8x10 in Paris-Chamonix-Normandy-Dublin-Clonakilty

[Cameron Cornell]

June 26 through August 1 this year, my wife and two daughters (ages 8 and 12) will be traveling around France and Ireland.

the ITINERARY: One week in Paris, four nights in Chamonix, three nights at Mont-Saint-Michel, ferry from Cherbourg to Dublin, free-ranging around Ireland for the rest of July with bases Dublin and Clonakilty (both places where my wife's family live). I've been to Europe half a dozen times, including all of these places, save Chamonix.

the GEAR: 8x10 Kodak Master Camera, 10" Wollensak Vitax, 12" Kodak Commercial Ektar, Gitzo 5-Series carbon fiber tripod, five Toyo film holders, 50 sheets of HP5, 50 sheets of Delta 100, Harrison changing tent. The camera, lenses, and holders fit perfectly into the same internal-frame MEI backpack that I bought back in 1993 for my first backpacking trip around Europe. I'll carry the tripod in a sling diagonal across my front.

the QUESTION: What the heck should I photograph? :)

Typically I shoot portraits, and while I certainly try to make each image stand on its own, I almost always conceive of any one portrait as belonging to a larger body of images. For instance, I set up an outdoor portrait studio each year at a music festival here in Washington State and make portraits that I'm planning to show when the project is finished in 2030; I shoot portraits of my students each year and hang the portraits in the classroom (my classroom is starting to look like a portrait gallery); I shoot portraits of my own kids and their friends (of course) to hang on the wall at home; I shot portraits of all of the teachers and administration at the school where I work which we put into a 50-year time capsule; etc...

With only ten sheets of film to shoot per outing, I figure I'll go out by myself for a part of the day on the days I shoot (probably two or three days each week). I don't think it would go well to have my wife and daughters along when I shoot because the process of scouting and shooting is pretty ponderous to them. When I make their portraits, I always have the setup complete when they enter the situation. That actually goes for anyone whose portrait I make. I'm bringing along a stereoscopic Sputnik for family snapshots.

So, again, what should I photograph?

Pictures of buildings and monuments? Landscapes? I don't usually shoot these subjects. It's hard to imagine my making a contribution to what's already been made of these subjects.

What about setting up with a little sign in French and English offering to shoot portraits out in a public space like a park and just seeing what happens? I could mail prints to the people I photographed after I return to the states.

Does anyone know any interesting people in any of these places who'd like to meet up and have a portrait made?

It feels natural to bring the big camera. I want to do it just to not miss whatever I'd miss if I didn't bring it. But I'm having trouble visualizing how to make the most of the opportunity.

I'd appreciate any constructive thoughts.

Cameron Cornell
Washington State
www.analogportraiture.com
www.instagram.com/papacornell

[pepeguitarra]

Are you sure your wife and daughters will let you set up an 8x10 to take photos? Time is so valuable where you are in France, specially in Paris. I took a Leica M9 and a Rolleiflex (MF), and still was not enough. Everywhere you go in Paris, you will find things to shoot. I have not been to the other areas you mentioned. In Paris, I would stay close to the Latin Quarters, that is where some of the Roman ruins still exist. Then, the Luxemburg Gardens, the Soborne, Louvre, etc.

[Pieter]

Michael Kenna made some nice photos in Mont St. Michel (of course, really long exposures, that's his thing): http://www.michaelkenna.com/gallery.php?id=9

[Cameron Cornell]

Are you sure your wife and daughters will let you set up an 8x10 to take photos? Time is so valuable where you are in France, specially in Paris. I took a Leica M9 and a Rolleiflex (MF), and still was not enough. Everywhere you go in Paris, you will find things to shoot. I have not been to the other areas you mentioned. In Paris, I would stay close to the Latin Quarters, that is where some of the Roman ruins still exist. Then, the Luxemburg Gardens, the Soborne, Louvre, etc.

We do happen to be staying in the Latin Quarter. We’re renting a two bedroom apartment for the week on Rue des Gobelins. As I said in my post, I’m not planning on bringing my wife and daughters along on my outings when I shoot.

[pepeguitarra]

Here is a list of things I would recommend:
1) Tour Eiffel (close up with wide angle), or shots from anywhere with it in the background. There is an obelisk at the Place de la Concorde that would make a good photo with the Tour Eiffel in the background
2) Notre Dam from across the River. (not sure after the fire)
3) The Luvre outside, fountains and Arcs
4) Fountain des Innocents
5) Enchanting place des vosges
6) Jardin du Luxemburg (you have to bring the kids here!!! great for them too)
7) Can you drive to Giverny? Monet's Gardens? Bring your Ektar and Fuji color film.

[drew.saunders]

This sounds like a great idea! Assuming you and/or your family will bring along more compact (and probably digital) cameras to take photos to remember your visit, why not make photos that mean more to you that are very different from the standard tourist photos? If portraits like this is what you prefer to make, then make them!

Our French members should be able to answer your questions as to whether or not this would be practical, plus could help with your sign (if that kind of thing is allowed). If you do get a sign, since these are touristy areas, adding Mandarin and Japanese might cast a wider net for subjects.

Go for it, and, more importantly, share the portraits with us here!

[Cameron Cornell]

This sounds like a great idea! Assuming you and/or your family will bring along more compact (and probably digital) cameras to take photos to remember your visit, why not make photos that mean more to you that are very different from the standard tourist photos? If portraits like this is what you prefer to make, then make them!

Our French members should be able to answer your questions as to whether or not this would be practical, plus could help with your sign (if that kind of thing is allowed). If you do get a sign, since these are touristy areas, adding Mandarin and Japanese might cast a wider net for subjects.

Go for it, and, more importantly, share the portraits with us here!

Precisely! That’s my point: why bother bringing this equipment and making the same photographs that we’ve all seen thousands of times? I’ve always felt that you have a better chance of making a contribution if you try something different than the herd. If I were to use a sign, however, I think I would only post it in French while I was in France because I’d really rather make portraits of locals.

[Mark Sampson]

You're a portrait photographer. Shoot people, in the neighborhood where you're staying. There's little point in trying to re-create the guidebooks.
Photographing the local neighborhood itself (wherever you are) would go well with the portraits.
Although Mont-Saint-Michel is tempting- see the work William Clift has done there.

[Cameron Cornell]

Great advice, Mark. Thank you.

On the topic of Mont-Saint-Michel, take a look at this aerial photograph. It's a three-part scan I recently stitched together of a 16x20" vintage print that my wife's grandfather brought back from WWII. It's been hanging on our living room wall for years. I'm making a high-resolution digital copy so that other members of her family can have prints made. Her grandfather was in the Army and friends with a recon photographer who gave him a few prints. Looking at the image up close, I can see Willys Jeeps and other Allied military vehicles in front of the gates, so the image was obviously made after D-Day.

190189

[pepeguitarra]

Good luck with the locals to pose for a portrait! Since you are a portrait photographer, why not take the three ladies and shoot them in every place, focussing on them!?

Since thousands of photos have been taken of certain monument/place, should we stop taking photos of them? Not sure. Should we stop going to Yosemite because the site has been photographed million times? This the part where your own eye, your own inner eye, right side of the brain will tell you what to shoot. I went to Versailles with my 35mm Leica and there were thousands of people walking around. I was taking picture of only few things that interested me. None of them contained people and some of them contained portions of things I have seen in magazines, but I liked. Think also time of the day for the photos. Sometimes, those are the best times to be with the family.

[Cameron Cornell]

Good luck with the locals to pose for a portrait! Since you are a portrait photographer, why not take the three ladies and shoot them in every place, focussing on them!?

Since thousands of photos have been taken of certain monument/place, should we stop taking photos of them? Not sure. Should we stop going to Yosemite because the site has been photographed million times? This the part where your own eye, your own inner eye, right side of the brain will tell you what to shoot. I went to Versailles with my 35mm Leica and there were thousands of people walking around. I was taking picture of only few things that interested me. None of them contained people and some of them contained portions of things I have seen in magazines, but I liked. Think also time of the day for the photos. Sometimes, those are the best times to be with the family.

I hear you, Pepe, and I really do appreciate your perspective. I'm in total agreement as far as handheld cameras go. Ninety-eight percent of the trip will consist in exactly what you describe. The 8x10 kit weighs in at a little over 50 pounds, though, and it takes ten minutes to set up and just as long to break down. Once it's set up, it isn't easy or quick to adjust. You know all of that, of course. My point is just that my traveling companions won't want to wait around while I fuss with the 8x10, so I plan to make outings on my own for an hour or two, once or twice each week. I'll have plenty of 6x6 shots and iPhone pics of the family and I have all the time in the world to make their 8x10 portraits over here. What I'm trying to think through is what I can do that will make the best use of this setup over there, and, hopefully, produce work that is uniquely my own.

[Hugo Zhang]

Cameron,

I have been to a few European cities and found it hard to use tripod because of the crowd. My best experience of travel with a LF camera so far is a Graflex Super D 45 camera with two 12 sheets bag holders. 24 shots is a good day's work. I did this about five years ago in Tibet and exposed over 200 sheets in 12 days. Over 50% of them are people.

I used a monopod screwed into the camera's bottom and it is easy to walk around. I actually show people reflected images on the ground glass before taking their pictures and there was almost no resistance.

Just an idea.

[pepeguitarra]

Just make sure you keep repeating the most useful phrases in France: Bon Jour!!! (Hello, good day, etc.) and S'il vou plait! (please')

If you call them by: EXCUSEME!!! Don't be surprised there will be no answer.


Probably the best time to shoot would be early in the morning to avoid the local crowds and the tourists, and to take advantage of the light. I woke up at 5:30 am and was out by 6 am. Almost no body on the streets.

[Pieter]

Just make sure you keep repeating the most useful phrases in France: Bon Jour!!! (Hello, good day, etc.) and S'il vou plait! (please')

If you call them by: EXCUSEME!!! Don't be surprised there will be no answer.


Probably the best time to shoot would be early in the morning to avoid the local crowds and the tourists, and to take advantage of the light. I woke up at 5:30 am and was out by 6 am. Almost no body on the streets.

The French will appreciate you speaking French. Make the effort if you can.

[Cameron Cornell]

First of all, I’d like to express my gratitude to this forum for giving me a place to share my questionable ideas. Brainstorming in a vacuum is not as fertile in my experience. Thank you guys for the feedback.

That said, taking into account the comments that you fellows made above, I think I’ve settled on a plan.

Paris, Chamonix, Normandy, and then all of Ireland. Call them four locations. At each of the four locations, I’ve set for myself the goal of making one strong landscape or cityscape, one strong still life or detail, and one strong portrait.

My goal will not be to make a quintessential, representative picture of, say, Paris, but only to make strong images that fall into those three categories that happen to be set in, say, Paris. That distinction is important to me because I believe it is easy to get confused by the profusion of imagery we’ve all seen of these places and fall into the trap of just trying to recreate a meta-image. Why do that? Our brains have evolved to respond to the unexpected. A pretty picture of the Eiffel Tower? I’ve seen thousands of ‘em. I don’t think I even really “see” them anymore. They register more as words or categories than as images.

It makes me think of the distinction that Robert Adams made for landscapes. He wrote something along the lines that when you view a landscape photograph, you should ask yourself whether you’d rather be viewing the photograph or the actual landscape it depicts. Obviously, the successful photograph is one that creates the former impression. I think the same standard can and should be applied to any subject. For me, if I can make a strong image, that will be enough. If it isn’t apparent where the image was made, that will be fine. I’ll know. And better yet, I’ll have had the experience of making the pictures, which is 2/3 of the fun, anyway.

Like life, I know the results will work out differently than I planned. But also, like life, I think things will work out better if there IS a plan.

Hugo, I appreciate your thoughts on bringing a smaller format and no tripod, but part of the fun for me is the sheer lunacy of going big. I think the complications and the difficulty inform the images, and as I said, the challenge is fun.

So, to recap, my goal is three keepers from Paris, three keepers from Chamonix, three keepers from Normandy, and three keepers from all of Ireland. Twelve photographs worth printing, one image in each category in each place. I’ll print those twelve photographs this Fall and hang them on our walls at home to remember this trip. That will be enough.

Cameron Cornell
Washington State
www.analogportraiture.com
www.instagram.com/papacornell

[Jeff T]

You might find a few natives at the farmers market at Place D'Italie off the train station, which is a mile from your hotel. You need to ask the concierge desk for the schedule, usually it's early morning and it's over by noon. I love the dynamics at these markets. Definitely check out Monmartre (Basilica of Sacre-Coeur), there are plenty of opportunities for portraits. I'll bet you will get many volunteers, most are tourists. The hike up the step with the 8x10 is definitely a challenge but the view of cityscape is worth the effort. While I was there last summer, the police has rounded up about 15 teenage girls as suspects of a tag team pocket picking gang. They're only interested in the latest iPhones so your 8x10 camera will be safe. Ask me how I know. Enjoy your time in Europe with your girls.

[Cameron Cornell]

You might find a few natives at the farmers market at Place D'Italie off the train station, which is a mile from your hotel. You need to ask the concierge desk for the schedule, usually it's early morning and it's over by noon. I love the dynamics at these markets. Definitely check out Monmartre (Basilica of Sacre-Coeur), there are plenty of opportunities for portraits. I'll bet you will get many volunteers, most are tourists. The hike up the step with the 8x10 is definitely a challenge but the view of cityscape is worth the effort. While I was there last summer, the police has rounded up about 15 teenage girls as suspects of a tag team pocket picking gang. They're only interested in the latest iPhones so your 8x10 camera will be safe. Ask me how I know. Enjoy your time in Europe with your girls.

Thanks for the tips, Jeff. We've rented an apartment for the week, not a hotel, but I'll definitely check out that market. I was specifically going to do a little research on farmer's markets and flea markets. Funny that you mention Sacre-Coeur. That is one of my favorite spots in the city and that is where I planned to go for one of my 8x10 outings. It's not only beautiful up there, but the atmosphere (at least the couple of times I've been) is congenial.

This morning I thought of one more thing I want to mention regarding taking an 8x10 setup on a trip like this. The planning required has really helped me to eliminate everything that isn't absolutely necessary to the process. I've added some necessary equipment, but only in exchange for equipment that was oversized or not perfectly suited to the process. It's sort of like my personal version of the Apollo space program. Regardless of the outcome of this particular mission, I think that the preparation will open lots of other doors in terms of my capabilities to efficiently make photographs in the field and the world at large going forward.

[Emmanuel BIGLER]

Hello from France, I wish you full success in your photographic travel!

Since the only place that you do not know so far is Chamonix, I'll start with a few words about this famous place in the French Alps.

Regarding old buildings, there are not so many interesting subjects in Chamonix and nearby, except some nice old churches and chapels (http://photos.linternaute.com/photo/925722/2226983905/1532/chapelle-des-praz-de-chamonix/).

Some really old wooden chalets typical of mountain activities of the past still exist. Those small-size chalets are called "mazots" and many of them are simply modern buildings inspired by traditional architecture, therefore most are not really interesting. See some examples of mazots here. https://www.qwant.com/?q=chamonix%20mazot&t=images


Chamonix is famous since Chamonix-based mountain guides and their clients were the first to reach the top of Mont Blanc at the end of the XVIIIst century. Hence the place in summer (when you'll visit it) is really crowded, the Mont Blanc attracts all kinds of visitors from all over the world like a magnet, but actually few of them actually will climb the Mont Blanc; nevertheless this makes the place very busy.

Since you'll travel with your family, it will be hard to resist a trip to the mountains either in the rack-and-pinion "Montenvers" train up to the Mer-de-Glace glacier. Or alternatively you can take a famous cable car up to the top of Aiguille du Midi.

Regarding nice mountain vistas, I would recommend to take another cable car at les Praz to "La Flégère" where all the family will enjoy one of the nicest existing alpine panoramas to the Mont Blanc range. For sure, the view is a classical postcard, but it is a relly nice one.
Of course you can take some LF photographic equipment with you either in the rack-and-pinion train or various cable cars.

The problem with landscape photography in Alpine valleys is that the valleys are quite deep and that you do not see so much of the landscape from the bottom.
Chamonix is located at 1000m (3300 feet) of elevation, the top station at Montenvers train (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemin_de_fer_du_Montenvers) is at 1913 m (6300 feet), and from there, there are more than 6000 feet of mountains above you!

To top station of La Flégère cable car is at about the same altitude as Montenvers.
From there an additional chairlift will bring you up to 2600 m (8500 feet). So the place is perfect for family walks without the hassle of the minimum 3 hours walk to reach a nice point of view. 3 hours, this is the average climbing time for 1000 m / 3300 feet of elevation on Alpine footpaths, usually those alpine footpaths are much steeper than their US cousins, for example In Colorado, I remember footpaths to be reallu gentle but distances are much bigger.

Regarding glaciers.
Due to global warming, the Mer-de-Glace glacier has receded dramatically since the rack-and-pinion train was built at the beginning of the XX-st century. From the top station at Montenvers, initially built close to the glacier, you have to walk down a lot on an trail to actually reach the glacier. A dedicated cable-car will shorten the trip, but you'll still have to walk to reach the present level of the glacier.
Another glacier which, 30 years ago, was easy to reach on foot was glacier des Bossons. Nowadays the end of the glacier has receded so much that you can reach it only after a tedious ascent.

Regarding weather conditions, well, it may be really fair in summer, but Chamonix is known for weather conditions never as fine as in nearby Valais area in Switzerland.
One of the reasons being that the upper Rhône valley, the Valais, is located behind the high peaks of Bernese Oberland, which act as a trap for bad weather coming from the West. Hence behind this high mountain range, sunshine is usually generous.
No such thing unfortunately applies to Chamonix, on the contrary, the Mont Blanc range will catch bad weather above Chamonix, whereas on the Italian side, weather will be fine.

Anyway, do not forget by bright sunshine large variations of temperature between the bottom of the valley (1000 m - 3300 feet) and high elevations. Tourists are often surprised when they take the cable car to Aiguille du Midi, the top is at 3840 m (12600 feet) and the average temperature drop, 6.5 deg C per 1000 m of elevation is about -18 deg. C (-33 F); so when at Chamonix you enjoy a nice temperature around 70F, up there you get only 50F ... warm clothes are required.

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This what I have in mind regarding Chamonix, a place I have visited very often for skiing and mountaineering, but at the time I only carried a small hand-held film camera which I'm not allowed to mention here ;-)

Please do not hesitate to ask all questions!

[tgtaylor]

For doing urban street photography with an 8x10 camera, I'd consider mounting the camera and tripod on a tripod dollie, draping it with the darkcloth, and start walking until you have found something/somebody interesting to shoot: It's all set-up and ready to go - just apply the brakes on the dollie, focus and shoot. Nothing to carry other than the film holders and meter. You could do that all day until you got tired of walking or run out of film.

Thomas

[Ken Lee]

I'd appreciate any constructive thoughts.

If I recall correctly, when Paul Strand visited other countries to shoot, he worked with local guides who not only knew the area but also knew the people. A good local guide is able to open doors that would otherwise be closed and make it possible to shoot subjects who would be uninterested or downright uncooperative.

Although this may not be relevant for 8x10 work, he also shot with a right-angle attachment on his 5x7 camera which allowed him point the camera in an apparently different direction, leaving candid subjects at ease.

[Mark Sampson]

Hmmm. In fact Strand used the right-angle attachment only during his early days in New York City- "Blind Woman" being the most famous of these. And even c.1914., he was 'busted' by an onlooker at least once (the story is somewhere in one of the monographs). For his best portrait work, as in the Hebrides and in Italy, he took the 'total immersion' approach- and in Italy he had a a colleague who was from the town to introduce and interpret for him. Your project is a very appealing one, and I wish you the best of luck- and when it's done I hope you share your results

[Cameron Cornell]

Thank you all so much for your advice and input. Emmanuel, thank you in particular for your generosity in sharing so much detailed information about Chamonix.

In Ireland and Normandy, I know a few locals and I’m hoping that might open some doors to interesting portraiture opportunities. I’ve thought about mentioning to the fellow who’s apartment we’re renting in Paris that I shoot large-format portraits and directing him to my website to see if he or anyone he knows would be interested in sitting for me. I’m also comfortable just finding a good spot with good light and a good background, and then just setting up and waiting for the right person to come along. That way, people self-select who are interested. I’ve had some good friendships start up this way in the past few years.

If anyone on the forum is going to be in any of these areas and wants to meet up, please get in touch with me! I’d be happy to make your portrait or just meet for coffee.

I’ll be running the north light portrait tent again at the Subdued Stringband Jamboree one week after we return from Europe (https://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?145988-Portable-Studio-Portraits&highlight=Portable+studio+portraits). If anyone can make it up to the festival, of course I’d be happy to make your portrait there. It runs August 8-12 this year.

I’ll post the keepers from the trip down below, probably in August or September.

[Emmanuel BIGLER]

A few words regarding the weather in Chamonix. Since your stay will be relatively short, 4 nights, weather conditions will be important to plan your program.
Here is the English version of the weather forecast I usually read before going to Chamonix.
http://chamonix-meteo.com/chamonix-mont-blanc/weather/forecast/morning/5_days_weather_forecast.php.

Just as an example of the temperature drop between Chamonix and the top of Aiguille du Midi, the weather report for today April 21st, mentions at 7:00, 9°C (48F) in Chamonix, -10°C (14F) at Aiguille du Midi.

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And a few words regarding Mont Saint Michel.

At Mont Saint Michel, recent work has removed the access dike to reinstall a bridge that allows seawater to flow freely.
The problem with the dike was that the surrounding area of Mont Saint Michel was becoming irreversibly silted up and risked losing its unique character as an island.

Access to the site for vehicles is now strictly limited, so you must leave your car on a parking area located quite far away, and take a shuttle bus.

Being one of the most visited monuments in France (** see note), and end of July / beginning of August corresponding to the peak touristic season ... well, you'll probably consider that Chamonix is a desert in summer, compared to Mont Saint Michel ;)


** note : in Paris, Notre Dame de Paris Cathedral was, together with the Eiffel Tower, one of the most visited monuments in France.
A (probably accidental) catastrophic fire destroyed the roof and its millenial wooden structure on Monday 15, 2019.
Notre Dame and immediate surroundings are now closed to the public. The cathedral itself will probably not re-open before the Paris Olympic Games in 2024 ...

[Cameron Cornell]

Thank you for those additional tips, Emmanuel. We rented a house for three nights that’s situated on the beach across the little bay from Mont Saint Michel, so at least at a distance we’ll get to see it out the window and from the back garden without the other tourists in the way. :) The first full day, we’ll make the trek over to explore the island. The second day, however, my wife and daughters are going to walk around the village and/or just play on the beach (which is just beyond the back garden) and I am going to take the rental car and drive the ninety minutes over to the D-Day landing beaches with the 8x10. The girls just aren’t at the age yet that they would appreciate that place.

My grandfather and my wife’s grandfather both landed in Normandy on D-Day. My grandfather, who was a truck driver all his life, drove a truck for the army supplying the front lines as the Allies pushed through France to Paris. He was there the day they liberated Paris (My mother jokes that she probably has a Parisian half-sibling). He never talked about the war, but I do have the letters he wrote to his sister. Here are a few pictures. Notice that he drove for Galveston Truck Lines back in the states and that he painted “Galveston Gal” on the side of his army truck.

190322

190323

190325

I’ve not been to the landing beaches before. Last time I was in Normandy, I was a high school exchange student in Germany and I’d gone on a road trip with three of the fellows from school. We camped the whole way, including three nights in a park in Paris. In Normandy, we slept in a campground near one of the resort beaches. It wasn’t a very thoughtful exploration of the place (beer, cards, trying to meet girls, etc), but it was a very good time. We did talk about the irony that we were 18 years old, one American and three Germans, and that fifty years before (this was 1993) we would have been enemies.

Cameron Cornell
Washington State
www.analogportraiture.com

[tgtaylor]

I’m also comfortable just finding a good spot with good light and a good background, and then just setting up and waiting for the right person to come along

Keep in mind that you may be hassled by the police for a permit to set-up like that - especially in a scenic area.

I've used this dollie to photograph in San Francisco' Aquatic Park and Fisherman's Wharf area with a Toyo 810G: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/280124-REG/Davis_Sanford_W3_W3_Dolly_with_3.html. There are better (and more expensive!) dollies but this one worked - it being necessary to keep a firm grip at the center of gravity point, maintain the same speed of the dollie that you are walking, and keep a lookout for uneven pavement which is a reason that you want to always maintain a firm grip at the center of gravity.

Thomas

[Emmanuel BIGLER]

I realize that for Chamonix I forgot to mention another well-known and very interesting cable car operating in summer: Planpraz / Le Brévent, it starts very close to Chamonix downtown and top is at 2525 m (8280 feet), same side of the valley as La Flégère, similar grand view over the Mont Blanc range.

You can have a look a topographic maps on several web sites to plan your trips in Chamonix, I use the French governement "geoportail" web site.
For example - a link to a Chamonix map on Geoportail where you can easily locate the Montenvers train and cable cars mentioned above (https://www.geoportail.gouv.fr/carte?c=6.8541551374511736,45.93392849416503&z=13&l0=ORTHOIMAGERY.ORTHOPHOTOS::GEOPORTAIL:OGC:WMTS(1)&l1=GEOGRAPHICALGRIDSYSTEMS.MAPS.SCAN-EXPRESS.STANDARD::GEOPORTAIL:OGC:WMTS(1)&permalink=yes)


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Regarding your planned trip to D-DAY beaches from Mont Saint Michel, travel time by car is about 1h50 one way, hence you can easily devote one day to the trip without spending too much travel time.
The advantage I see, as a photographer, to take one day off without the family is that you can stop anywhere, at any moment, to take pictures ;)

[Jim Andrada]

I was in some of those places last October. We taxi'd over to MSM from St Malo - because on the first evening in the way to dinner our Hertz car managed to blow two tires - Hertz picked up the car but never brought the one they'd promised us so we were car-less. The French Hertz office was - well - a disaster, as was the so-called service at the airport in Rennes. I'm glad that I took Emmanuel's kind advice and stayed in St Malo. Honestly didn't see anything at Mt St Michel that I wanted to photograph. We would have probably enjoyed the area to the East of MSM, though - quite pretty. I took a Mamiya TLR and a Mamiya 645 with film and digital backs - wanted to take the Technika but it was just too heavy. I'd recommend a side trip to St Malo if you get a chance - the city walls are quite impressive. By the way, there was a horse drawn wagon that ran over the access bridge at MSM - the shuttle bus was packed - no way I'd have been able to carry an 8 x 10 setup on the bus from the parking lot. It was hard enough to keep the 645 from getting knocked around. I suspect crowds in June will be worse and even at the end of October there were so many people crowding into MSM that it would have been pretty much impossible to set up a tripod there. I wanted to see the US cemetery, but my wife is Japanese and while she's happy living in the US, she isn't to, put it mildly, interested in anything relating to the US (or Japanese for that matter) Miltary.

[cbella]

Cameron - curious as to how your trip is unfolding (or unfolded), photographically and otherwise.

[Cameron Cornell]

Cameron - curious as to how your trip is unfolding (or unfolded), photographically and otherwise.

Thanks for asking. It’s been great so far. We’ve been in n Paris for a week. Today, we take the TGV to Geneva, rent a car, and drive to Chamonix. The trip is going beautifully, aside from some upsetting but not totally unexpected news from our house sitters last night at 3 a.m. that our fourteen year-old standard poodle, Major Tom, may be failing.

The kit I spent the winter sorting out has worked well. I did have a mishap literally the night before we left: the ground glass broke in one overpacked iteration of the case (a Halliburton Zero carry-on suitcase). I swapped in the ground glass from my 8x10 Ansco and ordered a spare to be shipped to Dublin. I found a better way of packing the case, but in an abundance of caution, I removed the ground glass, wrapped it in cotton batting, and carried it separately inside an old 8x10 film box in my carry-on messenger bag that also contained the film holders and the Vitax. All in all, though, the kit worked well and I’ll be glad to have it for all of my future travels.

I’ve gone out three times to shoot in Paris and used 16 sheets of the 100 that I brought along. I shot landscapes and details in the Luxembourg Gardens and set up last night on rue Mouffetard near our rented apartment and shot portraits of my daughters on the street. Interestingly, two different policemen in the park approached me and asked if I was a professional. When I told them that it was just a hobby, they said OK and walked on. I assume that means one must have a permit to shoot professionally. Of course, I had several other conversations with passers-by about the camera and I invited several people to look through the ground glass. It was fun. I don’t love shooting the landscapes and details as much as shooting portraits, but so far, I haven’t shot any portraits of strangers on this trip. Hopefully, some of that will unfold as we go along, but even if it doesn’t, I have the big portrait tent at the Subdued Stringband Jamboree happening six days after we return home August 1.

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So, next stop, Chamonix, followed by Normandy and then Ireland. I’ll keep after it and see if I can get a good picture or two!

Cameron Cornell
Washington State
www.analogportraiture.com
www.instagram.com/papacornell

[dodphotography]

We could have crossed paths!

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https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190708/48a035e33c8de6b0c607711c8ff1a74a.jpg


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[Cameron Cornell]

We could have crossed paths!


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Too bad! It would have been fantastic to have a coffee and compare notes!

Four days in Chamonix has passed and now we’re staying in a farmhouse on the coast in Normandy with a view toward Mont-Saint-Michel. I’m sitting in the car in Genet waiting for the grocery to open. Today, Mont-Saint-Michel (plus portraits of the girls in the yard of the farmhouse). Tomorrow, Omaha Beach.

It’s so beautiful and, God help me, picturesque here. On this trip, I’ve thought a lot about the objectives of photography. There is a sense of desperation that can take hold of a photographer when faced with spectacular surroundings. This is the aspect of photography that I hate and try really hard to avoid. It’s that feeling of wanting to catch something. It’s an anxious wanting, a very unhappy feeling. What’s better, what’s actually quite wonderful is instead to make an honest connection with a place or with a person and only then set up the camera. What is required to do that is an acceptance that a picture may or may not happen, and that finding that connection is the more important goal. I do believe that a photograph made AFTER connecting with a place or person has more potential to be a great thing, and certainly more meaning for me.

Anyway, the struggle is a pleasure.

Here is me making an 8x10 of Mont Blanc from the chalet in Chamonix a couple of days ago. I watched the light for three days before shooting in my effort to have the pretty picture of mountains mean something for me later.

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Cameron Cornell
Washington State
www.analogportraiture.com

[dodphotography]

Too bad! It would have been fantastic to have a coffee and compare notes!

Four days in Chamonix has passed and now we’re staying in a farmhouse on the coast in Normandy with a view toward Mont-Saint-Michel. I’m sitting in the car in Genet waiting for the grocery to open. Today, Mont-Saint-Michel (plus portraits of the girls in the yard of the farmhouse). Tomorrow, Omaha Beach.

It’s so beautiful and, God help me, picturesque here. On this trip, I’ve thought a lot about the objectives of photography. There is a sense of desperation that can take hold of a photographer when faced with spectacular surroundings. This is the aspect of photography that I hate and try really hard to avoid. It’s that feeling of wanting to catch something. It’s an anxious wanting, a very unhappy feeling. What’s better, what’s actually quite wonderful is instead to make an honest connection with a place or with a person and only then set up the camera. What is required to do that is an acceptance that a picture may or may not happen, and that finding that connection is the more important goal. I do believe that a photograph made AFTER connecting with a place or person has more potential to be a great thing, and certainly more meaning for me.

Anyway, the struggle is a pleasure.

Here is me making an 8x10 of Mont Blanc from the chalet in Chamonix a couple of days ago. I watched the light for three days before shooting in my effort to have the pretty picture of mountains mean something for me later.

193159

Cameron Cornell
Washington State
www.analogportraiture.com

I’ve found it quite hard to connect with locals and make genuine pictures. I had a crux of sorts since I’m here on a grant, I have been rephotographing Atget’s work...

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https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190709/7017a3129e3cd2d16bb794563439b0cc.jpg


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[Cameron Cornell]

That Atget project sounds fantastic. Who gave you the grant? He was quite prolific. How many of his images do you plan to attempt? I suppose much of what he shot no longer exists.

Here are a few setups from Normandy. We’re at sea now, en route to Dublin.

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Profile portrait of my daughter in the yard of our rental house near the village of Genêts.

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Detail of the village church in Sainte-Mère-Église.

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Omaha Beach (Dog Green) at first light.

It’s been well worth the effort regardless of the outcome because the process has been so much fun.

Cameron Cornell
Washington State
www.analogportraiture.com

[dodphotography]

That Atget project sounds fantastic. Who gave you the grant? He was quite prolific. How many of his images do you plan to attempt? I suppose much of what he shot no longer exists.

Here are a few setups from Normandy. We’re at sea now, en route to Dublin.

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Profile portrait of my daughter in the yard of our rental house near the village of Genêts.

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Detail of the village church in Sainte-Mère-Église.

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Omaha Beach (Dog Green) at first light.

It’s been well worth the effort regardless of the outcome because the process has been so much fun.

Cameron Cornell
Washington State
www.analogportraiture.com

I teach photography at the high school level... an independent school outside of Boston. The grant is supported by one of our alumni family.

I found and made pictures at about 30 Atget sites. The remaining sheets were pictures made in conversation with Atget’s work or his mindset.

D-Day Sites were amazing... really moving.

Unfortunately due to some traveling issues and my film forecast I was out of film by that point. So, hopped into Mont St Michel / Normandy sans view camera.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190712/d6e83d3b2c9a75f090e14712466a9a92.jpg


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[Cameron Cornell]

The trip is just about finished. We fly home to Washington State tomorrow. I have four sheets of film left that I’ll shoot today in the garden of the house where we’re staying in Dublin.

The kit worked. I’ll describe it here in a level of detail that will be really boring unless perhaps you are one of those people trying to plan a trip.

I brought three bags. A 1993 MEI internal-frame backpack, an aluminum Halliburton Zero 3.0 International Carry-On, and the largest messenger bag made by Manhattan Portage (which just happens to be the exact dimensions allowed under the seat on an international flight).

Here is my packing list:

8x10 Kodak Master Camera + 8x10 Stone Photo Gear Camera Wrap

10” Wollensak Vitax with front and back caps from Anton Orlov + 18x18” Stone Photo Gear Lens Wrap

12” Kodak Commercial Ektar (can be left on the camera when it’s folded up) with front and back caps from Anton Orlov

Lens cleaning kit

Gitzo GT5533S Systematic Series 5 Carbon Fiber Tripod (Standard) with GS5513S Rapid Center Column and Gitzo G-1570M Magnesium 3-Way Pan/Tilt Head + Stone Photo Gear custom-made minimalist tripod bag

Dark cloth

Mamiya 4x loupe

Driak 60mm Aluminium Case Precision Round Bullseye Bubble Level

Two shutter releases (bulb for Vitax, pin for Ektar)

Sekonic L-308X-U Flashmate Light Meter

Five 8x10 Toyo film holders + Stone Photo Gear 8x10 Field Case for five film holders

50 sheets of 8x10 Ilford Delta 100 and 25 sheets of Ilford HP-5

Harrison Film Changing Tent (36 x 27 x 14")

4x6’ tarp

When traveling on the plane, I packed the tripod, the film changing bag, and my clothes, etc into the MEI backpack, which I checked. In the Halliburton Zero, which I carried on, I packed the camera with the nested Ektar, the film, the dark cloth, the loupe, the film cleaning kit, the shutter releases, the level, and the tarp. In the Manhattan Portage bag, which I carried on, I packed the film holders in their case, the Vitax, the tripod head, and the ground glass, which I’d removed from the camera and packed into a film box for protection.

When out shooting, the camera and film case with holders fit in the bottom half of the MEI backpack, while the Vitax rests atop the camera on the top half of the backpack next to a zippered bag containing the tripod head and all of the small parts of the kit. The tripod and center column I carried in front of me in the minimalist case that Daniel made. The whole kit weighs around 50 pounds, so it’s essential to be in good shape.

Hopefully, I made a few good photographs. It was loads of fun in any case. As I probably wrote somewhere above, the time and money and planning that I put into this kit will pay dividends for as long as I’m shooting large format. I’ll be bringing it with me to New York in August and Los Angeles this fall, as well as probably every other trip I take for the foreseeable future.

I’ll snap photos this evening and tomorrow of the packing schemes that I described above and post them for reference. If I made any photographs worth sharing, I’ll post them here this Fall or Winter after processing this film plus the 200 sheets I’ll be shooting in August at the music festival portrait tent (see https://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?145988-Portable-Studio-Portraits&highlight=Portable+studio+portraits) and the trip to NY.

You can see some of the setups for the 8x10 (along with the requisite family snapshots) at www.instagram.com/papacornell. I don’t want new followers or “likes,” (God help us), it’s just a record of my projects, which includes raising my kids.

Cheers,

Cameron Cornell
Washington State
www.analogportraiture.com

[tgtaylor]

I’ve found it quite hard to connect with locals and make genuine pictures. I had a crux of sorts since I’m here on a grant, I have been rephotographing Atget’s work...

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Do you plan on printing those as albumin prints?

Thomas

[dodphotography]

Do you plan on printing those as albumin prints?

Thomas

No, just silver gelatin.


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[tgtaylor]

Then I would recommend that you reconsider or better, print as both silver gelatin and albumin and see which is the best for the subjects. I mixed up a liter of traditional albumin a couple of years ago and have it stored in a brown glass bottle yet to be opened. A few days ago I began to think of a negative that would make a good subject for an albumin print and think I have located one. This weekend I'll try printing it an albumin print using a puddle pusher instead of a brush and Platinum Rag paper.

Thomas

[Charles S]

I’ll snap photos this evening and tomorrow of the packing schemes that I described above and post them for reference.

Thank you for sharing, this is very helpful as I am planning a long trip as well and am hesitating between my 4x5 and my 8x10, with a preference for the latter. Your detailed post makes it seem possible to take to 8x10. If you have a moment, posting the packing schemes would be hugely helpful as well.
Any other recommendations based on the gear you had with you ?

And ofcourse we are looking forward to seeing the results of the trip

[dodphotography]

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190804/6738f4bd59509d551922cf9470e0eeae.jpg

I packed a Wehman, graphic kowa 210mm, meter, cable release, 4 holders, 2 boxes of film, RRS TVC 33 in a freaking messenger bag!


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[Cameron Cornell]

Here are a few photos of the packed cases.

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This is the backpack and tripod case completely packed for shooting in the field.

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This is the inside of the tripod case.

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This is the inside of the backpack, fully packed.

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This is the inside of the backpack with the film holder case removed and the tarp removed so that the camera, lens, and the bag of small gear are visible.

Cameron Cornell
Washington State
www.analogportraiture.com

[Cameron Cornell]

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This is the inside of the Halliburton carry-on case, packed for the airplane.

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This is everything I traveled with packed for flying.

Cameron Cornell
Washington State
www.analogportraiture.com

[Cameron Cornell]

Here are a few final snapshots of the camera in action.

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Clonakilty

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Backyard in Dublin

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Inchydoney

Cameron Cornell
Washington State
www.analogportraiture.com