November 2013 portraits

[StoneNYC]

First LF shot in ages. My son and his girlfriend today.


img178 by Scott --, on Flickr

4x5 Arista.EDU in HC-110 dil H, 5-1/2" no-name Petzval.

Aww nice! He looks like me at 15, same haircut too hah! But taller... Can't tell which will be the heartbreaker, ahh young love

[Christo.Stankulov]

LMT2000/Apo-Lanthar 150/4.5
Efke 50@32 asa in Tanol /4x5"

[Ramiro Elena]

Wow Scott... This one is really good. I try not to use Petzvals when photographing more than one subject because I can never get both in focus. You did great here. I love the way your kid is blurred. I would normally consider that a mistake but it works fantastically here. The framing is also great and the way she is not looking at the camera.

[StoneNYC]

Wow Scott... This one is really good. I try not to use Petzvals when photographing more than one subject because I can never get both in focus. You did great here. I love the way your kid is blurred. I would normally consider that a mistake but it works fantastically here. The framing is also great and the way she is not looking at the camera.

Could be wrong but to me looks like motion blur, like he want to fling his hair from his eyes?

[Scott Schroeder]

Scott, very touching portrait. It's been very cool that you have shared photos of your son over the years. He's grown quite bit....
Ramiro, I hear ya on the thin plane of focus....it can be a rel challenge with a slow emulsion like collodion.

[bracan]

LMT2000/Apo-Lanthar 150/4.5
Efke 50@32 asa in Tanol /4x5"

Excellent portrait Christo!!

[Simon Liddiard]

The Shanghai 100 he mentioned has paper between the sheets of film.

Yes! It was a right pain in the bum to load it! Sheets everywhere...

[AtlantaTerry]

Yes! It was a right pain in the bum to load it! Sheets everywhere...

Actually, no.

Here is what I do (total darkness, of course):
1. unpack the film
2. put the box bottom lid into the top lid
3. turn the lid set so one narrow end is facing you
4. place the stack of film + interleaving papers in the box so the no-notch narrow end is down against the long side
5. move the stack of film to the end of the box near you so the notch ends are sticking up
6. remove the top sheet of protective paper
7. rotate the paper 1/4 turn
8. slide it into the box under the stack of film
9. remove the sheet of film and insert it into a sheet film holder
10. rinse & repeat starting with #6
11. when all the film holders are loaded either remove the stack of papers from the box and set them aside or place them under the last sheet of film or place them on the counter to discard
12. return the stack of film + paper to the protective envelopes
13. reassemble the box
14. turn on the lights

No sheets of paper everywhere.

A variation of this would be to not nest the box halves but to use one as a container in which to place the papers. Still, no mess.

[Vaughn]

Yes! It was a right pain in the bum to load it! Sheets everywhere...

I was on a bicycle for 5 months in New Zealand with my 4x5. Lots of rain, but beautiful. Upon my return home, I wished that my film had come with sheets of paper between each piece of film. From all the rain and the bumpy roads (miles of gravel back then), the sheets of film (TMax100) slid back and forth in the boxes...creating high humidity static discharges (spots instead of streaks). Ruined quite a few negatives, much spotting on the prints on some other images. Paper in between might have prevented it (as would have padding the inside of the box of film a bit more so the film did not move as much.) Ahhh...hindsight!

Vaughn

[Scott --]

Thanks, everyone! FWIW, the boy is almost 14 now, and growing up too fast. I generally haven't used a Petzval on more than a single subject, because it's been very rare for me to shoot more than a single subject at a time. I had this image visualized, though, and the rendering of the lens is what I was hoping for. Rare that that happens. Braedan is out of focus due to the Petzval - he's very adept at holding still. It was actually funny - the whole time, he was whispering, "you're moving - you're still moving." I think she did well for her first LF pose.

Thanks again for your comments.
Scott

Scott, lovely photograph, and great to see you here again!

Aww nice! He looks like me at 15, same haircut too hah! But taller... Can't tell which will be the heartbreaker, ahh young love

Wow Scott... This one is really good. I try not to use Petzvals when photographing more than one subject because I can never get both in focus. You did great here. I love the way your kid is blurred. I would normally consider that a mistake but it works fantastically here. The framing is also great and the way she is not looking at the camera.

Could be wrong but to me looks like motion blur, like he want to fling his hair from his eyes?

Scott, very touching portrait. It's been very cool that you have shared photos of your son over the years. He's grown quite bit....
Ramiro, I hear ya on the thin plane of focus....it can be a rel challenge with a slow emulsion like collodion.