An 8x10 Architectural Learning Experience

[jp]

https://web.wpi.edu/academics/librar...y/Woodbury.PDF
pages 12-15 describe a portable 120' tower the Woodbury and Company would erect in 1908ish to take a photo. (They were leaders in making birds-eye view illustrations of factories)

[Peter De Smidt]

Extreme measure are great if you have the time, resources, permissions, budget..... I did have a heavy duty ladder with me. It wasn't suitable for the location in question. Something like a Gitzo 1504 would've been very helpful, and I could've handled it by myself.

[Kirk Gittings]

Awhile ago, I was on a commercial shoot at MOWA, an art museum in a small Wisconsin town. While waiting for the talent, I took some quick snaps of the building, which turned out well. Being interested in architectural photography, I decided to go back in the evening for a twilight shot, which I did with my dslr. The shot was challenging, as the angle I wanted to shoot from required being partly down a hill, which means shooting up, which leads to extreme converging vertical lines. But it turned out ok. Wanting to do better, I went back the other night with my 8x10, whereupon I learned a number of important things:

1) Take the lens cap off when making an exposure.
2) Wind sucks with big cameras. Just keeping the BlackJacket from covering the ground glass was a real challenge! I have a lot of respect for people who use 8x10 out in the field.
3) People lie, especially about when they'll turn off lights.
4) People don't care about what you're doing, even if you explain it to them. They won't walk a few feet to the right, for example, to stay out of your picture. Staff of art museums don't care about helping local artists make art, even when there have been no visitors to the museum in over 3 hours.
5) If you're doing a long exposure, say 2 or 4 minutes, make sure to keep a lens cap handy in case people walk into the shot. No one may have walked by for hours, but when the light is right....
6) Don't listen to experts that tell you to leave your tripod head at home. Yes, a camera fixed to the tripod directly will be more stable than one attached to a head, especially with big cameras, but you might not be able to get the camera in the best location and aimed correctly without a head. If I hadn't had sandbags along, I'd have been out of luck. As it was, I had to shoot from a lower position than I would've liked.
7)It would be wonderful to have a really tall tripod.

So.........in general, I always have an assistant or two. One inside the building coordinating our plans and solving problems (like lights being turned off that we want on-connected to me via iPhones) and one with me to direct car and human traffic away from the picture or whatever comes up outside. One assistant is my guy who has been with me for 18 years. The other may be my client or his employee. There is no way one person can control all of this activity. If a client isn't willing to pay for this "team" then they don't want the shoot done right and me to do it. I would stop doing commercial AP if I had to do it alone. And yes I have a really tall tripod and a step ladder to reach the camera. And yes I always use a tripod head under any and all circumstances. People don't care what you are trying to do and sometimes to get the job done you have to be an Ahole and take no prisoners. And we always carry a wind blocker and an umbrella for rain. But there is always some new problem. After 38 years doing this I have not exhausted all potential problems.

[Peter De Smidt]

Kirk, that's all good stuff....if this were a commercial shoot. But it wasn't. It's me alone or nothing.

8x10 in this situation was a lot harder than it would've been with 4x5, but I didn't have a wide enough lens for 4x5, and so I gave this a shot. I have a good camera for this type of thing, and I still have a fair amount of 8x10 Acros, the best film for long exposures. It could very well turn out to be a complete waste of time, effort, and money. On casual inspection, though, the first negative looks good. Hopefully, I'll have time to scan it tomorrow.

[Alan Gales]

But there is always some new problem. After 38 years doing this I have not exhausted all potential problems.

Especially when you deal with people. I swear that sometimes they get in my way on purpose!

[Leigh]

After 38 years doing this I have not exhausted all potential problems.

Have faith, Brother.

I've got 24 years on you, and I still haven't exhausted all the problems.

So you have lots to look forward to.

- Leigh

[Kirk Gittings]

Kirk, that's all good stuff....if this were a commercial shoot. But it wasn't. It's me alone or nothing.

8x10 in this situation was a lot harder than it would've been with 4x5, but I didn't have a wide enough lens for 4x5, and so I gave this a shot. I have a good camera for this type of thing, and I still have a fair amount of 8x10 Acros, the best film for long exposures. It could very well turn out to be a complete waste of time, effort, and money. On casual inspection, though, the first negative looks good. Hopefully, I'll have time to scan it tomorrow.

It doesn't matter that I was shooting commercially or not. The playing field is the same. It's occupied public architecture filled with people on their own missions and you are in the way. It's not like the universe gets nicer to you because you are working for yourself and just love the building As a matter of fact it can be harder because you have no "official" reason to be shooting. I rarely shoot occupied architecture for myself. It doesn't interest me for my personal work. But if I did I would still want help to try and control the variables, ie with family, friends or trained geese

[David Karp]

A neutral density filter can be helpful to lengthen the exposures. I made some photos inside a train station at night. The exposure was so long that a train came into the station, a fairly large group came through the station and walked past me, through the line of my camera's vision, and out the door. There is one extremely slight bit of ghosting from the exiting passengers. I was amazed when I saw the print.

Of course, that increases the odds of problems due to wind, or someone parking in front of you, etc.

[Kirk Gittings]

Especially when you deal with people. I swear that sometimes they get in my way on purpose!

Without doubt. I was once shooting a building full of lawyers and had to stretch a cord across a the floor at the bottom of stairs taped down but not completely as we didn't have enough tape with us. I swear that half the lawyers saw the cord and intentionally tried to trip over it. One guy went back and forth three times and tried it every time. The last time I finally was able to make eye contact with him and he got this smile like I had caught him in the cookie jar.

[Kirk Gittings]

Have faith, Brother.

I've got 24 years on you, and I still haven't exhausted all the problems.

So you have lots to look forward to.

- Leigh

I don't feel like a kid at 66, but from your POV...........