Flash Fans to be Found?

**David F. Stein** · 22-Jan-2005, 23:14

Any one using flash bulbs with their large format photography. I'd be interested in seeing images. THANKS.

**Paul Ewins** · 23-Jan-2005, 05:43

Well, FWIW, here are a couple I took at a recent Karaoke party. They're basically just snapshots so please, no critical evaluations.

Taken on a Speed Graphic, 135 Optar, 2 Cell holder with 5" reflector and Phillips PF5 bulbs in a baseless to bayonet adapter.

M sync at 1/200, using FP4 @ 125 and around f11 or f16 @ 10 - 12 feet

It took a few dud shots to realise that the wires on the base of the bulb had a coating that needed to be scratched off to get good conductivity. Just rotating the bulb back and forth a few times in the holder was enough.

Other shots show vignetting at the corners so maybe I need to go up to the 7" reflector for tighter shots.

**Gem Singer** · 23-Jan-2005, 06:21

Hi David (lensworthy?),

Take a look at some of the work that Herman Leonard did, nearly sixty years ago, using a handheld Speed Graphic camera with flashbulbs in a "potato masher" type flashgun, at: www.hermanleonard.com/gallery.html

Those old flashbulbs put out a lot of light. They were also available in blue coating, if needed to balance the light for color film, but they were much better suited for single light shots using (relatively fast) B&W film. They were hellish to dispose of after they were fired off. I burned holes in many jacket pockets in order to avoid disposing of the burned out bulbs by merely popping them out onto the floor.

**Bruce E. Rathbun** · 23-Jan-2005, 06:41

Thanks for sharing that link Eugene. Very gritty work done by Hermon. Nice indeed. Is he still working in that style?

-Bruce

**Gem Singer** · 23-Jan-2005, 08:18

Hi Bruce,

Do a Google search for "Herman Leonard". It will turn up several websites that contain Herman's early flash work, as well as his later work. He's about eighty-two years old now. I'm not certain whether he is still working, or not.

**Richard Boulware** · 23-Jan-2005, 12:14

I'm preparing to use them. I've collected about 500 bulbs in the 5/25, 22 and #50's for some photo extraviganzas. I also have collected about two dozen Heiland reflectors.

Reminds me of a funny story from my Navy days as an airplane driver and intelligence officer. A Navy photographer wanted some shots of the interior of a huge Navy WV-2 early warning radar plane and asked that we connect the aux power unit to the parked aircraft, so we could power up the radar so he would have an image on the radar scope. We did this. The Navy photographers mate had a Speed Graphic, and a standard issue Navy gadget bag which was a white canvas shell with a sleet aluminum liner. Inside the bag was about five dozen press 25 flashbulbs.
The minute the radar operator hit the start switch for the radar....all the flash bulbs fired at once.

The 'dance' that Navy photographer performed was somehing to behold with frequent bursts of...
OUCH, ......YOWIE, and other @#*&%####.....spontaneous explatives. We all had a good laugh afterwords.

**R.J. Fox** · 24-Jan-2005, 12:08

My shooting has been transformed since I bought into a Lumedyne portable flash system. I cannot recommend the equipment more highly. My system can go to 600ws, but I can easily push that to 1000ws. Along with a Bogen light stand and a Lastolite Umbrella Box, you can achieve superb results anywhere anytime with no AC power. Some key accessories include some type of slave setup (I use Quantum Radio), a couple of scrims and neutral density filter, and a neat telephoto reflector that can throw the light twice as far as the normal 5" reflector.

I use this lighting setup with many different medium format cameras, as well as my Speed Graphic, and I'm trying to adapt my 3x4 Super D as well.

This fellow (http://www.dg28.com/technique.html) is really nice and has a good web page where you can see many examples shot with one Lumedyne lighting kit. He now shoots digital, but you can see how versatile the lighting can be.

**Paul Coy** · 3-May-2005, 21:41

I have been shooting bulbs with my Mini Speed Graphic for approx. 15 years. I have shot street, wedding, and other select events that needed flash. I have also used them with my GV-II as well. I have other cameras that I will start to use with bulbs but haven't gotten around to doing that. However, I have not yet scanned any of my shots as I am still using my darkrom. I will be getting some scanned soon and when that happens I will post some images to anyone who is interested.