Last Friday evening I decided to actually complete one of those back burner projects that I'd been collecting parts and pieces for from the 4 winds. And it's Quinn's fault. I spent several hours enjoying the beautiful portraits on his website. What a talent.
In the back of my troubled mind I have a longing to capture the human spirit in just such a way. So I've been collecting junk that would be assembled into a portrait camera. There is an old Kodak 2D 10X8. Bellows are laughable but I contact cemented the entire frst fold together and proceeded to patch up the other holes with material from a cast off handbag that was my wifes'. I got better at it as I went, but.....it ain't purty. I had a sliding back that puts 2 5X7's on an 8X10 sheet. Robbed a ground glass from an old Seneca back for that. There was a Packard shutter that was rusted beyond most folks hope but I cleaned and waxed it up until it was running fine, then there were several lenses I've collected over time. I settled on an 11 1/2" Verito that was already coupled to a pretty good Packard, and also an old f6 Rapid that says Liberty but was probably made by Wollensak or B&L. It has the remains of a studio shutter which makes me think WollY. I waxed and lubed the old Kodak until it was sliding pretty good. The front standard has a permanent rake that would be fashionable on a roadster windscreen, but not so on a camera. It probably fell off a mule or something. I deemed it irrepairable and after setting the rear swing to match the angle, I scribed a line so I can know when things are parrallel. Since I was on a roll, I added an ancient 13" B&L f10 process lens, a 12" Heliar, and a coated 16 1/2" Artar.
Surmising that I would not be able to get a fast enough shutter speed with my usual asa 100 film at the maximum apertures I wanted to use, I loaded some Freestyle APHS ortho. ASA 3 is really too slow but I calculated 1/4 second speeds likely in open shade at f6. 1/4 second is quite manageable with a packard and indeed, if nothing else, my exposures were fine.
Saturday afternoon arrived and I loaded all this junk-ola into the pickup and headed for the Post Office which is kind of a Saturday afternoon hangout. There are a couple of benches there for old folk to sit and visit in the shade. My first victim was just exiting the post office as I approached. My older brother. Also one of earth's most gracious residents. Besides him, and one other fellow I work with, no one wanted to sit a minute for my foolishness. Who can blame them when the average street vendor in Cuba has a better looking outfit. Better to limit the disaster to a select few. With myself, there were 3.
What did I learn? The f6 Rapid actually comes closest to the look I wanted. Quinn's portraits are incredibly beautiful. Sharp and soft, contrasty yet with perfect control. Like a face peering out of water in a swimming pool. That's what I wanted. The one picture of my brother looking away from the lens is at least close. The Verito is too diffused at f6. I'll work with it some more at smaller settings. Am I discouraged? Heck no. This photographer has an oversized dumpster very near the darkroom door. Hmmm, wonder what I'd get if I removed one of the elements in the f6?
In the back of my troubled mind I have a longing to capture the human spirit in just such a way. So I've been collecting junk that would be assembled into a portrait camera. There is an old Kodak 2D 10X8. Bellows are laughable but I contact cemented the entire frst fold together and proceeded to patch up the other holes with material from a cast off handbag that was my wifes'. I got better at it as I went, but.....it ain't purty. I had a sliding back that puts 2 5X7's on an 8X10 sheet. Robbed a ground glass from an old Seneca back for that. There was a Packard shutter that was rusted beyond most folks hope but I cleaned and waxed it up until it was running fine, then there were several lenses I've collected over time. I settled on an 11 1/2" Verito that was already coupled to a pretty good Packard, and also an old f6 Rapid that says Liberty but was probably made by Wollensak or B&L. It has the remains of a studio shutter which makes me think WollY. I waxed and lubed the old Kodak until it was sliding pretty good. The front standard has a permanent rake that would be fashionable on a roadster windscreen, but not so on a camera. It probably fell off a mule or something. I deemed it irrepairable and after setting the rear swing to match the angle, I scribed a line so I can know when things are parrallel. Since I was on a roll, I added an ancient 13" B&L f10 process lens, a 12" Heliar, and a coated 16 1/2" Artar.
Surmising that I would not be able to get a fast enough shutter speed with my usual asa 100 film at the maximum apertures I wanted to use, I loaded some Freestyle APHS ortho. ASA 3 is really too slow but I calculated 1/4 second speeds likely in open shade at f6. 1/4 second is quite manageable with a packard and indeed, if nothing else, my exposures were fine.
Saturday afternoon arrived and I loaded all this junk-ola into the pickup and headed for the Post Office which is kind of a Saturday afternoon hangout. There are a couple of benches there for old folk to sit and visit in the shade. My first victim was just exiting the post office as I approached. My older brother. Also one of earth's most gracious residents. Besides him, and one other fellow I work with, no one wanted to sit a minute for my foolishness. Who can blame them when the average street vendor in Cuba has a better looking outfit. Better to limit the disaster to a select few. With myself, there were 3.
What did I learn? The f6 Rapid actually comes closest to the look I wanted. Quinn's portraits are incredibly beautiful. Sharp and soft, contrasty yet with perfect control. Like a face peering out of water in a swimming pool. That's what I wanted. The one picture of my brother looking away from the lens is at least close. The Verito is too diffused at f6. I'll work with it some more at smaller settings. Am I discouraged? Heck no. This photographer has an oversized dumpster very near the darkroom door. Hmmm, wonder what I'd get if I removed one of the elements in the f6?
