understanding of the relationship between format, aperture, focal length and depth of field.

I wanted Silkie and Rowan's faces to be in focus, so I tried swinging the front element to compensate (there was a fish tank in the way of moving the camera itself). Unfortunately, between when I composed and focused the picture and actually took it, Rowan shifted position so her head was closer to the camera. Her back shoulder is SHARP

She also managed to get half her head cut off in 3 out of 4 frames.

I've concluded that a) I shouldn't frame things as tightly in large format - there's plenty of resolution so cropping doesn't hurt much and b) always double-check focus over the whole frame just before making the exposure.

Processing was uneventful using an HP Combi Plan T tank and XTOL diluted 1:1. The only excitement was when I didn't think and diluted the developer with cold water and had to rig an impromptu water bath to get it up to a reasonable temperature. (Never keep your jugs of water in the garage) It was much easier to cleanly wash the TMAX negatives than it was the Polaroids. I never managed to get one of the Polaroids 100% clean - residue always showed up when they dried.

Unlike Polaroid type 55 negatives, these TMAX 400 negatives fit perfectly in the negative carrier for my scanner. Much much nicer to work with. I spent most of last night learning about the scanner.

First, VueScan will do multiple passes. That looks great at lower resolutions, but at higher resolutions (e.g. 1200 dpi and higher) you start noticing that the two scans won't line up properly. I freaked out about that for a little while, then found in their documentation that some scanners just can't line things up again perfectly. Apparently the HP Scanjet 4950 is one of those.

Second, with only 2 gig of RAM, I MUST NOT run both VueScan and Lightzone simultaneously. They both want 1-1.5G and the system will start thrashing horribly. It's faster to just shut one down and reopen it later.

Third, how in the world do you people manage dust? I could spend a couple hours removing the dust spots from my scan. Some of it looks like it was on the negative when it was exposed, some looks like it was there for the scanning. I just did a bunch of vacuuming and cleaning of the bathroom where I'm loading my film. Maybe that will help.

Hopefully I can get some outdoor shots tomorrow.

 

[Asher Kelman]

Erik,

You are doing very well and so is Rowan!

Tell her she'll get a medal. Pretty damn good for a start! Will Thompson were talking about you today, and we plan to follow suit! He, as you might know buys and repairs these cameras to drive his wife crazy. I'm pressing him to actually take pictures!

As far as movement is concerned, where do you put the scanner? You might put it on the floor and even wedge it in a corner with a price of robber and a weight to damp the movement. It is very light and could be that this might deal with the copies not lining up.

I'm so pleased you are using LightZone as we need as much discussion of this special software as we can get. I'm glad to know you are another user.

(Maybe we could offer folk check off a list of what software they use so we can get a hang on this?)

How about the "readyloads" as a way of decreasing dust? The other thing is a filter in the water and a recycling air-filtration (anti-allergy hepa filter) and so forth.

Anyway, what you are doing is commendable.

Asher

 

[Will_Perlis]

Erik,

I like it. Am I the only one who thinks there's a considerable subjective difference and improvement when seeing it almost full-screen with a dark surround vs. viewed in a browser with that large blank bright area to the right?

What's interesting to me is the "candid" style done in LF. I tend to associate LF with razor sharp detail from corner to corner.

Re dust: I've been brushing negatives and slides with a Kinetronics 2.5" brush just before loading the scanner. That seems to work. They have all sorts of different styles and sizes shown at B&H and their site.

http://www.kinetronics.com/

 

[Asher Kelman]

Actual Will, I think you hit on something! The cat is in focus. The cat is the main subject, with Rowan de-emphasized the way it's shot.

The picture is interesting in its more candid style as you point out.

Great point!

If it is too sharp, it may flip from art to product shot, which of course can still be art, but is not art for the soul's sake alone!

Asher

 

[Tim Smith]

A very warm and friendly portrait. Congratulations on your new gear! I haven't been paying attention, so I'm not sure which camera you purchased. But if it is a traditional view camera with swing, tilt, and slide, you have some options when it comes to maximizing focus. I'm only guessing, but I think a very slight swing might have added a bit of sharpness to your model's face as well as maintaining the cat's focus.

I'm so jealous!

 

[Erik DeBill]

A very warm and friendly portrait. Congratulations on your new gear! I haven't been paying attention, so I'm not sure which camera you purchased. But if it is a traditional view camera with swing, tilt, and slide, you have some options when it comes to maximizing focus. I'm only guessing, but I think a very slight swing might have added a bit of sharpness to your model's face as well as maintaining the cat's focus.

I got a used Cambo SC, so it's got a full range of movement options. I think I actually had it swung a little too far. What got me was that I didn't re-check that everything was in focus just before taking the picture. I'm learning that I used to rely on the ability to look through the viewfinder as I hit the shutter release far more than I had thought.

 

[Erik DeBill]

As far as movement is concerned, where do you put the scanner? You might put it on the floor and even wedge it in a corner with a piece of rubber and a weight to dampen the movement. It is very light and could be that this might deal with the copies not lining up.

That's a good idea. I've got it sitting next to my computer an a banquet table I use for a desk. The table isn't the most imobile thing in the world.

Unfortunately, I've got wall to wall carpeting, so I'm not sure what I could put it on without bolting it to the wall (which is an idea). For now, I'm simulating having two scans by telling it to scan at 4800 dpi and then downres to 2400 (I only have 2G of RAM and that's not enough to work on a 4800 dpi scan this big).

Last night I took pictures of my parent's Christmas lights, which show some very noticeable banding and other artifacts that I'll be working on eliminating from the scanned products. there are also some differences in tonality along a couple edges, which make me wonder about light leaks and mistakes while developing.

 

[Erik DeBill]

Erik,

I like it. Am I the only one who thinks there's a considerable subjective difference and improvement when seeing it almost full-screen with a dark surround vs. viewed in a browser with that large blank bright area to the right?

What's interesting to me is the "candid" style done in LF. I tend to associate LF with razor sharp detail from corner to corner.

Re dust: I've been brushing negatives and slides with a Kinetronics 2.5" brush just before loading the scanner. That seems to work. They have all sorts of different styles and sizes shown at B&H and their site.

http://www.kinetronics.com/

I'm afraid I haven't really learned how to do anything other than candids when it comes to people. I'm mainly focused on nature and I've never really learned to create images, as opposed to observing things and deciding what would be a good image. It's a subtly different mindset - like using natural light vs controlling your light. I've got a small interest in learning to control my light, but I doubt I'll ever go in for serious posing. What I'd really like to do is be able to go out at night and thoroughly light a tree

Now that you bring it up, though, I can see how large format candids wouldn't be very common. I'll probably do more - I've got a fair collection of pictures of Rowan reading, or playing on her laptop. It's just a matter of noticing her in a position or activity that would make a good picture. She's learned to ignore me as I drag in my light stand, hook up a flash and generally putter about. The cats aren't quite so blase about it, but they're getting there. The bird, on the other hand, must be stalked with the utmost care.