View Camera

28
Oct
2013

UPSIDE DOWN

Seems that a large view camera always attracts curiosity.  Everyone either gives you a long wondering look or asks questions about that big box on a tripod.  Mostly they want to know how old the camera is and if you can still buy film.  Is that a Hasselblad is a question that comes up from time to time? 

For those that are truly interested, a peek under the dark cloth is always a good way to confuse them even more.  The first thing they do is stick their nose right up against the ground glass.  With that point blank view you see nothing.  I have to explain that they need to back up.  That it is like looking at a TV screen.  After getting a good look they suddenly realize everything is upside down.  I have to explain that it is also reversed left to right.  Comments range from silence to questions about how can you do anything when the world is upside down and reversed?   I usual just say that you get used to it and it becomes part of how you and the camera work.

The truth is, nothing will improve your overall composition more than looking at it upside down.  It is a way to trick your left brain into shutting up and allowing your right brain to take over.  The left brain is your engineering side. . . it deals with facts and figures.  Your right brain is the creative side. . . it deals with form and shape.  We are taught from an early age to be left brain dominant, so we get used to ignoring our creative side.  The quickest way to shut your left brain up is to show it something it cannot readily identify.  With the composition upside down, the right brain is in its natural environment and unimpeded by the chatter from the left side.

>With the inverted view on the ground glass it seems that the subconscious sees things that the conscious mind does not pick up on.  I see things on the ground glass that are interesting, they have absolutely no meaning, yet there is something inside that says this is something of interest.  There are abstract images that I have made that did not register until I looked at the proofs.  There are times that something just calls out to be framed and photographed.  It may have no rhyme or reason at the time of exposure, but later becomes something of great interest, even something totally different than originally envisioned.

Do not be afraid of the inverted image.  It is one of the most powerful assets you have when making photographs.  You will quickly get used to seeing things this way.  It rapidly becomes part of your connection to the camera and your subject.  Do I recommend you get one of those reflex viewing hoods that turn things back around?  Absolutely NOT! 

Quit fighting what comes naturally and allow your creativity to flow from within.  Quit trying to analyze the subject and allow that inverted view to work its own magic.  As I said earlier; Nothing will improve your overall composition more than looking at it upside down.

JB

Posted by JB Harlin in How-To, Photography
15
Oct
2013

JBH PHOTOGRAPHY HOW-TO E-BOOKS

We are proud to announce that the JBH photography how-to book series is now available in e-book format.  Each book has been revised and updated.  This how-to book series has been created specifically for those interested in traditional large format fine art black & white film photography, practiced in the wet darkroom.

All four books are available for immediate download in PDF format to your computer.

JBH PHOTOGRAPHY HOW-TO E-BOOKS

SPECIAL INTRODUCTORY OFFER!
Purchase multiple e-books and save.

NOTE:  A PayPal account is not required to purchase.
You can use your credit card without having or creating an account with PayPal.

 

Stop by our new BOOK STORE for more information and to purchase securely with PayPal.

JB

Posted by JB Harlin in Darkroom, DIY, Film, How-To, Photography
11
Sep
2013

RIES TRIPODS NEW OWNERS

RIES TRIPODSWe have recently discovered that Ries Tripods has been sold and is now in full operation under new owners.  Though the new company, Ries Productions LLC, may be a new startup, the new owners are in reality those that have operated the company for the last 16 years.  The new company is located in Bremerton, WA in a newly remodeled facility.   In a recent exchange of e-mails with the new owners here is part of what they had to say about their new company;

RIES TRIPODSOver the past year, we’ve been blessed with a city government that was very helpful in the remodel of our new building and factory.   Now that we have the capability to design, work with the CAD & CAM and have the new mill & lathe we’re no longer tied to the old castings and we are starting to move forward.  We’ll be sending out emails to our customer that we have email addresses for as we introduce new products.  For example, we will be laser engraving the Ries logo now instead of branding the legs.  The coming months will bring announcements of custom lens boards, film holders, camera mounts, and film changing tents that will mount within the legs of the tripod.

It is extremely encouraging to see an old established company continuing to expand, headed by people that care about their customers and their products.   Ries Tripods was founded in 1936 and has established itself as the workhorse of the photographic tripods.  We use both the ‘A’ and ‘J’ model Ries tripods, and would not consider anything else for our LF and ULF work.  HERE is a video of their new Haas CNC machine making knobs.

Also, Ries Productions LLC recently sent out this mailing;

There are 167 million Big Game viewers. And they’ll all be watching my small business commercial on the 2014 Big Game. How am I going to get an ad on the Big Game, you ask? Easy, with your help, I’m going to win it from Intuit.

Intuit is giving a small business a TV commercial on the Big Game. I want that ad to belong to my small business. You can help make it happen. Just click here to vote for my business:   http://intuit.me/17dpVYZ.

If you are a Ries customer or not, you might want to vote for this small business.   The LF & ULF film community is a small, yet growing group of people.  We need to always stick together and support those businesses that support us.  This is an American owned company and their products are 100% Made In America.  Take a moment to vote for Ries Productions LLC at the link above.  Note, you can vote once a day.

JB

 

Posted by JB Harlin in Photography
08
Sep
2013

JOHN SEXTON & ANNE LARSEN VISIT TEXAS

JOHN SEXTON & ANNE LARSENThis has been a really great long weekend for us here in the D/FW area of Texas.   John Sexton and his wife Anne Larsen came to Dallas for the opening reception of their joint exhibition at the Sun to Moon gallery, to hold a one-day seminar and an enlightening lecture, including a poster and book signing at Richland College.  We are proud to say we attended all three events and had a wonderful time.

It was great to catch up with John and Anne.   We feel so fortunate to be able to spend two days saturated in photography.  John is one of my favorite speakers and maybe I should say favorite photography speakers.  His stories of working with Ansel Adams are always informative,  interesting and funny.  He is also a never-ending wealth spring of knowledge.  He shares my deeply-felt philosophy of not having secrets.  I believe I first heard, never photograph with anyone that has secrets, from Fred Picker, but I can assure you that John and Anne share this view.  They also radiate an enthusiasm for photography that is contagious.

Susan and I, and the Metroplex as a whole, are certainly fortunate that John and Anne were able to visit and we hope they will be returning soon.  Though, it might be well advised that they plan their next visit during cooler weather!

Again, Thank You John and Anne for a wonderful long weekend and we hope to see you both soon!

JB & Susan

 

Posted by JB Harlin in Events, Photography
12
Aug
2013

WHERE, WHEN & HOW

We have added a new BLOG area titled “WHERE, WHEN & HOW.”  Here we will tell the story behind some of our photographs.  We invite you to join us under the dark cloth for a behind the scene view of the where, when and how of our photography.

WHERE, WHEN & HOW

Click the “WHERE, WHEN & HOW” link on the menu bar at the top of this page, or click HERE.

JB

Posted by JB Harlin in Film, How-To, Photography
31
Jul
2013

A DIY SENSITOMETER. . . REALLY???

DIY SENSITOMETERFilm testing is one of those things that is just a fact of life if you, like me, choose to continue to pursue that art form.  I am no fan of any testing, that is for sure.  But, there are times you have to test in order to better understand how things will work.

I never thought I would ever need a sensitometer, but never say never.  To compare different film developer formulas, I found that I needed to run some tests.  In order to make the test I needed to expose numerous sheets of film and expose them all identically.  What I needed was a film sensitometer.  What I did was build one.  This project was not as difficult as I first expected and most everything I needed was laying around, either in the closet, or the junk box.

I wrote abut my experience designing and building a DIY Sensitometer back in 2009, then shelved the article where is has remained dormant since.   Well finally, I drug the thing out and put it up on our web site.   Interested in learning more about building a film sensitometer?  Head over to the ARTICLES & HOW-TO area of our web site, scroll down the page to the link titled, “BUILDING A FILM SENSITOMETER.”  You will see how I did it, and you may just want to try it yourself. . . if this is something you have a need for.

JB

Posted by JB Harlin in Darkroom, DIY, Film, How-To, Photography
24
Jul
2013

JBH FILM STATS 1996 TO 2013

I have been working on my photo database the last week. I have detailed records of the photos I have printed dating back to 1996. Using that data I have created some charts of what I have done.  Here are a few of the charts that outline the last 17 years of my fine art photography. This information is from the data entered into our master database which only contains those negatives that have been taken to a finished print.  This data does not include all the negatives that have been exposed and processed during this time.

 Guess all that time taking notes and entering all that data has some worth.

JB

Posted by JB Harlin in Commentary, Film, Photography
18
Jul
2013

JOHN SEXTON & ANNE LARSEN AT SUN TO MOON GALLERY

NewsJohn Sexton and his wife Anne Larsen are coming to Dallas this September.  They are having a two-person exhibition of their photography at Sun to Moon Gallery.  The show will run from September 5 to October 12, 2013.  John will be giving a lecture at Richland College Saturday, September 7 at 1:00 pm.  Later that evening there will be the opening reception for their two-person exhibition at the Sun to Moon Gallery from 5:00 to 8:00 pm.  Both of the events Saturday are open to the public.

This should be a very informative and entertaining event.  Susan and I are looking forward to catching up with John and Anne.  If you are truly interested in photography, you should mark your calendar and make plans to attend.  For more information, take a look at these links;

http://www.suntomoon.com
http://www.johnsexton.com
http://www.richlandcollege.edu/photography/events.php

JB

Posted by JB Harlin in Events, Photography
15
Jul
2013

500 YARDS

500 YARDSBrett Weston is credited with saying, “Anything more than 500 yards from the car  just isn’t photogenic.”  That is particularly true when you enter the world of Large and Ultra Large Format.  I would even venture to say that distance shortens exponentially as the camera size increases.  You could say that distance is inversely proportional to size.  We live by these laws of physics and it is darn hard to get around them. 

I have given this a lot of thought and have deduced that;

1.   The camera folded size is determined by the film size

2.   The camera weight is determined by design and materials

3.   My back can only carry so much

So, it is pretty clear that item number one is fixed and there is not much you can do to make any format camera much smaller in size.  Also, my back has its load limit and that I do not want to exceed.  This leaves item number two as about the only place you can experiment.

It is understood that making any mechanical device lighter makes it less rigid.  You have to sacrifice some rigidity for a reduction in weight and size.   There is always someone that starts complaining about how some cameras are not rock solid when they grab one end and twist.  They complain about the camera not being stable.  The reality is, it is just a function of the design.  I always say the same thing, the camera only has to be still while the shutter is open.  The rest of the time, who cares?  The camera is just a tool and should not be obsessed over.  Choose what works best for you. 

500 YARDSWay back when I first started getting serious about photography I decided to buy a new 35mm camera.  I did a lot of research and settled on three major brand names.  The trouble was, I could not decide which best suited me.  I knew that there would be no appreciable difference in the finished print.  I challenge anyone to look at a framed print on the wall and tell me what brand of camera was used.

So, it all finally came down to making a decision.  After some contemplation I decided to go to the local camera store and handle each camera.  Actually I had done this several times, but what I was looking for as I neared my final decision, was which best fit my hands.  My final choice was based on this one final criteria.  I chose the camera that felt the most comfortable to me.  Its controls were conveniently laid out and worked seamlessly.  This is how I chose and I have never regretted that process.

Fast forward to today and little has changed with my thought process.  I am always looking for what best fits my hand and my way of working.  In any device design there are always trade offs.  To gain one feature may require some sacrifice in another.  Keep in mind that if you are going more than 500 yards with that LF or ULF camera, item number three above just may be the most important consideration.

JB

Posted by JB Harlin in Commentary, Photography, Travel
10
Jul
2013

I DO NOT PHOTOGRAPH PEOPLE

Photograph peopleI find it odd that when you tell someone you are a photographer they immediately assume you are the local Olan Mills studio operator.  They either want a family portrait or have a daughter that is getting married and want to hire you.  I guess there is a mass disconnect when it comes to the word photographer.  Should I introduce myself as a Fine Art Photographer?

Maybe Fine Art Photographer is a little too stiff for an opener.  Perhaps it would be better if I told people I am a photographic artist.  That should throw them into a tailspin.  Or should I start off by saying I am a photographer that does not work with people?  I seem to face this dilemma at times and it is hard to convince some that I only shoot rocks and trees.  Should I ask a person if they have some interesting rocks or trees in their back yard that they would like me to photograph?  How about a nice 11×14 contact print of that old barn out on granddad’s old farm?

 I am not out to offend anyone.  I have no need to place myself above any portrait photographer, it is that I just don’t do people.  It takes a special kind of person to coax out those really interesting images of a person.  The knack of catching that expression just so.  I’m no good at it and I will be the first to admit that to anyone.

 I don’t like photographing anything that moves.  I hate the wind.  Seems every time I find something really interesting and I check and see the wind is absolutely calm. . . well. . . you know what happens.  You get the camera all in place, pull the slide, get the shutter release in hand and there is just this little hint of a breath of moving air.  Just enough to make some little feathery leaf or weed wiggle.  I shoot with big cameras.  An 8×10 is my every day shooter.  I shoot with very small apertures and very long exposure times.  If anything I have chosen to be perfectly sharp moves, I have just wasted a sheet of film.  Depth of field is very scarce.  How do you get someone to not move a muscle?  Guess if I were photographing people I would be best suited to work with the dead.  Would that suffice as an inanimate object?

My hat is off to all you portrait shooters.  I really don’t know how you do it. . . or I should say I could not do it with any degree of success.

 So for those of you that are not familiar with Fine Art Photographers, the next time someone tells you they are a photographer, be sure to ask first if they do people.  Don’t just assume that photographer translates to Olan Mills Portrait Studio.

JB

Posted by JB Harlin in Commentary, Photography