Using large format in the Badlands

[tgtaylor]

I keep a "golf" umbrella in the trunk specifically for those windy occasions. Last year I shot a view of the Golden Gate Bridge from the point of an exposed promontory overlooking Marshall's Beach in a Gale - literally. The wind was gusting so strong (40+_mph) that I was afraid to remove a hand from grasping the tripod fearing that a gust would come along and blow the camera (8x10 Toyo) and tripod into the ocean a hundred feet below. With the umbrella open and facing the ocean (wind), the negative came out sharp without a trace of vibration. I was using 100 speed film so the shutter speed from my notes was 1/25 second at f32 with a 610mm apo Nikkor. I printed it as a salt print below:



Thomas

[Jim Becia]

Thomas,

I have a nice carbon fiber umbrella, unfortunately, I left it home on this trip. I normally always have it with me. That being said, I could also use an extra hand when using the umbrella.

[tgtaylor]

Definitely a challenge when you're by yourself. I struggled to keep the umbrella from being blown out of my hand and off the camera but blocking the wind from hitting it and the other grasping the tripod with the cable release waiting for the nadir of the wins speed which never reached zero.

Thomas

[Eric Leppanen]

I donated a large umbrella to the wind gods while shooting solo one morning at Death Valley a few years ago. I tried holding it in one hand while operating the shutter release in the other. A huge wind gust ripped it out of my hand while I was distracted operating the camera, and last I saw it disappeared among the hoodoos a quarter mile away.

Umbrellas work great in a lot of conditions, but in high winds it's safest to have a helper/assistant holding it.

[Harley Goldman]

Jim, it sounds like quite the challenging trip. Another trip or two like that and you will be shooting digital.

[Jac@stafford.net]

I donated a large umbrella to the wind gods while shooting solo one morning at Death Valley a few years ago. I tried holding it in one hand while operating the shutter release in the other. A huge wind gust ripped it out of my hand while I was distracted operating the camera, and last I saw it disappeared among the hoodoos a quarter mile away.

My sympathies!

The only time I defeated wind was when I had a custom GMC Suburban 4x4 with a raised roof. I shot with the camera (tiny thing: Hasselblad with 500mm lens) inside the vehicle shooting with the rear door open. Can't afford that kind of shelter today.

[lfpf]

Well done windy/chilly/foggy/stormy LF and BF shooters. Fair-weather shooters only shoot fair-weather views and document just another pretty day. Your do-it perseverance will show in your stormy results.

[Drew Wiley]

Spring is windy lots of places. This is the first year in memory that it hasn't been terribly windy here. Not windy at all. But then this is the driest warmest Spring on record so far. Then it just gets windier in summer. My place is typically around fifty degree in June, as the fog blows across SF Bay. One learns how to deal with it. But I don't like being out in the desert of in the Great Basin when the wind is active. Gets dust into my gear. In past I have gotten successful 8x10 shots -
I mean damn sharp ones - where I had to lay down on the ground and use my entire body as ballast to keep the entire camera and its big Ries tripod for literally
becoming a kite. I once did this with a frozen lake surface. A steady hard wind will work. But it's the gusts or changes in pressure that spoil the shot. Thomas understands. There is a particular color shot I've been trying to bag out in that area (not of the Bridge) where I keep getting 8x10 negs just enough vibrated to
ruin them for the 30x40 print I'm contemplating. Gets expensive too. But at least the camera didn't get blown off the cliff.

[Kirk Gittings]

I keep a "golf" umbrella in the trunk specifically for those windy occasions. Last year I shot a view of the Golden Gate Bridge from the point of an exposed promontory overlooking Marshall's Beach in a Gale - literally. The wind was gusting so strong (40+_mph) that I was afraid to remove a hand from grasping the tripod fearing that a gust would come along and blow the camera (8x10 Toyo) and tripod into the ocean a hundred feet below. With the umbrella open and facing the ocean (wind), the negative came out sharp without a trace of vibration. I was using 100 speed film so the shutter speed from my notes was 1/25 second at f32 with a 610mm apo Nikkor. I printed it as a salt print below:
Thomas

I use a 22" Lightdisk (silver/black) for 4x5 for the same purpose (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search...245+4294955367) and have shot in some very stiff winds with success up to 1 sec. Wind does not bother me at all if its at angle I can block it without getting the wind break in the picture. 22-24" is easy to hold just away from the camera and tripod. I keep it in my backpack always as it folds up small and is light. For 8x10 one might need a larger one which would be harder to control.

[Heroique]

The Badlands we're discussing are, of course, in South Dakota, but one should also consider the Badlands of North Dakota – namely, Theodore Roosevelt NP.

The picturesque Little Missouri River winds through these forgotten Badlands, where the Rough Rider was (or pretended to be) a cowboy in his early years.

In autumn, the cottonwoods lining this river become a dazzling yellow ribbon winding along its path.