Fast, Candid, and Intimate LF Photography

[Stephen Willard]

Currently, I shooting 4x5, 5x7, 4x10 color landscape LF photography like many of you (but not all) on this site. I also shoot high-end weddings in a completely candid manner with my professional 35mm/medium format systems. No stagging what so ever. I intend to retire my wedding photography business and shoot landscape and documentary LF photography full time now.

I love shooting people in a very fluid and candid manner and wedding photography filled that bill. Now that it is gone, I have just purchased an all metal 4x5 Crown Graphic camera with flash and speed sports finder, and I am in the process of acquiring all the flashbulbs I can get my hands on. This camera is in mint condition and does not use a focal plane shutter, so it is smaller and lighter than most speed graphics.

My intent is to use the camera exactly for what it was designed for. Fast LF press/sports shooting. And yes, all in b&w with flashbulbs either as the principle light source or as fill flash (to reduce the contrast). Flashbulb photography has a completely different feel than electronic strobes, and my hope is it will add a vintage quality to the images. I will be using chromogenic RA4 b&w papers because of the very rich blacks, pure whites, and creamy tones for printing. I intend to control contrast with the flashbulbs or unsharp masks.

Has anyone out there done this kind of thing before? Can you offer me any advise or methods for shooting these type of cameras in a more candid setting? Is anyone out there doing flashbulb photography in this manner?

Thanks for any considerations offered.

[Bill_1856]

To start with, the Crown Graphic is Mahogany, not metal, so be more careful with it. One of the secrets to using a Graphic for sports and documentary was the use of 12 exposure film packs, which could be shot almost as quickly as roll film, but are no longer available. You'll need some 6 shot Grafmatic magazines. The different look between strobe and flashbulbs isn't so much the speed of the flash, as it is the size of the reflector and the amount of light they produce. I understand that flashbulbs are still being made, though most are NOS. A standard proceedure was to moisten the base contact on the bulb by touching it to your tongue before inserting it into the flashgun, to assure good contact. Have Fun!

[Alec Jones]

"Has anyone out there done this kind of thing before?"

You mean other than the first 70 or so years of the last century? Come on, Stephen, you aren't exactly reinventing the wheel here. What you need is a LOT of self instruction. Find some copies of Graphic Graflex Photography and READ THEM.

While you are at it, you'd better examine your budget and research the cost of flashbulbs. That will put a damper on your "candid" photographic project in a hurry.

I'm not trying to stifle your enthusiasm, but merely observing you haven't done your part to intelligently consider all alternatives. What is the end product? Self congratulation - then fine, go to it. Money - better think about it some more. Don't quit your day job yet.

[John Kasaian]

It sounds like a terrific idea! I once talked to an old time newspaper photographer who could make a Speed Graphic really hum---sadly, he's gone now. Check with your local paper for leads to photographers from the "BN" (before Nikon) era and talk to them is any are still around.

Graphmatics are a lot quicker than cut film holders, if thats any help. Also heck out www.graflex.org

Good Luck!

[David A. Goldfarb]

I don't use flashbulbs, but I do use my Technika in that way, with a Norman 200C barebulb flash setup and Grafmatics. Here are some examples that I've posted before in other threads (click the image to cycle through about half a dozen shots)--

http://www.echonyc.com/~goldfarb/halloween/

These are all with Efke PL100, pushed one stop to EI 200 in Acufine, GVI Vari-strobe head with a plain 5" reflector and Norman 200C pack, cammed 210/5.6 Symmar convertible, mostly at f:8 (the crowd in front of "Le Pescadou" was f:5.6), 1/15th sec. to record a little motion, all handheld.

If you want to use your Graflex reflector and electronic flash, I've seen modified Graflex 3-cell flash handles with the electronics of a Norman LH-2 head stuffed inside.

[William Mortensen]

Stephen- You might want to do a little research on Dave Burnett, who covered the 2004 election campaign with a 4x5 Speed Graphic. Here's a good starting point:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/essays/vanRiper/040226.htm

Good luck with your work; sounds like fun!

[John_4185]

Stephen My intent is to use the camera exactly for what it was designed for. Fast LF press/sports shooting.

Triple-headed #2 bulb flash, F:32 and be there. :)

[Stephen Willard]

OOPS! My apologies Alec. I did not mean for it too be egocentric. Please ignore those parts that have that connotation.

Bill, the camera body looks and feels like metal to me, but maybe not.

Unfortunately, I believe that using the press camera as it was intended for is a very endangered art, hence my query.

John I am looking at ebay and just made a bid on a graphmatic. Thanks.

David, you nailed it. Excellent images. That is exactly the look I am after. Bare bulbs seem to produce an abundance of light.

Mark, I actually remember reading an article about that, but forgot about it completely. Thanks for the tip.

Again, if I sounded full of myself please for give me.

[Brian Sims]

Stephen, Sounds like a fun and exciting project. In the 1970's (when I was very young), I took a job where I had to shoot a 4x5 Speed Graphic in fast pace settings. I used a big strobe and heavy battery pack and 6-shot graphmatics (it still amazes me how quick and reliable they were/are). I was having a hard time with the transition from a Nikon F2. So I took the gear home and loaded it with an empty graphmatic and followed my neighbor's cat around "shooting" candids. It programmed my muscles to the rhythm of the gear so I no longer had to think about it. (I'm not sure the cat ever fully recovered.)

[John Berry ( Roadkill )]

Iwould recomed at least 3-4 graphmatics. I shoot strobes due to cost but I like the way a flashbulb tends to wrap the light around a little more.

[Donald Qualls]

FWIW, relative to "quality" of the light, I sometimes wonder why no one has mounted a bare bulb strobe head in front of a big polished bowl reflector. It should give the same kind of light quality (a mix of bare bulb "point source" and the wider source from the reflector) and won't cost $3 a flash. A professional flash doesn't have the power of a P25 bulb, but modern films are enough better you can shoot ISO 400 pushed to EI 800 to replace the old Super XX and get similar lens openings and image quality. Bonus: no more 7 lb, 450 V battery packs to lug around to make the strobe work; modern ones will run quite happily on a 2 lb, 6 V pack.

[Wayne Crider]

I think it would be prudent to practice with an electronic flash on manual (later) and see where you exposures are as well as practicing your focus ranges, (depending on the lens) before shooting up a bunch of bulbs. Flash with a bulb will be x feet away with the aperture set and prefocused with the lens. Bulb output in a reflector is consistent and non variable except thru diffusion. Start moving back or forward with a bulb flash for fill and your going to have to watch your focus range and aperture, and your framing is going to change, so I don't buy bulb fill flash. The only real way to pull that off is with a variable flash, or different power bulbs that may or may not be available.

The old time photographers use to set the camera up for the framing they would want, full. 3/4, head etc, by presetting the focus, aperture, and adding a bulb if necessary, and would walk into the shot, sometimes as it materialized. Your best bet is just to practice with basic closer LF photography and add the flash after you get accustomed to handling the camera. As far as sports photography is concerned, not that your doing it, but once you start using longer lenses it's a whole nuther matter..

[John_4185]

Donald FWIW, relative to "quality" of the light, I sometimes wonder why no one has mounted a bare bulb strobe head in front of a big polished bowl reflector.

I tried that with a big old steel reflector behind a Singer Graflex bare bulb units w/compact 512V pack. A strip of masking tape over the front of the tube and center of the reflector helped knock out the hot spot. It was still not really soft. I'd like to try it again with a reflector I have here - it has concentric stepped detents radiating from the center. I have no idea where it came from.

[Mick Noordewier]

Donald said: "I sometimes wonder why no one has mounted a bare bulb strobe head in front of a big polished bowl reflector. "

I picked up a Sunpak 120J for just this purpose. It works like a charm on my Rolleiflex, but I doubt that it would have enough oomph for 4x5.

-Mick

[Stephen Willard]

Brian,

I usually do that with my wife and daughter when I get a new piece of equipment, but every time they see me now with a camera they vanish. They could sympathize with the cat. How funny.

I actually live in Colorado about 50 miles north of Denver. There are many isolated communities on the plains and in the mountains where time has stood still and nothing changes. Most urban people passing by find them to be isolated and impoverished. I on the other hand, have found these small towns vibrant and tribal in the same manner Dances with Wolves portrayed the American Indians.

My hope is to record the people that dwell in these communities in a manner that is just and forthright. I am very excited about using the press camera for this project. I think the camera will be perfect tool for recording the rich textures of their lives in exquisite detail.

[David A. Goldfarb]

Donald--That's exactly what I was referring to when I mentioned stuffing the electronics of an LH-2 head into a Graflex 3-cell flash handle. The Norman barebulb takes the place of the flashbulbs.

I've seen this modification a few times, but I haven't tried it myself, because I like the standard Norman head and reflectors/diffusers, and I prefer to put the flash on a bracket over the lens axis, instead of off to the side as it was done traditionally.

For that parade shoot I went out with 4 Grafmatics and shot all of them. I've got 8 Grafmatics now and 2 Kinematics, which hold 10 sheets each. The Kinematics aren't as smooth as a Grafmatic, but it's handy to be able to take 20 sheets in two holders.

[John_4185]

Wow. I just checked that auction site for larger flash bulbs and they seem to close at about $1 each. Are you sure you want to use flashbulbs?

[Brian Sims]

Stephen, your project sounds even more interesting. I used to work as an administrator in a large hospital chain. I finally realized that we were not about health...we were about the billing opportunities that sickness presents. I resigned. I spent the next 6 months traveling to small towns in eastern Oregon and Washington. I would go to the greesiest cafe and talk to the oldest waitress. She would give me the names of people in their 70's and 80's and I would go record their stories. They were so open and free with some of the most trying times of their lives. (BTW none of them told me stories about the easy times.) Most of the stories were about big decisions they had to make...to step over a line, knowing that everything would change and they couldn't go back. Even when it turned out bad, they look back on it as a moment when the had the guts to make the call. After listening to their stories there was a connection that would have been a good moment to capture who they were photographically. I was not back into photography at the time...so I was just into the narrative of their stories. I regret the lost opportunities.

I guess what I am suggesting, is that you might try out an approach where you get to know the stories that make the person who they are before you bring out the camera--perhaps making two trips. I think when families are so far flung...people reach a point when they NEED to tell their stories and no one is around to listen. The stories I heard caused me to slow down, get off the rat-race tread mill, and spend a lot more time with my kids. Good luck with your project.

[Wayne Crider]

Stephen that is an interesting project. I've thought about doing something somewhat along the same line for about 2 years now but using a video camera. Either way we're both talking documentary photography. What is it that you wish to show as an end result, a book?

[Nitish Kanabar]

A Crown Graphic is ideal for the project you have in mind, Stephen. It isn't metal, but leather covered mahogany - but quite robust. A super-graphic is the only full-metal 4x5 graflex. I've played with both Speed-Graphic and Crown-Graphic. Before you take your crown-graphic off for your project, you'll want to take care of a couple of things.

A great many of these cameras haven't been used in decades and it is a good idea to clean the gunk off the focusing mechanism. Extend the rails beyond the front bed as far as you can and look under the rails and you'll see what I mean. A lint free cloth dipped in ronsonol will work wonders on the rails. After cleaning them, use a tiny amount of bicycle-chain wax. This will protect and lubricate your focusing mechanism.

For your project, you'll have to rely on the rangefinder for focusing. Remove the rangefinder cover and visually examine the optics, specially the beam-splitter. The coating on these deteriorates - and that makes rangefinder focusing quite difficult. If the beam-splitter has deteriorated on your rangefinder, then replace it - and you'll be glad you did. Note that the top-mounted rangefinder and the kalart-rangefinder use mirrors of slightly different sizes. If you have a top-mounted rangefinder, then be very very careful cleaning the front-surface mirror - as it is very easy to scratch.
Also be sure that the rangefinder is matched to your lens. The top-mounted rangefinder uses interchangeable cams, while the Kalart-rangefinder needs to be adjusted. You'll want to match the rangefinder to the lens that you use the most. See www.graflex.org for more details on this.

Thirdly, you'll find yourself using the body release to trigger the shutter - make sure that this is tight and springy. I've found that a cable release tends to come in the way when making candid shots. An unreliable body release will distract you from taking the shot.

I've seen modern flashes mounted on a graflex. This is done using steel band attached to one side of the camera - and a movable head on this band is used to mount the flash. The cable may need to be modified so that the flash is synchonized with the shutter. I don't know much, but I've certainly seen this type of arrangement - so you do have an alternative to the flash-bulbs.

[Stephen Willard]

JJ, if you include shipping I am actually paying about $1.20 a bulb. So far I have acquired over 600 bulbs. I hope to get between 2000 to 4000 bulbs, maybe more. I intend to be working with four different bulbs types. I will be generating a number of different guide numbers for various lighting conditions and film speeds for each bulb type using my flash meter. I will be using either TMX 100 or TMX 400 depending on the lighting requirements..

I will be doing this project with my wife. She does the writing, and I do the shooting. We intend to actually move into the towns and stay a while. Perhaps a month or so to get to know the towns people and their politics. Wedding photography has taught me how to get along with all walks of life. I have done gang weddings, biker weddings with tattoos and bare breasted women, and those who have accumulated extreme wealth. It takes me about three seconds to disarm a person and make them feel perfect just the way they are. This type of project will be a great fit for me.

Brian your points are well noted. Absolutely!

Wayne, I am not sure what I want from this or even what I am after to be truthful with you. I can assure you as I go through this process things will change, I will change, and a new theme will emerge. I will then most likely have to revisit many of these communities as things evolve and become clearer. My wife wants to do a book. I on the other hand, simply want to enjoy the people and record the fabric of their lives with my new Crown Graphic. There is a need for me to be fast, candid, and intimate with these people. I hope that my dialog with my Crown Graphic will get me there.

[Stephen Willard]

NK, thank you. Your advice is excellent.

[John_4185]

JJ, if you include shipping I am actually paying about $1.20 a bulb. So far I have acquired over 600 bulbs. I hope to get between 2000 to 4000 bulbs, maybe more. I intend to be working with four different bulbs types. I will be generating a number of different guide numbers for various lighting conditions and film speeds for each bulb type using my flash meter. I will be using either TMX 100 or TMX 400 depending on the lighting requirements..

I've at least that many, too, but because I'm an Olde Pharte and should have been throwing things away. :)

There's a couple I know, Drake Hokanson and Carol Kratz, who make long road trips to record a certain theme in the USA; he does the photography and his wife is a writer, helps with the writing, editing, traveling, sharing the work of being on the road. Drake's is a highly focused interest that takes decades to make a body of work. Maybe your paths will cross one day and you can speak to him.

Regarding using a flash meter to determine bulb flash - go for it. I have never read a proof that it does not work (with the correct meter) - all I've read is impressionistic opinions. Maybe you can settle the matter with your research.

[Stephen Willard]

I would like to acknowledge everyone's contribution. That is JJ, Bill, Alec, John K., David, Brian, Wayne, Mick, Donald, and NK. Thank you. You all have been most helpful.

[Paul Coy]

Steven,

So your the !@#$%%^& guy who keeps jackin up the price of bulbs!!! Cut it out!! Your killing us, man!!

Just kidding of course. Bulbs are a blast and you will have fun.

Paul