large format and climbing

[QT Luong]

Thought about that a while ago, but it's been actually done:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/avi_abrams/900089074/

[Peter Collins]

That dude's SOP needs a complete re-evaluation. :rolleyes:

[Frank Petronio]

Phew, it's only a Horseman ;-)

[paulr]

That's pretty wild. Hard to tell but it looks like he set up some kind of pulley system with carabiners to winch the tripod tight against the rock. seems to be anchored to a couple of old school rigid friends.

Curious why he goes up there with such a burly monorail and not a field camera.

At any rate, it makes me feel like a wuss for complaining about the hassles of taking climbing photos ... i use a point 'n shoot.

[Bruce Watson]

Thought about that a while ago, but it's been actually done:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/avi_abrams/900089074/

I've had friends offer to take me out and teach me rock climbing, and I was interested for a while for just this reason - I thought how interesting it would be to get that picture of Bridalveil Falls from midway up El Capitan.

Then that moment of insanity passed...

[Brian Sims]

Ok. This is a case where I would easily accept stitching with a DSLR.

[Dan Schmidt]

I always though that you could get some great images looking down into Yosemite Valley by hauling an 8x20 up the Nose on el Cap.

[Chris Strobel]

seems to be anchored to a couple of old school rigid friends.



Looks like He's all alone to me



















;)

[Michael Wynd]

From what you were saying, I thought I had seen this picture before.
It's actually of a Sydney Australia commercial photographer who was asked to photograph some climbers near the heads at Sydney. I think the elvation was over 100 feet above the sea below. It was on the cover and had an inside article in Camera (Australian) magazine in the early nineties if I remember correctly. I thought it would be cool doing stuff like that, but what if you dropped your darkslide.
Mike

[paulr]

...but what if you dropped your darkslide.
Mike

or anything else!

there's always the risk of dropping climbing gear, but it tends to be cheaper than lenses and whatnot.

[eddie]

but what if you dropped your darkslide.
Mike


the idea is not to drop anything! i have done 8 big walls in yosemite, two solo, and i never dropped anything! you just need to pay attention to what is going on all the time.

eddie

[paulr]

i have done 8 big walls in yosemite, two solo, and i never dropped anything!

I think you're an exception to the rule! everyone i know has dropped stuff. you won't catch me walking around casually at the base of el cap ...

[Frank Petronio]

Remember the old days when they dropped turds, not just photo gear? LOL that sucked.

[Uri Kolet]

Are you hinting that this is not recommended for people scared of heights? Cheers,Uri
P.S. I say this in jest; I'm actually an airline pilot, and not scared of heights generally).

[Alex Wei]

that's hardcore LF :)

[eddie]

I think you're an exception to the rule! everyone i know has dropped stuff. you won't catch me walking around casually at the base of el cap ...

maybe i was just lucky. i think i lost my mind somewhere back then thou.....

i love scowering the base of elcap.....you get all kinds of "booty" that way. cams, nuts, hammers, rain jackets, portaledges, OH! and the occasional turd. i do wear my helmet when i am at the base.....maybe it will help:) :)

eddie

[Eric James]

That always instills confidence on lead - a cam you found at the base of The Capitan, clipped to a cord you got from a guy hanging out at the Columbia Boulder.

[paulr]

That always instills confidence on lead - a cam you found at the base of The Capitan ....

Beats not having it!

In the mountains I usually go for the fast, cheap, and dirty approach. These are pictures of 5-second belay anchors, taken expressly to horrify our cragging friends ...

[eddie]

[QUOTE=Eric James;262041]That always instills confidence on lead - a cam you found at the base of The Capitan, clipped to a cord you got from a guy hanging out at the Columbia Boulder.[/QUOTE

confidence on lead on the captain comes from something other than a bootied cam. matter of fact a bootied cam is usually WAY better than some of the copper heads, hooks, and tiny beaks i have placed one after another for many many meters.......

all i said was it is fun to go see what we can find.....

paulr, love those belays. what about knotted cord? go off any photos of those? we had some scary balays coming off some stuff in the tetons......

[paulr]

no knotted cord yet, i'm happy to say. we thought about about taking pictures of jammed knots, tied-off flower patches, etc., but decided to just photograph anchors we actually used. all that stuff was in 4th class terrain where it didn't really matter, but we don't usually mention that ;)

what routes in the tetons forced you to use sketchy stuff? i've always gotten pretty lucky there.

[Brian K]

Paul it looks like you're hanging from a sneaker lace........

a 4x5 on a cliff face doing a landscape is no big deal, let's see him do a table top still life there.....

[Ben R]

How the hell did he focus and compose, doesn't look like much room there for his head!

[Eric James]

I didn't mean to come across so snarky on the found gear comment.

I think the more interesting discussion here is about dropped gear - Schneider or Black Diamond. It's remarkable how little gets dropped. Eight ElCap walls and notta - that's something to brag about eddie. For me, maybe six pieces in 25 years, and most of that on the first or second pitch. Being on the sharp end and using a view camera are similar in many ways - focus, concentration, creativity, hard work; and there are times when a found quick drawn is as valuable as a 110 SS XL.

Paul, those anchor shots are hilarious - I've seen worse but I always hope for better. Have you seen the book Yosemite Climber, ED. George Meyers? There's a shot of a Bridwell anchor: five RURPs "equalized" with clove hitches.

Here's an essay from that book:

http://www.cs.colorado.edu/~jrblack/westbay_niad.html

[QT Luong]

What's exactly so strange about those anchors shots (I mean besides the guy with the goofy expression) ? This level of protection is commonly used in Alpine (done by alpinists in the Alps) climbing.

[eddie]

what routes in the tetons forced you to use sketchy stuff? i've always gotten pretty lucky there.

har har har! it was the off routes stuff that made it sketchy! :eek: :D somehow i loose my way at times.

eddie



Being on the sharp end and using a view camera are similar in many ways - focus, concentration, creativity, hard work; and there are times when a found quick drawn is as valuable as a 110 SS XL.

Paul, those anchor shots are hilarious - I've seen worse but I always hope for better. Have you seen the book Yosemite Climber, ED. George Meyers? There's a shot of a Bridwell anchor: five RURPs "equalized" with clove hitches.

Here's an essay from that book:

http://www.cs.colorado.edu/~jrblack/westbay_niad.html

yeah! one of the best similarities is the HUGE amounts of gear you must carry along with you!!! i am not sure which is worse!

i have seen that 5 RURP anchor photo. all i have to say is i am glad i did not jug on that one......but if i did i would want bridwell to have placed it. i met jim one day a long time ago.....what a guy!

eddie

[paulr]

i haven't seen that book, but i'd believe just about anything about bridwell. talk about a hardcore, twinkie-eating, chain-smoking unstopable dude.

speaking of the nose and hardcore dudes, have you seen the video of dean potter prancing up the thing?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaPm1ziBo6c

those anchors of ours are only scary because we took them out of context in the pictures. that was pretty safe terrain with no possibilit for a factor 2 fall. up on the more serious pitches we always got plenty of gear ... it wasn't such a hardcore route that we were forced to be sketchy.

we have a lot of friends who are safety nazis, but who have never climbed alpine. we took those pics to frighten them!