Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 19

Thread: Photographing"the lean"

  1. #1

    Photographing"the lean"

    I hope I get this link loaded correctly...



    The image is the speeding racecar by Lartigue, and was taken in the early par t of the 20th century.

    I know that the "leaning" spectators and the oval shaped wheels are the resul t of panning the camera while using a foacl-plane shutter set at slow speed.

    I'm going to try this with my trusty old Speed Graphic. Does anyone have any experience with this technique? Can you give me advice on where to start with sh utter speeds? Does the panning have to follow the same direction as the shutters motion? What else do I need to take into consideration?

    Thanks for any and all thoughts... -Dave

  2. #2

    Join Date
    Sep 1999
    Posts
    449

    Photographing"the lean"

    Isn't it a great shot! Made by a ten year old kid. And the damnest thing is that he always claimed it was planned, not serendipitious. I've always wanted to duplicate the effect, but I get confused thinking about it, what with the image upside down on the film, and does the focal plane shutter move vertically up or down? I don't think it could be done with a modern SLR, as the shutter travels too quickly across the film aperture. The actual FP time on a 4x5 Speed Graphic is about 1/60 second, so you'll have to pan pretty quickly. Lartigue's film must have been very slow, so the actual exposure couldn't have been more than 1/100 tops, probably shot on a tripod with a pan head or the men couldn't appear so sharp, and panned slower than the car was moving which accounts for the elliptical wheels, (but why doesn't the car body appear to lean forward?). I think my first try would be with the Speed held normally, and shutter speed of 1/100 sec. Good luck Dave, and please let me hear by email how you come out. Mitch.

  3. #3

    Join Date
    Jan 1998
    Posts
    262

    Photographing"the lean"

    It's a shot made with tremendous skill. Lartigue is a puzzling figure and really quite an astonishing genius with the camera. I have never been able to figure out why the wheels are elliptical but the round cover with the number "6" is not. Perhaps because it is smaller, and it is slightly off round. The above comment is correct, he was panning slower than the automobile. Are you sure the speed graphic curtain will travel all the way in a 1/100th though? I think it's closer to half that. Mine is anyway.

  4. #4

    Join Date
    Jan 1998
    Posts
    262

    Photographing"the lean"

    I mean twice that. I think. What I am trying to say, is my shutter curtain takes about 1/50th to travel it's course . . .

  5. #5

    Join Date
    Sep 1999
    Posts
    449

    Photographing"the lean"

    I said 1/60, but you may be right about 1/50. I think it depends on the spring tension as well as the slit size. In the "drop-curtain" mode it's actually about 1/5 sec.

  6. #6

    Join Date
    Sep 1998
    Posts
    206

    Photographing"the lean"

    There were some othr photos of that type back a few years. I think they might have been in the Speed Graphic book where it dealth with the back shutter. One of the topics was just this leaning effect, caused by the image of the moving object shifting laterally as the shutter travelled vertically.

    If he had held the camera stationary, the car would still be leaning, but the people would be vertical. So this photo is indeed the result of panning the camera combined with the travel time of the shutter.

    To get the same thing in a 35mm you would have to have one of the shutters that travels the short way of the film. Even then as the others said, it moves much faster than the Speed Graphic shutter.

    The theory will probably drive you bonkers if you try to analyse it. Just go out to the race track and shoot some holders and see what you get.

  7. #7

    Photographing"the lean"

    You guys are all wrong.

    This was made with the proto-type of the justly famous and very rare ACME Camera. Although somewhat tempermental and prone to occassional violations of Newtonian physics, it was adapted and made famous by the staff at Warner Brothers.

    Tex Avery was perhaps it's most justly famous proponant.

  8. #8

    Join Date
    Mar 1999
    Posts
    119

    Photographing"the lean"

    Dave

    I might be wrong here, but if I recall correctly, Lartigue's camera had a horizontally travelling focal plane shutter. The SpeedGraphics have a vertically travelling one.

    You could of course tilt your SpeedGraphic to its side.

  9. #9

    Photographing"the lean"

    Bill: The wheels are oval because the wheel does not spin in relation to the ground. The wheel actually pivots around the point that is in contact with the ground. The action is continuous, but the top of the wheel moves faster than the bottom. The shutter slit on the camera had to be moving vertically to get this effect. The 35mm shutters travel horizontally and have a back curtain, so this effect would be difficult except at very high speeds where the slit is very narrow and the camera would have to be on its side for a vertical shot and panned rapidly.

  10. #10

    Join Date
    Feb 1999
    Posts
    146

    Photographing"the lean"

    I like Rowdy's answer best.

Similar Threads

  1. Photographing bottles
    By Theo Tan in forum Style & Technique
    Replies: 10
    Last Post: 14-Sep-2008, 17:10
  2. Photographing Prints
    By Wayne Crider in forum Style & Technique
    Replies: 10
    Last Post: 29-Nov-2005, 09:30
  3. photographing paintings
    By Samuel in forum Style & Technique
    Replies: 21
    Last Post: 11-Jul-2005, 08:48
  4. photographing a campfire
    By Jerry Cunningham in forum Style & Technique
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 8-Jul-2005, 00:21
  5. Photographing Furniture
    By BRUCE EATON in forum Style & Technique
    Replies: 7
    Last Post: 19-Jan-2005, 21:24

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •