How lonh it take you to make a shot in the field?

[Peter Hruby]

Hi all,

I am just curious, if you arrive to the scene to make your shot, how long it takes you to assemble your gear take a shot and move on? How you pack you gear?

Merry Christmas to all of you
from Welland Ontario, Canada.

Peter Hruby

[James Bleifus]

Peter, I keep my gear in a Super-Trekker II. Probably more backpack than I need since I only shoot 5X7, but I find that it works well, and it will give me room to move up to larger cameras if I want. For reasons of balance I usually carry everything packed away in the bag except for my tripod which rides on my shoulder. I have a tendency to hike through washes and on the sides of bluffs so it's easy to lose my balance. However, if the terrain is smooth I move from place to place with the camera mounted on the tripod which rests on my shoulder.

As for set-up time, I don't really know. It was long when I first bought my LF but now seems fairly quick. So either I've gotten faster or I've gotten used to being slow.

Cheers,

James

[Leonard Evens]

I would say it can take anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour or more depending on what is involved. Setting up my tripod and my camera (a Toho FC-45X) and dismantling them takes altegether between 5 and 10 minutes. Focusing, including finding near and far points usually takes at most 5 minutes, but it can take up to 15 minutes if extensive tilts are needed. Determining exposure with my spotmeter takes a few more minutes, but in difficult situations it can take up to ten minutes. Most of my time is actually spent trying different points of view and framings, deciding of focal lenth, etc. That can take half an hour or more. Some of that work can be avoided by scouting out the situation first with a digital camera, so I already have a pretty good idea what the optimal position is.

[Leonard Evens]

Let me add that I usually push my gear in a Baby Jogger stroller with 20 inch wheels. It can go practically everywhere except up steelp rocky inclines. The camera and lenses are kept in an old backpack designed for 35 mm equipment. The rest is kept in a plastic bag in the stroller and film is in an insulated lunchbag. The tripod rests on top. If necessary I can carry it all on my person, but I try to avoid that since I have some several herniated discs and spinal stenosis. The backpack is not optimally designed to get at my equipment, and I could probably save a few minutes by getting something that is better designed.

[Michael Kadillak]

Leonard - Good For You!

You are truly an inspiration tas you are still finding ways around your condition to continue to be involved in LF and that is just fabulous. Continue doing what you enjoy and have a Happy Holiday Season.

The first round of drinks is on me at the next photo conference. Look me up.

Cheers!

[Frank Petronio]

Cheers Leonard! Good for you.

Landscapes take 2.7 minutes. I work out of the trunk, with a big case holding the camera ready to mount on the tripod.

[David A. Goldfarb]

Depends on the shot. If I'm shooting the Technika rangefinder-style or the 5x7" Press Graflex, it takes no longer than it does with a smaller format rangefinder or SLR.

As far as landscapes that really use the features of a view camera--it still depends. Some shots require more thought and attention or maybe waiting for the light or clouds to move or wind to stop, and that takes however long it takes. If it's something simple, maybe less than 5 minutes, but it's usually not that simple.

[Kevin Crisp]

Interesting question with many answers, all correct depending on who's giving you the answer. In very general terms, speaking as someone who often drives around and looks for road kills and then trudges varying distances to them, here are some general times, always tempered by the level of impatience of family members. (Once they just give up, you have more time.) Handheld with Crown Graphic, maybe 1 minute. Exposures are just determined by experience. Tripod, view camera, composing (takes the most time), set up, metering, etc. at least 20 minutes. It could be hours depending how how much I like the subject and how long it takes the light to get to what I want, if ever. In general, from stopping at a spot to leaving, I doubt I've ever done it with the camera tripod-mounted in less than 15 minutes, 25 to 30 minutes is more like it, once you have seen something and you have decided what you want to photograph. More than an hour is rare, especially if I have in mind some route and other places I want to get to. There are times when light will fade at the end of a day and I have to rush and I can get everything done in 2 minutes or less, but I HATE having to do that the chances for mistakes are high. But I do it when necessary. I apparently use far less film on a subject than many report on this forum, if you take 5 or 10 sheets per subject, that's a different matter. On the other hand, time spent shooting is, per my wife, relative. She thinks I sometimes spend over an hour at a subject and I think it was 20 minutes.

[Bill_1856]

If there's a place to sit, maybe up to half or three-quarters of an hour after the camera is set up. More often than not I don't even click the shutter. If I gotta stand, then 5 minutes, tops. (PS, I've been photographing with view cameras since 1951, and have never taken a negative that is anything special. But I do love the process of doing it.)

[Eric Leppanen]

Peter, For the landscapes I shoot, it probably takes fifteen to thirty minutes for a single shot. I usually take short hikes to my locations, so I have to pack and unpack my camera, tripod, dark cloth, film holders, exposure meter, etc. Most of my compositions require camera movements, plus working out depth of field and f-stop setting (based on reading the near and far bellows displacement). Add taking several exposures (bracketing when shooting color; shooting several different exposures to facilitate pushing or pulling when shooting B&W) and making field notes (either directly on the Readyload packets or on a small notepad). Don't want to hurry as this will lead to mistakes! Plus sometimes additional delays due to waiting for the wind to die down, sun to come out (or disappear), tourists or fellow photographers to get out of the way, etc. When using long lenses, I'll have to attach a stabilizing arm to the front standard and front tripod leg, or perhaps even set up a second tripod. Plus often I'll have to politely fend off passers-by who ask how much my camera costs, can I look through the ground glass, are you someone famous, do you shoot for National Geographic, etc.

But all this gets forgotten when you look at your pictures on the light table, or hang a sumptuous print on the wall!

[Gem Singer]

I believe that God does include the time that I spend photographing with a large format camera as part of my total lifetime. Therefore, I take as much time as I need to make the best photograph I can make. That's the primary reason I chose a large format camera over a smaller, faster type of camera. What's the hurry?

[Frank Petronio]

Back when I worked on a day rate, it was amazing how long it took to do a proper photograph ;-)

[Peter Hruby]

How do you care lens and lensboard? Do you have lensboards attached to lenses all the time or not? It takes so much space in you backpack to have it all the time...

Peter.

[Ralph Barker]

Day rate operations - LOL, Frank. But, I've got you beat on the time consumption for landscapes. I've got it down to 27 seconds, tops. I designed an elaborate array of cantilevered arms, rails, and pullies that automatically fold out and deploy when I open the back doors of my truck. It's all powered by environmentally-responsible bungee cords. It sets up the tripod first, and then mounts the camera. All I have to do is remove the lens cap and press the shutter release. Next, I hope to adapt a tape picker with a motor drive to automate inserting and flipping the film holders.

Seriously, Peter, it takes me anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour, "depending". I use a framing aid (http://www.rbarkerphoto.com/misc/Photo-gear/FramingAid1-500.jpg) to choose tripod location, framing, and lens selection before I take anything out of the vehicle (or pack, if I'm hiking). Once that is done, it usually only takes a couple of minutes to set up the camera, another couple of minutes to fine-tune framing and focus. After that, however, it might take 45 minutes for that puffy little white cloud to move into the right position. ;-)

Similar to Leonard, I often use a wheeled cart (http://www.rbarkerphoto.com/misc/Photo-gear/Cart-Cbw.jpg) when I'm working very far from the vehicle. For this, I chose a folding golf cart with 4" wide wheels, which tends to work better in soft or sandy soil than bicycle wheels.

[David A. Goldfarb]

My lenses are mostly attached to lensboards. It would be a major hassle in the field to have to mount and unmount lensboards, particularly if it entails removing the rear cell as is often the case. Also, a spanner would be another thing that can't go on an airplane when traveling. The only exceptions are two barrel lenses that I use on a single shutter with a front-mount adapter, but these aren't as complicated to mount and unmount, and they don't require a spanner.

If your camera uses big lensboards, you might mount your small lenses on smaller lensboards and get a lensboard adapter. My 8x10" and 11x14" cameras use Sinar-sized boards, while the 4x5" cameras use Linhof boards, so some of my small lenses that I use mainly for 8x10" are on Linhof boards, so they don't take up too much space in the 8x10" kit, and they can do double duty on 4x5".

[Ralph Barker]

Lensboards - my approach has been to mount almost all of my lenses on 110mm Toyo boards, and then use lensboard adapters on my larger Toyos and the Tachihara 8x10. That approach eliminates the bulk problem of the larger boards. Changing lensboards in the field would be risky in my view - too much opportunity for Murphy's Law to take hold.

[Gem Singer]

I meant to say: "God does NOT include the time I spend photographing with a large format camera as part of my total lifetime". I'm certain that the word NOT was included my post when I clicked the "post message" button. ????

[Bruce Watson]

Average is about 20 minutes to setup/compose/focus. Anywhere from seconds to hours to wait for conditions to comply (wind, changing light, etc.) after that. Then about a 10 minute tear down and repack.

My record for a single shot is now four days - I kept coming back to the same scene at daybreak four days in a row, because I only had a 10 minutes window for the light I was after - one shot and come back the next day. I finally figured out exactly what I was after on the fourth day, and got it.

Persistence is a good thing ;-)

[Paul Butzi]

Two to three minutes from the time I start setting up the tripod to when I release the shutter, unless I have to wait for wind or something. It's less than that if I'm in practice. It's way less if I already have the camera on the tripod.

[James Bleifus]

I'm with David, I keep all my lenses on boards. If I had to mount one in the field I'm sure I'd end dropping an element or putting a finger through a shutter.

Cheers,

James

[Ole Tjugen]

First time, around five minutes. Second time, about 20 seconds...

I load all my 4x5" gear in a Lowepro S&F Rover Lite. S the first time I get out my tripod, set down the pack, fumble the Linhof Zoom finder out of whatever pocket it's hidden in, decide on a lens, open the top of the pack, pull out my Linhof Color (yes, that's a monorail), mount it on the tripod, close the top, open the bottom, take out the lens I decided ofn(now what was it again?), put lens on camera, focus, close bottom and open top again, get out a film holder, then remember the light meter is in the bottom today, etc...

The second time the finder's in my right coat pocket, the tripod is in my right hand, the camera is in my left hand, and the light meter is in my left coat pocket. Put down the tripod, whip out the finder. Still looks good? Spread tripod legs, mount camera, measure light, open bottom of pack, pull out lens, open top and pull out holder, focus, inser, and shoot. 20 seconds altogether...

[Kevin Crisp]

Eugene: If God started doing the math off your first post, you may be in trouble.

[Scott Rosenberg]

the scope of answers to this question is truly remarkable... from mere seconds to 4 days! it would interesting to know the cameras that are driving these times.

for me with my technika IV, it's anywhere from 15 minutes to several hours. the fastest time i ever got unpacked, set up, took a few pictures, broke down, and repacked was on spirit island. you have ten minutes from the time the boat docks until it departs... that was a real challenge for me. on the long end of things, i will oftern set up and settle in with a good book until the conditions ripen.

[Eric Leppanen]

I have all lenses pre-mounted on lensboards, and each lens has its own cable release. Technika-sized lensboards add very little to the space needed to store each lens.

[Jim Rice]

I'm in the 15~20 minutes camp. If it's going to be a good photograph, ten minutes. If it's really going to suck, 30 mins+.

[Paul Butzi]

"the scope of answers to this question is truly remarkable... from mere seconds to 4 days! it would interesting to know the cameras that are driving these times. "

My times (two to three minutes, or less) are with a Linhof Technikardan 45s. Tripod QR is an Arca-Swiss style plate on the camera and clamp on the tripod head. Tripod head is an Arca-Swiss B1, tripod is one of the Gitzo CF wonders. Lenses are all in lensboards (why would anyone do anything else), each lens has a cable release permanently attached.

[chris jordan]

You guys are all so slow!!! My typical time is 1/8th of a second, but it can be as fast as a 125th sometimes.

(This stolen from Henri Cartier-Bresson, who someone once asked "how long does it take to make your photographs?" and he responded "a 125th of a second").

[Graeme Hird]

Setting up the 5x4 Tachihara usually takes 3-5 minutes for a landscape shot, from the time I recognise a composition to being ready to release the shutter.

There is usually around 1 to 30 minutes before that selecting my composition, and a couple of seconds through to an hour waiting for the "decisive moment" when the light and other conditions are right. (Or I might come back the next day, or the day after or the year after ......)

Cheers,

[Brett Deacon]

Great question Peter! I bet my wife and I would have vastly different answers, though of course mine would be much more accurate. I intentionally purchased a non-folding camera (Ebony 45S) for convenience sake that could be stored with an attached lens (80% of the time the 110 XL), so it usually takes me only about 30 seconds to extend the tripod and attach the camera. From here, as most everyeone else has stated, it depends. For me, the time it takes to compose, focus, take an exposure reading, etc. generally varies between 5-10 minutes and 30 minutes but can be as little as a few minutes if I'm in a rush. In my experience, the key time variables, in descending order of importance, are (1) the presence of my wife, (2) the stability of current lighting conditions, and (3) my indecisiveness about camera position and lens choice. So the good news is that the process can be fairly quick. The bad news is that, at least for me, I almost always feel uncomfortably rushed when working quickly and most of the time it will take much more than a few minutes.

Happy Festivus to all!

Brett

[QT Luong]

Usually about 10 min total from unpacked to repacked, with 10 more additional minutes for tricky
focussing and/or metering. But it is a rare photograph when I don't have to wait for something, like the wind to die, the light or clouds to change, people stepping out, etc...

[Francesco]

Ceteris paribus, my average is 25 minutes on my 8x10.

Francesco (http://www.contactprintersguild.com/)

[Jonathan Brewer]

The time it took to set up a shot that doesn't work doens't count, a good shot wherever you took it should be counted against the first moment you decided to get serious about and/or develop your skills/technique that led you on a road that enabled you to take that shot.

[Alan Davenport]

Anywhere from about 15 minutes to an hour or more. I use a 4x5 folding field camera, carry everything in a Lowe Super Trekker bag.

[Jim Ewins]

James Bleifus said something in his opening statement that he sometimes puts the tripod with the camera mounted over his shoulder. Earlier this year I did that, left my van and walked about 100' to the edge of a clif several hundred feet high. I spread the legs of my tripod, moved around to open the lens and...it wasn't there. I looked around, fear grabbing my stomach, then retraced my steps to the van and back. Just happened to see, in the deepening dusk, a glint in the grass. I'm not doing that again without some gaffers tape to ensure the latch on my Wisner doesn't decide to move.

[mark blackman]

David,
I agree with you about mounting lens. I've bought an adapter for my 10x8 Wista so it takes Linhof 5x4 size boards. I've found that I can just about get a copal 3 shutter mounted onto the smaller board so I can share lens between formats.

To answer the original question - the most I've spent is 3hours in freezing rain waiting for sunrise, the least: the time it takes to open a crown graphic, pull a graphmatic slide, cock the shutter, compose and shoot - about 20 secs. Of course the picture was crap.

[Calamity Jane]

I'm a rank novice in LF, with only one camera (my homemade 4x5) and one lens but I agree that the range of times is astounding.

My fastest time would have to be the day I was walking from the shop to the house and noticed the most incredible sky-scape with liquid blue sky and cumulous (sp?) clouds ranging from brilliant white to deep purple, all over bright green trees - the lighting was perfect, and you all know how long that lasts! From running into the house for the camera and accessories box to setting up, framing, metering, and exposure was probably less than 5 minutes. The exposure was on E100G processed in Agfa "Process 44" and the slide came out beautifully - one of the best I have done to date!

On the other hand, I found that hauling my LF rig around at a big Ag Fair to photograph the steam engines and operators averaged closer to 1 hour per shot. Once I parked the camera and started to set up a shot, it would attract a crowd. While setting up and answering questions, as well as posing for the point-and-shoot crowd, time seemed to slip away. I found it amusing that the photographer and camera became the subject for so many tourist photographers! ;-)

[Ted Fullerton]

Here in Illinois, I find that my times vary by season, with the longest in Sping and Fall, and the shortest times in Summer and Winter

In Winter, I find that my times are in direct proportion to the temperature and the harshness of the wind coming off of lake Michigan. Summer times are in direct proportion to the number of ticks slowly working their way up my pant leg and the intensity of the sun beating down on the plains.

I do find that adverse conditions short-circuit the procedures I've tried to drill into my brain. Things like checking the corners and verifying the depth-of-field after applying a tilt simply aren't remembered when I'm kneeling on shelf-ice and my fingers aren't bending at the joints anymore, or I'm in a rough part of town alone with a darkcloth over my head.

My average times break out seasonally:

Spring & Fall: 30-45 minutes

Summer: 15-30 minutes

I use an non-folding Ebony, so my set up time bag-to-lenscap-off is about one minute.

-Ted

[Ted Fullerton]

... And winter average is 5-10 minutes.

[Stan. Laurenson-Batten]

Time taken to set up is determined by how close the scene is to a track for my RV. In the back
I carry the Sinar P, set up ready to go, with just a lens panel to attach.
Should I have to trekk, which means packing up and re setting up, then about 15 minutes is about average.But even this time is dependant on the time it takes me to recover from a weighty slog and get my breath back!
But it is always worth the effort.

[Mark Sawyer]

"How long it take you to make a shot in the field?"

Until I put the dark slide back in...

With the 8x10, I've probably got a short time of eight to ten minutes. With a 4x5, about four to five minutes. Scary thing is, that's probably pretty accurate. (So that's what those numbers *really* mean...)

But it's usually longer (seldom over 20-30 minutes, longest still under an hour, I think), and sometimes I spend twenty minutes and don't expose the film. And I usually work quicker in the field than in my little studio.

But generally I pay no attention to that. I enjoy my work, and trying to do it quickly is a waste, like chugging a good bottle of red wine.

[Steve Feldman]

Minimun time? 5 minutes. Max - 45 minutes.

As for people in my shot, I just yell out, "Get out of my picture or at least take off your clothes." Works for me.

As for schlepping through the boonies - I think E. W. said, "You don't have to go 100 feet from the road to get good pictures."

~S.

[Herb Cunningham]

I have a Crown graphic I carry in the car, grafmatic at the ready with a light orange/yellow filter on it in case a fantastic sunset shows it self, so I can rangefinder focus and blast away in a very short time. That is only opportunism.

for real fun, it should take at least 30 or 40 minutes to compose, bracket meter, take notes, change lenses, etc etc. I don't make my living from it, so mellow out it the rule.

[Robert A. Zeichner]

I generally work with a Deardorff 45S. On it I always have a 203mm f7.7 Ektar that folds up nicely in the camera, so I always have a lens mounted. It also happens to be a lens I use alot, so often, I don't even need to change it. I spend most of the time in the field searching for potential set-ups with a composing card. The actual mounting of the camera on the tripod and changing the lens if necessary takes less than 5 minutes. Framing, focusing, adjustment of movements, exposure measurement etc. varies, but I think all considered, I might spend anywhere between 15 minutes and an hour making one exposure. Sometimes I need to wait for passing clouds to come into position, other times those clouds might be hiding the sun, still other times just waiting for a breeze to die down could take awhile. Once in awhile there might be a couple of scenes very close to one another. I can think of one occasion where I was photographing sand dunes and was able to make a very strong second exposure by simply panning the camera about 30 degrees. Elapsed time between the two exposures was about 7-10 minutes and the light changed so dramatically that the two images look entirely unrelated. Everyone has a different way of packing and setting up, but I think one bit of advice that would serve to speed the process and avoid errors is to do everything exactly the same way and in the same order every time. Pack everything in exactly the same place and it won't be long before you don't even have to think about where anything is located. Invariably, whenever I goof up, it's because I tried to do things in a different order or let myself get distracted.

[Ted Harris]

The point we are all talking around is preplanning ... both for the shot and the equipment. I know there is a huge difference between how long it takes to setup and shoot a preplanned shot (usually 5 minutes or less) to one that I just happen upon. Then there are those serendipitous moments when a simple preplanned shot can go totally out of control and lead to something totally unexpected.

This fall I was shooting some ‘Mail Pouch’ barns in West Virginia. I had picked them out and taken some preliminary shots months before. I got to the first barn and there was a sheep standing under a tree off to the right; preplanned shot out the window. I changed lenses and position and got under the darkcloth to focus. While I was focusing a very young bull came out of the barn (and I had thought the place was basically unused). Got the one shot off quickly then moved again and started communing with the bull so he would pose nicely for me. We came to an agreement and I made a few very nice exposures. Lapsed time close to an hour. Value of the shot v. the original preplanned one ….waaaaaaaay more.

[paulr]

There's no maximum time ... since there's no limit to how sleepy or lazy I might be or how long I might have to wait for the wind or the light to behave. Minimum time is probably just under 2 minutes, if the camera's mounted on the tripod with a lens, and slung over my shoulder. Just over 2 minutes if it's in my bag.

I consider my speed to be on the slow side of what's possible, because i'm not out shooting all the time and practicing. Some guys who do commercial work for a day job are blindingly fast with a view camera. Jock Sturgess comes to mind. He goes so fast you don't even know what he's doing. He has his system completely wired for speed (right down to his custom trifocals that include a 4X focussing loupe), since he's shooting people in motion. I photographed with Ed Ranney once and his hands and darkslides were a blur ... I'd never seen anyone work a big camera so fast. It was like a cartoon. For the work I do, it's only once in a blue moon that I wish I were faster, so I never consciously practiced it. Right now I shoot infrequently enough that I'm more likely to slow myself down, just to allow time to double check for dumb mistakes.

[Peter Hruby]

I am a low-light photographer and my time to take a shot is divided to three phases:

First:
I search with digital camera for right composition on first day and it takes a point a shoot time, make notes, and evaluate it immediately what would be a magic shot.

Second:
I do the same in the evening or night with my digital camera to determine final shot, assemble gear, shoot, filters, lights exposure, make notes, about 10 min a shot with bracketing. Can take one or more days.

Third:
I take my deardorff and full gear. For sunsets and sunrises, I am at least one hour before to set everything up, time for exposure: it is only an hour to make a magic. I do usually night shots after midnight or very early in the morning, if I wanna catch a live on streets it is around 10-12 PM. Time: Assemble, position, shoot, disassemble around 30 min - 1 hour, it depends on bracketing.