4x5 Press War Stories

[Frank Petronio]

Many of us younger (45 - geez) photographers would love to hear some old timer's war stories from using 4x5 press cameras and flashbulbs. With all due respect, please tell us...

[chris_4622]

Well Frank I'm only a few years older than you so I don't have any war stories but last night (2/21/05) NBC news had a story on the men who raised the flag on Iwo Jima. All are dead now and the photographer is ninety (I think). They showed his original negative and it looked quite large. I want to say 8x10, at least that is my guess, it was only on for a couple of seconds and there was nothing along side for perspective. Does anyone know?

[chris_4622]

I went to this site www.iwojima.com/raising/raisingb.htm (http://www.iwojima.com/raising/raisingb.htm) and saw the original photo before cropping and it looks more square so I was wrong about the size of the negative.

[Jim Rice]

My high school annual benefitted from a graphic.......does that count?

[Gem Singer]

If I remember correctly, It was said that Joe Rosenthal carried a couple of 35mm. cameras around his neck almost all the time and did mostly candid shots. However, he posed, and re-enacted the flag raising and probably also used a 35mm. for his famous final shot.

There is an actual picture of him taking a posed shot on the Iwo Jima website. His back is facing the camera, and it 's impossible to tell exactly which camera he is using. It looks like a small hand-held camera.

[Frank Petronio]

It could have been a copy negative. It was common to make a really good master print, and make an 8x10 copyshot of it - like Photoshop having all the burning and dodging "built right in."

[chris_4622]

Eugene, I saw that picture and thought it looked like a small hand-held as well. Frank's explanation helps clear things up. Now I know my eyes aren't that bad.

[Alec Jones]

God, I can't believe all the errors here. First, the negative shown on the program was the original 4x5 negative shot by Joe with his Anniversary Speed Graphic. It was on sheet film, not film pack. The original camera is now in the Eastman Collection in Rochester, NY. All of his shots on that mountain were taken with that 4x5. I have never seen a pic of him with a smaller camera on THAT trip.

Yes, his shot of the rasing was of the SECOND, not the FIRST, flag, and poor old Lowery didn't get credit for his before his death. But, it was NOT staged, and there was nothing out of the ordinary about it. Eugene, you should be ashamed of perpetuating this myth. To get the FACTS, see "Flags of Our Fathers", by James Bradley and Ron Powers (published by Bantam), Bradley's father was the last of those flag raisers to die.

Fortunately, the show on the History Channel the other night got all the facts straight. Look for it to be shown again - it has been on several times.

[Alec Jones]

Here's a short review of the facts as published by the AP years ago. I believe Joe is about 95 yo now. http://tinyurl.com/6baau

[Bruce Wehman]

Did someone say “old timer”?……slowly he turns………For a time, while I was a Navy photographer, I had a permanent red line across the back of my left hand from carrying around one of those things. When I had to document crashes or other such gory events, I would carry two cases: one for film packs and holders, and the other for flashbulbs. One day, they had me up on the flight deck after a cable break, and I notice that the flashbulb case is getting very hot. I open it up, and most, if not all of the bulbs have fired! Later, someone who would now be a very old timer, told me that it was the radar that set them off. Speaking of bulbs: getting them to sync was an art in itself. I would put a piece of contact paper in a holder and expose a bulb going off. If the center of the bulb was “hot,” the blades were closing too soon; if the whole bulb was even but dim, the sync was retarded. The one good thing about the Speed Graphic is that you had plenty of excuses at your disposal for screwing up.

[Alec Jones]

They go off when in contact with another one what does. I used to tape one or more to the one in the reflector to "kick up" the light if I needed a little more than only one. They all went off together [only if touching each other]. Don't use that technique today with the price of bulbs what they are. Glad I've got a few cases put back.

Oh, did you hear the one about O. Winston Link, the great train photographer. Years ago, they were doing a video about his life, and the decision was made to make one last photograph of HIS steam engine [how would you like to have one in YOUR back yard?]. Everything was set up and he hit the release. Big flash. Then, he turned and said "s**t, I forgot to pull the darkslide". He died a few years later. What a way to go out!!!!

[Alec Jones]

Sorry, but in my last post I ommited some important info [got distracted]. Winston set up his usual multi-flash outfit [2 view cameras and 500-100 bulbs in multiple reflectors] using ALL his remaining stock of flash bulbs. So, the one-time flash [using a solenoid to trip both cameras simultaneously] used all the bulbs w/o an exposure on either camera!

FYI, all his equipment is now in his museum in Roanoke, VA. Great place to visit and view all his photographs. I love the large format, nighttime flash photographs. There are 2 books on this too.

[Mark Sampson]

Joe Rosenthal's Iwo Jima Speed Graphic (yes, it's a 4x5) is on display now at the George Eastman House. James Bradley got it wrong in "Flags of our Fathers" and called it a 35mm (!) Still a very good book though.