Spontaneous Shooting

[Donald Qualls]

Another thread originally on this topic was closed because it turned into a flame fest of personal insults and politics -- but the premise, originally (I think), had some promise.

No, I'm not interested in getting a Leica; even if I could afford one, I have a couple other 35 mm cameras and do in fact shoot without meter or tripod most of the time -- I can gauge Sunny 16 well enough, in enough range of light (at least on negative film), that I really only need a meter when it's too dim to hand hold ISO 400 or when I'm under artificial light (or when I'm trying to apply Zone System, but I can't afford a spot meter right now, either). However -- the large format equipment I own and use, a couple 'tween-wars German plate cameras, was designed to be hand held like a press camera. Focusing can be done by scale, and some plate cameras were even fitted with Kalart coupled rangefinder; negatives don't have less latitude because they're large, and the Fomapan 100 I shoot most in 9x12 cm is the same emulsion as that sold in 35 mm and 120.

Now, I know Ole Tjugen hand holds 5x7 and even 8x10 on occasion, and we're not talking a Hobo here -- but how many other folks use large format cameras (like press cameras, but also including field cameras) hand held? What kind of subjects do you shoot this way? How is your ratio of good shots to those with too much motion blur to use?

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Nicholas Nixon has done some great work with an 8x10" camera on a tripod that retains a spontaneous feel.

Here is a handheld series I've posted before, all with a Linhof Tech V, Norman flash, Efke PL100 at EI 200 in Acufine, Symmar 210 convertible mostly at f:8, 1/15 sec for a little extra motion blur. All 4x5" with Grafmatics--

http://www.echonyc.com/~goldfarb/halloween/

Even without flash, I've found a pretty steady stance with the Technika. I usually use Tri-X at EI 640 in Acufine for available light. Of course a tripod will always produce a sharper image with any camera, but it's not always possible to get the shot that way.

If the light is really low, like in this theatre shot, then subject motion is usually a bigger issue than camera motion, so I might burn a lot of film, and if I get 1 out of 10, that's good. Here, my sister is the sharp one, so the subject motion worked in my favor (Tech V, Tri-X/Acufine, 150/4.5 Xenar at f:4.5, 1/15 sec.)--

 

[Claire Senft]

not too dangerous

Is this at all like drive by shooting? My personal belief is that if one sticks to a single film and developer that he/she with experience can get to be very capable in determining an exposure that is more suitable than may be achieved with auto-exposure.

 

[Paul Howell]

I hand a hold a Crown with a coupled 135 a lot. I use Tri X at 3200 or push in MicX or HC 100 to 800 quite often. The Crown and Speed works quite well hand held, the Crown weights less than the Speed and has a shutter release coupled to the lens. The focal plan shutter on the speed allows you to shoot up to 1000, and late models have the leaf shutter with a 1000th of a second. Hand holding a field camera may work for some folks, but holding a view camera, hats off if they pull it off.

Paul

 

[Jeremy]

I handheld a B&J 5x7 with 12" lens a while back. The neg is developed but not proofed yet....

 

[rbarker]

On one hand, I don't have an LF camera suitable for hand holding - at least not in my hands. But, I've often thought it would be fun to get a press-style camera for quick LF shots. The series of 4x5 images of the Hindenburg disaster are good examples of the potential, I think. The news photographer, whose name escapes me at the moment, got off at least 3 shots during the 10 seconds or so it took for the Hindenburg to burn. Sometimes, the content of the image is far more important than strict technical quality.

On the other hand, I've been known to shoot my M6 at 1 sec at f/1.0 - with the aid of a monopod.

 

[Jorge]

Is this at all like drive by shooting? My personal belief is that if one sticks to a single film and developer that he/she with experience can get to be very capable in determining an exposure that is more suitable than may be achieved with auto-exposure.

Exactly! wether it be 35 mm or LF if you use the same thing all of the time, just by doing it over and over you start seeing that your exposures and development times are always very similar and consistent. I still use a meter but I dont get stark raving mad if I drive 4 hours and realize I forgot the meter.

As to LF hand held I used a Crown Graphic with cams for prefocusing. It was fun and the negatives came out pretty good, I just found it was not for me.

 

[roteague]

My Toyo 45AII has a hand strap, but I've tried using it that way. As for a light meter, I generally carry two; I wouldn't be caught shooting without one. Then again, Velvia has a lot less latitude and can't be controlled in the developing process like B&W. I also use split neutral density filters quite often.

 

[herb]

spontaneous is no problem

When I was in college in a previous eon, I shot weddings with a 4x5 crown, #2 flash bulbs, two sided holders and film packs. that was more than 50 years ago, used Royal Pan Film by Kodak, can't remember the film speed, I think around 100, certainly not fast by today's standards. You have to be REALLY familiar with what you are doing for that kind of work.

I carry a Crown with a rollfilm back on it, orange filter on it in the car.

The Hobo will allow hand held 8x10 shots.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

On the other hand, I've been known to shoot my M6 at 1 sec at f/1.0 - with the aid of a monopod.

This one's with my Voigtlander Perkeo II, 1 sec. at f:3.5 - with the aid of a street sign--

 

[removed account4]

for about 5 years i used a speed graphic handheld w/o meter &C.
i'd just kind of wander around the streets of somerville-cambridge & boston and shoot "stuff". it was pretty easy to judge the light ( intensity of a shadow on the back of my hand ) ... i'd just pre'focus and use the view finder or sports finder. i mostly used the FP shutter - it was easier to maniuplate that rather than the shutter behind the lens. once in a while i did the same thing with a series d. can't tell you how much film i shot, but i did get some fun stuff just the same.

 

[Ornello]

Another thread originally on this topic was closed because it turned into a flame fest of personal insults and politics -- but the premise, originally (I think), had some promise.

I think it was spontaneous human combustion...

 

[Ole]

...
Now, I know Ole Tjugen hand holds 5x7 and even 8x10 on occasion, and we're not talking a Hobo here ...

A correction: I have hand held a 5x7" Technika, and several small 9x12cm and smaller plate cameras. Never 8x10", nor (!) 4x5". Strictly speaking the Technika was 13x18cm, so I have only hand held metric cameras!

For now, I stick with the 6.5x9 and 9x12 Voigtländer folders. So much easier to lift!

 

[Tom Duffy]

Back when I was flush, I bought a new Master Technica, with coupled 210mm lens and an optical finder. I had great plans for it, but it sits almost never used. I had visions of using it for people pictures, outside portraits and high quality handheld landscape shots.
I shoot tri-x rated at 200. (I'm a shadow detail kind of guy). Firstly with the 210, the optical finder would only work to about 8 feet, parallax corrected. I had closer people pictures in mind. For 4x5 landscape handheld near/far isn't possible at f11. Finally, flash photography would only be possible with a flash bracket, I'm not sure any one even makes one for the Technica, anymore.
Personally speaking, I like the flexibility of a medium format slr or a big fuji 6x9 rather than a 4x5 handheld. I've used the technica on a light tripod, with the rangefinder (no ground glass focusing) with exposures of around 1/30 at f22 which seems to work better for me. Reasonably fast to use and good negative size to work with.

So, if anyone wants to buy a virtually new linhof with lens and finder for about $2,000 less than I paid for it, let me know.

BTW, Jay, I love that picture of the little girl on the right.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

I also like the picture of the little girl, Jay.

For flash on the Technika, I use a simple Norman L-bracket. I drilled an extra hole in it so that the flash is directly over the lens. My Norman flash head screws on with an ordinary 1/4"-20 screw instead of knob, so that it clears the finder. I remove the ergonomic grip and hold the camera by the bracket. I also have a cold shoe I can use on the bracket if I just want to use my little Metz flash unit, instead of the Norman setup.

There are other brackets that would work just as well, like the Stratos brackets.

There is a company that still makes an E-clip for a potato masher type flash, if you want to use the flash attachment on the rangefinder housing. If you search on "e-clip" over at the LF forum on lfphoto.info, Bob Salomon mentions it somewhere. I prefer to keep the flash over the lens axis.

 

[David]

My first love remains the ULF gear that forms the mainstay of my work. For portraits I have been wanting something more spontaneous so I've just purchased a Graphlex RB Auto in the 3 1/4 x 4 1/4 format. Having settled on contact printing as the only way to go for me I'll need to learn to enlarge the negatives. Only time will tell if it's more trouble than its worth.

Mostly I wanted to challenge myself photographically to include spontaneity and a more varied subject matter. The more deliberate ULF approach will, on the other hand, take at least a life-time to do well so there's no shortage of opportunity there.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

The 5x7" Press Graflex SLR is a joy to work with and produces a nice contact printable neg. The cameras were the very common among press photographers in the McKinley era, so they're not too hard to find, but the filmholders and bagmags can be tough to locate, and if you want to use flash, the only option is open flash technique.

I used a tripod for this one, but I have used the camera handheld.

 

[Donald Qualls]

The series of 4x5 images of the Hindenburg disaster are good examples of the potential, I think. The news photographer, whose name escapes me at the moment, got off at least 3 shots during the 10 seconds or so it took for the Hindenburg to burn. Sometimes, the content of the image is far more important than strict technical quality.

Well, in fact, based on the movie film shot at the same time, it took most of 30 seconds from the first flames being visible from the ground, until the wreckage started to reach ground level. Still, someone had a Grafmatic or film pack to get three shots that quickly with a press camera; I can't do better than about one a minute even with the pop-off backs on my Ideal, because I still have to manipulate the dark slide and cock the shutter. If you have a press-type (aka self-energizing) shutter, and either Grafmatic or film packs, you can shoot half a dozen shots in under a minute without any problem.

I keep wishing film packs would be revived -- I think they could be done better with modern manufacturing than they were where they were discontinued, and they're faster to use even than a Grafmatic, as well as being usable on a much wider range of cameras.

 

[Ornello]

Well, in fact, based on the movie film shot at the same time, it took most of 30 seconds from the first flames being visible from the ground, until the wreckage started to reach ground level. Still, someone had a Grafmatic or film pack to get three shots that quickly with a press camera; I can't do better than about one a minute even with the pop-off backs on my Ideal, because I still have to manipulate the dark slide and cock the shutter. If you have a press-type (aka self-energizing) shutter, and either Grafmatic or film packs, you can shoot half a dozen shots in under a minute without any problem.

I keep wishing film packs would be revived -- I think they could be done better with modern manufacturing than they were where they were discontinued, and they're faster to use even than a Grafmatic, as well as being usable on a much wider range of cameras.

Film packs were discontinued about 15 years ago by Kodak. They had to be hand-assembled, and the costs were becoming prohibitive.

 

[Thomassauerwein]

I'm not a hand holder at all from 6x9 up. I shoot xpan and 2 1/4 hand held alot but only really for sketch shooting. Walking the streets following the light looking for interesting shapes to return to with larger cameras. For me this is enough freedom. I'll never shoot larger than 4x5 mostly 6x9 and 6x12. As far as metering is concerned, I've never spot metered and never will. Have an ambient meter, would like to get one like Davids that is about as large as a quarter. I rarely use them anyway any more. It just seems to me , that if you focus on such a small portion of the over all picture I may be blind to the whole. Would rather spend my time seeing than caculating range of exposure. When I'm shooting larger formats I do shoot polaroid however so if I do misjudge the light I have a backup. My move the last few years has been to lighter weight gear for personal work. Cameras tripods everything. so that I'm available for the spontanious but have the availability of camera movements and larger negs for quality. The thing that is really frustrating me right now is: When I do find something to study a shot based on an image shot with the smaller cameras, The image may be perfect but no magic. No life, void of that certain something that holds my interest. The spontainious grab is always better visually but lacks the technical goals. I feel like a dog chasing my tail.

 

[Claire Senft]

There have been nothing but interesting photos attached to this thread.

I have nothing whatsoever against the Graphlex SLRs. What will be your film source for the 3 1/4x4 1/4 format? Good luck in finding what you a looking for at a resonable price.

I have long believed that the Kalart made for 3 1/4x 4 1/4 was a neat little rangefinder camera. If film were available I might be tempted to get one of these little honeys. I personally do not wish to get involved in cutting down sheet film.

For myself I prefer a rangefinder camera for handheld work.

 

[waynecrider]

I am returing to shooting my 4x5 and most probably will be handholding again on occasion. As I noted in another thread, it is a fairly easy thing to do with a wide angle lens and using a hyperfocal method; I shot a 90mm F8. My subject matter was usually people and entertainers at large gatherings such as our local Jazz Fest held once a month, or on the occasion where I couldn't setup a tripod and needed to hold it. I generally shot HP5+ dev in Xtol and used a yellow filter.

You will standout holding such a camera, so be prepared to handle the attention. If you like to slink around and capture shots unnoticed, holding a 4x5 will be the exact opposite, but you will meet alot of people so have your business cards ready to give out.

 

[mark]

You folks have sparked my curiosity, and this is something I have wanted to try.

I have no graphmatics, only plain ol' film holders. For those of you who shoot with plain Old holders this question is for you.

Do you take the darkslide out and just leave it out until you see a shot, or do you rip that sucker out when the shot appears? I'll be using a busch pressman D.

Anyone know how a flash hooks up to a Busch and what kind I should look for?

Jay, I liked the shot of the little girl.

 

[Jorge]

You folks have sparked my curiosity, and this is something I have wanted to try.

I have no graphmatics, only plain ol' film holders. For those of you who shoot with plain Old holders this question is for you.

Do you take the darkslide out and just leave it out until you see a shot, or do you rip that sucker out when the shot appears? I'll be using a busch pressman D.

Anyone know how a flash hooks up to a Busch and what kind I should look for?

Jay, I liked the shot of the little girl.

YOu gotta gett it out and wait, many times the shot will be too quick for you to fiddle with the dark slide.
If you have cams and a sport finder in your camera, use them. Prefocus and just shoot by framinf with the sport finder.

I tell you I had a lot of fun shooting with the Crown, I regret having sold it...

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

With Grafmatics or regular holders, it's best to have the sheet ready when you're looking for the shot, so you won't have to fumble with the darkslide.

If the shutter on the lens you use with the Busch Pressman has a leaf shutter with flash sync, you just connect to the leaf shutter. If it's an old shutter, it might have bipole sync instead of P-C sync, but you can get a bipole sync cord from Paramount. Set the shutter to "X" or 0 delay for X-sync with electronic flash, if there's an adjustment. On some shutters, there may also be a separate cocking lever or an On/Off switch for the flash sync.