I agree with Sal, I have found that when I get done taking my shot,if someone is standing around looking at my 45 I offer to let them look thru the ground glass, they are always impressed by the size and the fact that it is upside down, and they are much more friendly when they leave. Pat
Sal and Pat,
That's exactly the way I feel. I've let literally hundreds (perhaps even thousa nds) of people have a peak under my dark cloth over the years. Everyone from li ttle kids to senior citizens. Usually anyone who shows an interest. If the mag ic moment is imminent, I excuse myself long enough to make my desired exposures. If you tell people this is the moment you've been waiting for, it seems to mak e them all the more interested in what you are doing and why. In many instances , large format photography is a game of hurry up and wait. What better way to s pend that waiting time than sharing the joy of large format photography with oth ers? Makes the time go by faster, too.
I also usually give out my business cards to anyone I chat with out in the field . Since my card has my web site and email address on it, I get a LOT of follow- up contact from people I meet when out shooting. There are even a few that have become long term friends, and some that have since taken up large format photog raphy themselves. Oh sure, there is the occasasional rude jerk, but you have ca n have that anywhere. I just ignore them as best I can and focus on the other 9 9.99%. In general, the people I meet in the field, especially on the trail, are extremely nice and share a love of nature and the outdoors. Many also share a love of photography. These are my kind of people. I enjoy chatting with them, and they get to learn a little bit about large format photography. Sounds like a win:win to me.
Kerry
I have on occassion carried my 4x5 Wisner a short distance mounted on the tripod. I usually position it in the place it would end up if the knobs on my ball head loosen. This way, the camera can't flop over any further. I do this only when I'm moving down a clear path and don't anticipate any climbing or slippery conditions. Normally though, I remove it and pack it away. A couple of times I have slipped on wet rocks or have lost my balance and dropped something. I have been fortunate enough to incur no loss and this I attribute to adequate protection of the gear. I also keep a viewing card and a multi-focal view finder close at hand to avoid having to unpack the camera when there really is nothing I'm interested in photographing. This not only saves a great deal of time, but permits me to home in on the lens I want quickly. A tripod quick release also helps in speeding things up and so I'm less inclined to leave the camera on the tripod.
In response to Sal and Terry's comments on socializing on the trail, I couldn't agree more! I too, have met some wonderful people when making LF photographs. I always carry my cards and some postcards I've done to give away to interested passers by. This has even resulted in print sales. I also ask "would you like to see what's under the cloth?" People are usually amazed at an upside down world. One such encounter even resulted in getting invited to dinner by a couple of botanists and an author. Interested people are usually the most interesting people is what I have found.
I'm sorry, that was Sal & Kerry. I need more coffee!
How to answer people who come up on the street --- stop completely what you are doing and talk to them, but don't try to do both at the same time. You will forget where you are in your sequence (for me, whether I'd advanced the roll film). My little black Arca and the orange cones I put on the sidewalk or street make me look like a surveyor, so I get very few queries. I got one rude one the other day -- a man was striding by as I was shooting into a deserted storefront in Phoenixville, PA. He yelled, "What could you possibly see there to take a picture of?" I said, "If you can't see it, I can't explain it to you." He nodded and seemed satisfied and strode on.
I also let people look at the groundglass and explain what I'm doing when I can. Of course in New York, passersby might start giving you advice, but that's just the local culture.
I carry the camera on the tripod for short distances when it seems safe to do so. I also have it on a quick release, so that I can take the camera off and carry it upside down by the rail for somewhat longer distances. This is a very common practice among wildlife photographers with long lenses, when it is important to react quickly but necessary to use a tripod.
Back to Todd's original question...
I sometimes carry my little Toho around all day without ever removing it from th e tripod. It depends on the weather conditions, the terrain and how far I antic ipate walking before setting up for my next shot. The beauty of this camera is that it's so light, I can carry it around all day on the tripod and not suffer a ny undue fatigue. Even with my "big" carbon fiber tripod (Gitzo 1325), the tota l weight of the camera, lens, tripod and head is less than 10 pounds.
If I'm only planning on walking a couple hundred yards, I don't bother to fold u p the tripod legs. I just grab it like it is and move to the next spot where al l I have to do is set it down and go to work. If it looks like I'm going to be covering a little more ground, I'll collapse the tripod legs and carry the rig h orizontally at my side. In this case, all I have to do when I reach the next lo cation is extend the tripod legs.
With a heavier camera, it would probably be less tiring to rest it over my shoul der, but I rarely find this necessary with the Toho. Also, I'm rather tall and with the camera riding that high it's in more danger of getting the bellows punc tured by tree branches. With it held by my side, below waist level, I can carry it safely even along forested trails (as long as they aren't overgrown with tra ilside vegetation).
Also, if there is a light rain, salt spray, blowing snow, etc. I like to cover the camera with one of thse cheap shower caps you get whan you stay at a hotel. These weigh almost nothing, and they're free. The elastic keeps them in place and they offer a little added protection from the elements. One of the plastic wrap manufacturers (Glad, Saran???) now makes something similar that they sell i n various sizes for food storage. They are made from a little heavier plastic t han the shower caps, and might work if your camera is too big for a shower cap ( if your camera is bigger than your head). Oh, and I usually also place the fron t lens cap on the lens while carrying my rig by hand to keep the front element c lean and add as a little extra protection from potential damage.
These are a few of the things that work for me. And although I can set-up my ca mera pretty fast when I'm in a hurry, if I'm doing a lot of shooting within a ce rtain area, nothing beats just plopping down the tripod with the camera and lens already mounted and going to work.
I also sometimes use a similar method when working roadside from my truck. I ha ve a camper shell on the back of my pick-up and the bed is lined with a padded c arpet kit. If I'm working some place where I'll be driving short distances betw een shooting locations, I just lay the camera and tripod down in the back of the truck. I don't do this on rough roads, or when I'm going to be driving at high way speeds, but for places like Yosemite Valley where I'm just driving at 25MPH around the Valley loop road looking for potential subjects, it works fine.
Finally, WRT quick releases, I use an Arca Swiss B1 with a QR clamp that accepts dovetail plates. All my QR plates are made by Really Right Stuff. When tighte ned in the clamp, these plates hold very securely. However, excess vibration co uld potentially cause the clamp to loosen. I've never had a problem with this, but it's one of the reasons I stow my camera safely in my pack when traversing r ugged terrain - either on foot or in the truck. Also, when I am carrying my cam era mounted on the tripod, I periodically check that the clamp is locked down ti ght.
Kerry
I used to do this when I got my first view camera, to avoid the set up time. Frankly it got pretty old pretty quickly. I never found a place where the camera and tripod remained "weightless" on my shoulder for any length of time. Usually it would feel fine at first but quickly start digging into my shoulder. For me, a back pack is preferable even in urban areas but it's obviously an area of personal preference.
I found that questions from people walking by went from lots to none when I switched from a Tachihara to a Linhof Technika. The wood and brass of the Tachihara attracted a lot of interest. The black leather and metal of the Technika attracts no interest. I'm not sure people even realize it's a camera. I've had the Technika for a couple years now, I photograph quite a bit on the street, and I don't think I've gotten one inquiry from people passing by. With the Tachihara I used to get at least one every time I set the camera up in a populated area.
Brian Ellis
Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you do criticize them you'll be
a mile away and you'll have their shoes.
Depends on how you define 'in the field'. Most of my life is spent in a concrete jungle, so, I use a large aluminium trunk with my 4x5 monorail already assembled. Everything except the tripod goes in the trunk. The trunk goes on a trolley with foam padding (pipe insulation) to stop it rattling, the trolley has soft rubber tyres and the tripod straps to the top, then off we go (and mind your ankles fellow pedestrians). The only hard bit is finding the elevator/escalator in the train station, because stairs suck! There you go, 99.9% of Tokyo covered and no sore shoulders. Walking around on that green leafy stuff, or in a group of those bigger leafy things, looks dangerous. There's bears and stuff, right?
For what it?s worth, I attach a D ring to the tripod head ? under the base plate ? and another to one of the legs, about in the middle. Using the shoulder strap from a carry-on bag, clip on to the leg first, wrapping the strap around the legs to hold them together, then clip the other end of the strap onto the head. The biggest advantage is having the camera out front, where you can keep an eye on it. It hangs better with the camera tilted down
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