Dim is a tripod's friend
Well David and I were out lurking about the David Dunlap Observatory after the last gear swap show perhaps a month ago now. There was an old ham radio shack in a field adjacent the observatory proper. Windows were all boarded over, but the door was unlocked, so being curious, in we went.
Very dim, appealing abandon old electronic radio gear, no tripod, crap.
I metered and yes, ev was low. Pressed the little button to see the meter needle on my pentax analog spot meter. It was EV 2 to 4; don't recall exactly what.
We propped the door fully open, and I fished a folded up 4x6' white thick vinyl table cloth type material ($5 at Fabric Land) out of the bottom of my camera bag to use as a bounce reflector that I carry for just such occasions (and for the occasional on the trail lunches, and for kneeling in wet soil, etc).
David was considerate enough to act as lighting assistant and hold the bounce cloth to give the best effect at filling in shadows, of which there were lots.
Film was outdated superia or reala or something in a Mamiya TLR. I set the camera on the edge of some overturned furniture, focussed, stopped down one stop under wide open to account for that I could not really see what I was focussing on. I paused a bit to slow my breathing down, and openned the shutter and held it open on bulb until I got to a count of 10.
Well hell, I processed and contact printed that film last weekend, and the shot looks great.
Then there was the brick factory abandon crusher that we jointly did with LF and tripods that we lit with a white gas burning Colepan lantern as a light source. So many dim places negs, so many prints to make...
Well David and I were out lurking about the David Dunlap Observatory after the last gear swap show perhaps a month ago now. There was an old ham radio shack in a field adjacent the observatory proper. Windows were all boarded over, but the door was unlocked, so being curious, in we went.
Very dim, appealing abandon old electronic radio gear, no tripod, crap.
I metered and yes, ev was low. Pressed the little button to see the meter needle on my pentax analog spot meter. It was EV 2 to 4; don't recall exactly what.
We propped the door fully open, and I fished a folded up 4x6' white thick vinyl table cloth type material ($5 at Fabric Land) out of the bottom of my camera bag to use as a bounce reflector that I carry for just such occasions (and for the occasional on the trail lunches, and for kneeling in wet soil, etc).
David was considerate enough to act as lighting assistant and hold the bounce cloth to give the best effect at filling in shadows, of which there were lots.
Film was outdated superia or reala or something in a Mamiya TLR. I set the camera on the edge of some overturned furniture, focussed, stopped down one stop under wide open to account for that I could not really see what I was focussing on. I paused a bit to slow my breathing down, and openned the shutter and held it open on bulb until I got to a count of 10.
Well hell, I processed and contact printed that film last weekend, and the shot looks great.
Then there was the brick factory abandon crusher that we jointly did with LF and tripods that we lit with a white gas burning Colepan lantern as a light source. So many dim places negs, so many prints to make...
Great shots David.
