Pain in the a$$ to focus..

[John C Murphy]

Bob, I shoot "portraits" of my kids (2yr and 4 month old) on my 4x5 (sometimes). While I currently use strobes which makes things much easier, I remember trying I a couple times with tungsten hot lights. I found it was impossible to focus with the child in place so I tried various techniques (a doll, etc.). Eventually, I found the best way to do it was to focus on a ruler or tape measure pointed toward the camera in the exact spot where the subject will be. This usually required use of a music stand to get the ruler to the same height as where the subject will be, because if I laid the ruler on the floor/empty chair and then tilted the camera back up to frame the image, I would invariably get into some Scheimpflug/DOF weirdness which messed up the focus. Otherwise, my results were pretty good. Hope this helps.

 

[bobfowler]

This one was easy...

OK, this shot of Allison (who went to that great litter box in the sky a long time ago) was shot - no kidding - on with a 6X9 rollfilm holder in a 4X5 reducing back on a 5X7 camera! I used one 600 watt quartz light in a 24" white umbrella. She actually sat still for not one, but 2 whole rolls of film!!!

She was a great cat...

 

[TPPhotog]

Bob she's gorgeous and just like a long haired version of mine. I could never live without a cat regardless of all their Independence and know they are the real boss.