Oval car wheels using graflex focal plane shutter

[AmsterdamMartin]

I would like to replicate the iconic "oval wheels".
When you photograph "fast" moving objects, like a car or a bike.
The big old graflex focal plane shutter creates this effect, which accordingly has even been used in comics to illustrate the sense of speed.

Now the graflex shutter moves from top to bottom.
I just can't figure out easily how to hold the graflex, in order for the wheels to be oval in the right direction. Should the shutter travel from top to bottom, from left to right, or whatever direction ?

Ofcourse I could figure it out by trial and error, but maybe if one of you sees the light. It could save me some 4x5 negatives, and some extra darkroom hours.

Maybe one of you has a clear logical suggestion.
And possibly also what shutterspeed to use.

 

[Vaughn]

Check out: http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?t=58278

The image: http://www.cracow-life.com/poland/jacques-henri-lartigue

 

[Neal]

Oval Wheels

Dear Martin,

I hope this helps.

Neal Wydra

 

[AmsterdamMartin]

thank you both for the input. I never searched for "egg shaped".
When holding the Graflex normally, I figured the eggs would be shaped the wrong way.
But of course the image is projected upside down on the film, I forgot...
So I'll start with regurlarly holding the graflex, and without panning.
On the forums you suggested I read that the shutter travels in 1/5 sec, although the effective shutter speed is 1/1000.
So I'll start with 1/125 doing cyclists.

 

[outwest]

You have slot width and shutter tension to work with. The tension will control the total travel time which will control the amount of distortion. The slot width will control the sharpness of discrete portions of the image. So, I would say low tension and narrow slot to start with.

 

[tessar]

I asked the same question from the graflex.org (excellent website) some time ago. It took some experimenting, but it finally worked. Here's the link to the forum exchange:
http://www.graflex.org/helpboard/viewtopic.php?t=4474&highlight=
Good luck.

 

[George Collier]

As the sketches in Neal's post indicate, if the curtain goes from top to bottom, I don't think it matters which way the movement occurs, as long as it is horizontal. Outwest's advice is good also. I think you have to experiment - keep in mind that the film available to Lartigue in his day was probably medium to slow speed.
Most important - have fun! I've always wanted to do this, but haven't had a FP shutter camera since the Army, and we did this exercise with big trucks - no fun.
PS - car advertisers used this technique in the 50's to accentuate the length of the Detroit products (remember "longer, lower, wider") by turning the camera to vertical, which put the FP travel to horizontal. The photographer would pan the camera against the movement of the shutter (if I have it right - I'm on my 3rd scotch), creating an elongated car. Or, at least, so goes the story.

 

[removed account4]

i used a graflex slr and didn't pan at all
about 1/30th of a second ... the bus tilted

where's jacques henri when you need him ?