Shadow Mystery

**Bruce Schultz** · 8-Apr-2002, 13:14

OK, while we're on the subject of conundra (would that be plural of conundrum?) here's one to ponder: Gazing at one panorama of two 1920s baseball teams posed on the playing field I noticed that the shadow of one team is in front of them, but the shadow of the o ther team is behind the players. It was taken around midday because the shadows were slight. It didn't appear that the different shadowing was the result of two photographs because I couldn't see any seam. All the players and coaches were s tanding side-by-side. My only explanation was that this might have been taken with one of those rotati ng lens, and the teams were posed in a semicircle to get everyone in focus, so t hat put the sun on the faces of one team and on the shoulders of another. What d o you think?

**Mark Sampson** · 8-Apr-2002, 13:34

A Cirkut camera for sure. Made by Graflex c.1910-1930. Look in the background for curved lines that should be straight. 10"x??? negative depending on how long a "pan' you want. These cameras sre still in use today. Amazingly enough, Kodak still makes film for them.

**David Grandy** · 8-Apr-2002, 16:49

I wonder if could it be possible that there was some type of fill flash that overpowered the ambient light enought to throw a shadow?

**Eric Williams** · 8-Apr-2002, 18:48

Last Summer I went to the Getty Museum in L.A.for the Walker Evans show. I noticed a panorama, don't recall who did it but it was a picture of a town. On the left it looked from the shadows that the exposure was made in the afternoon. On the right the shadows looked as if it was taken in the morning. The center the shadows were straight on. I looked at this for quite a while and I could not see any curved lines. The shadows were long and most that looked the most obvious were of telegraph poles. I too wondered how this was done. Has anyone else seen this panorama?

**Bruce Wehman** · 9-Apr-2002, 09:50

Bruce

It's fun to see if any of the people in Cirkut shots appear more than once.

Years ago I would photograph the "Roundup Riders of the Rockies" with a Cirkut camera. The same guy every year would ride around behind the camera, and strike a pose at the other end of the group just as the camera got there. Sometimes we would have to try more than once to get it right but it was a lot of fun; They were a very well heeled bunch and bought a lot of prints.