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65 year old look to current black and white negs

Christopher Walrath

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Milton, DE USA
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Hi, all. I am going to be the owner of a B&J Press 4x5 camera on Friday thanks to Tommy aka photomem (thanks again and wow, sorry). Anyhow. I have an acquaintance that is in charge of historic interpretation at a WWII Fort Miles in a local state park. They have a huge reenactment weekend in April. I am thinking of just showing up, sleezy period press dress (I'll figure that out), you know, black tie, stoagie, fedora kind of thing. With the B&J in hand.

I will be photographing 'soldiers' in uniform doing rills in a rebuilt fort. It has been 're-armed' and painted and made to look as it did in 1943 down to the signs and the gravel. Well, youg et what I'm saying. In the sprirt of things I want to get a grainy look to my photographs without resorting to 3200 outside on a sunny day. I will probably have HP5+ 4x5 sheets. I have HC110 that I use as my primary developer but I know I will need something else to summon the golf balls.

Any suggestions on a grain increasing developer and times and the like?
 
See if you can find some of the adox stuff in 4x5. Why try to make it look like 65 yrs ago when you could have the film and gear of 65 yrs ago?
 
I've seen lots of large format photos from that era, and I've never encountered huge grain. The size of the format works against it. The Adox/Efke suggestion sounds like a good one. An uncoated lens for the camera might also help.
 
Oh, and by the way Chris.. if you show up in full sleazy press gear.. refer to yourself as Weegee.. wonder how many people would recognize it?
 
I would not have except I downloaded the manual from Butkus this afternoon.
 
I second the uncoated lens idea, I've got a few and they all seem to have an 'old fasioned' look to pictures taken with them.
 
Uh, Chris

It wasn't GRAIN, it was the struggle to shoot their fast film,
which we think is slow. A common thing was to shoot PLus X and push it 2 stops (which THEY would have called 250, because the speeds had a safety zone built in until '58 or so) And it wasn't grainy. The uncoated lens is a good idea, it is like a pre exposed Zone I and II. A A 5" Tessar. Soup it in HC-110, just push it.)

Use hyperfocal focus, and compose within a 3x4 area... Our Dads (or grand dads) shot 'loose' back then. Get close. Simplify the composition. Think you're putting it above the fold on a newstand !

The old shooters did a great job with what were really very good materials.



Maybe PE will check in...
 
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65 year old b/w

Not to put too fine a point on it, but we shot some sports with the wire finder thingy on the speed graphics of the day, used Royal Pan film in d76, the same for weddings and portraits. I have some from the 50's where you can count the threads in the bride's veil.
Shot my first lf in 51. I was 15.
 
I think the tide is urging me to rethink this golf ball thingy.

But keep the ideas rolling, folks. I really appreciate all of this.
 
Efke/Adox 100 at EI 200 in Acufine (attached) is what I like for the look of that era.

Fomapan 200 is also a good option, but that looks even older.
 

Attachments

  • lepescadou,apug.jpg
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Another vote for the Adox/Efke or Foma and uncoated lens, and if your going for the Weegee look...FLASHBULBS!
Something else you might think about is how you set your exposure, as a press or combat photographer you would probably just guesstimate and shoot
Then again I might be all wrong
 
Oh, I'm planning on a general exposure reading every half hour or so outside and going a kind of f/8 and be there thing. Focus on composition and anticipation. Let the zones fall where they may.
 
Hooray.. I answered a question correctly.. first time for everything I suppose!
 
And here I was looking in my History of Photography Books to find out what speeds and types of films were typically used for Reportage in WWII. Jerk.
 
Based on the combat photos I've seen, I suggest overexposing by multiple stops and overdeveloping, for that "at least we got an image" look.
 
Got bored in the library this afternoon and browsed a book on printing and the likes. One of the sections was on how to add grain to a picture that didn't have it to begin with during the enlarging process. I'll try and look for it again tomorrow, if it works then it'll simplify the job by shooting for the highest quality shot and then being able to modify later as you wish to.
 
True. I appreciate the thought. If you get the opportunity, let us know what you get.
 
df cardwell said:
The old shooters did a great job with what were really very good materials.



Maybe PE will check in...
Click to expand...

How do we all get a ride in one of these?! Must have been a real treat to be on board an aircraft like that...

Authentic and very, very nice shot.
 
"How do we all get a ride in one of these?! Must have been a real treat to be on board an aircraft like that..."

B-25s like the one Mr. Cardwell was riding in have been treated relatively well since the War. There are fair numbers of them still in existence, and you see them still in flying condition quite often. If you wanted to take a ride in one, it would probably not be too difficult. The same goes for a P-51. There are boatloads of them still flying, many converted to two-seaters.

A ride in a B-17 might prove more difficult, though they are still out there. 3/4 of the approx. 12,000 B-17s produced were either destroyed or damaged and/or beat up beyond repair by the end of the war. Most of the rest were scrapped.
 
Chris, I think your subject matter alone will be enough. There was no one look that old photos had. There was considerable variation situation to situation and material to material. I might suggest an overexpose/pull on the HP5, as the film does have quite a bit of contrast in the mid and high tones, which we have come to take as the norm these days. I would also suggest any of the Efke/Adox films, though it sounds like you already have the HP5, and it will do the job just fine IMO. I would shoot the HP5 at 200, and soup it in D-76, pulled one grade.
 
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