Philly gathering in april! [Archive] - Large Format Photography Forum

eddie

7-Mar-2008, 09:43

hi all,

here is a discussion about shooting in philly.:

http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?p=327073#post327073

i was there tis past weekend. it is great! i went to the navy yard and to the ESP prison (http://www.easternstate.org/). the prison was not fully opened...only tours. it will be fully opened in april. 10-5 daily. we can stay all day and use tripods. weekdays are better than weekends as far as crowds go. i have some awesome 35mm shots of this place! it is fantasic to shoot. i will scan some tonight and post a link when i get em scanned. the navy yard was great too! no one bothered me at all. old buildings and navy ships abound! i was on site for about 3 hours and no one said anything....even when i was shooting from an empty flatbed 18 wheeler trailer!

i am going to go in april again. may is too full for me already. april 19th weekend i/we will be in NH for a shoot:

http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?t=33731

i think if we can hit it on a week day that would be best as far as crowds go at the prison. we could hit the navy yard on the weekend with no problems with crowds...it is a huge place. i am thinking some fri-sat or sun- mon combination. i got a $60 room at the sheriton down town philly. i may try for a cheaper room out of town a bit further this time.

is any particular combination better for you guys? what weekend would be best? i will post this on LF forums also. let me know.

eddie

eddie

7-Mar-2008, 09:45

april 5-6 the synagogue is opened. maybe this would be a good weekend!

Pete Roody

7-Mar-2008, 10:39

I would be up for going on a Friday also. This way would have smaller crowds to deal with.

John O'Connell

7-Mar-2008, 10:43

I'm an ex-Navy Yard employee--I'd be up for a weekend shoot down there, but can't do weekdays.

Scott Davis

7-Mar-2008, 10:50

I'll circulate a query amongst the DC crowd to see if we can muster up a cluster. I know the location will be very attractive, as we've all been there before and are always willing to come back.

eddie

7-Mar-2008, 11:23

hi all,

it looks like the 5-6 weekend is a tour of the synagogue. i am going to guess that means we can not just go in there and hang out with our tripods. i figure we may have to just use handheld stuff with high speed film or flashes. i thought we may hit it on friday the 4th for our "big" camera shoot and then just drop in sometime on the 5th just to see the synagogue. i was thinking about hitting the navy yard on sat and then when we were done maybe going back over to the ESP.

eddie

Flexnib

7-Mar-2008, 20:26

Sounds like a great idea so please count me in friday/saturday sounds good. Just got back from Philly about 10 minutes ago. Saw 2 photo shows at the Phil. Museum, Ansel Adams and Lee Miller. Both were great.
Arthur

eddie

7-Mar-2008, 21:09

hi all,

i just got finished scanning my 35mm negs from the ESP in philly. i was not able to use a tripod so i shot my nikon.

3200 Tmax rated at 2000. tmax developer 1:4 at 24 degrees for 9 min. printed on ilford RC # 3 filter. please click here (http://photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=815371) (i used a link cause of the small format!)

this is what we are in for in april! great stuff!

eddie

eddie

10-Mar-2008, 05:00

okay.

it seems that the weekend of the 5-6 is the choice.

so lets make a concrete plan to be at the ESP at 10 AM when they open on friday the 4th. we can shoot there for as long as we want. if we have extra light and want to shoot something else we can

on sat i figure we can hit the navy yard in the AM and at some point during the day we can run back over to the ESP and bang away in the synagogue.

if any one has any idea for a hotel or motel let us know. i used priceline.com to find a $60 hotel in downtown philly. the only problem is parking downtown....it could add considerable cost if you can not park on the street. i do not think we need to be down town. we will be driving to the shoots so i figure we could stay close by but not down town. does anyone have any ideas or suggestions for a "cheap" hotel with parking close to philly? we could always car pool down town to eat some killer food at night! i would prefer to keep it down around $40-$50.

thanks guys! i am looking forward to getting back to phily.

eddie

ajbirdboy

11-Mar-2008, 12:06

Thanks for letting me know about this. Diane and I would love to join the group for this. I'll be able to put the film holders I got from you to good use! Al

Skorzen

11-Mar-2008, 12:21

I might be game for Saturday, I have classes Monday. I also might (have to check with the other guy I live with) be able to provide a couch or floor (college dorm apartment, nothing fancy is an understatement) for a couple of people to crash on if their budget is a little on the tighter side (I'm a college student, so that is my life). I'm about 40 minutes west of Philly so it's not too far.

eddie

13-Mar-2008, 20:44

Skorzen

13-Mar-2008, 20:51

Well I have to warn you that it is a Christian College, and I live in the "old people" dorm (24+) so yeah it's not that much of a party school or what not, but it is not that far form Philly.

Oh yeah and rereading my post there, I should have said I have classes on Friday not Monday, don't know what I was thinking there.

eddie

14-Mar-2008, 06:27

har har har!

i went to catholic school my whole life! i am an "old person" myself!

may not be a party school but io ma sure i know how to get the christians in an uproar! years and years of practice! (it is not an all boys school is it!:))

eddie

eddie

19-Mar-2008, 05:19

hi all,

i was looking into some motels in the area. (any additional help is appreciated). i found a motel 6 (sorry don. i know it is way below your standards!) for about $41 plus tax. it is :
#1246
I-295 at SR 73, Exit #36-B
2798 Route 73 North
Maple Shade, NJ 08052

i figure it is 12 miles from philly. this way we can still drive downtown and eat if we want. we will have a parking lot for all our cars and we will be well within striking distance for our morning outing.

anybody interested? it would be a great place to ba able to sit around and talk with everybody in the evening.

i plan to be at ESP at 10 am on friday the 4th and stay over that night.

eddie

Skorzen

19-Mar-2008, 06:21

Hmm that hotel is about 10 minutes from The Dark Room Studios (http://www.thedarkroomstudios.com) a kinda cool little photoshop in Jersey. I am a bit of a camera store junkie and like to visit different and interest stores whenever I get the chance. They had a little bit of large format stuff but not too much. They have an ebay store with a bunch of used darkroom gear and stuff.

AFSmithphoto

22-Mar-2008, 18:30

Hey guys,
I'm new to the forum but live near philly so I definately want in on ESP. I have to work at 4pm on Fridays so I guess I'll have to leave the city at 2:30-3ish, but I guess I'll see you all at 10am.

eddie

22-Mar-2008, 18:51

eddie

23-Mar-2008, 05:19

hey all,

i just got around to scanning my 8x10s that i used the old 12 inch voitlander on! thanks to Pete fro the use of his sinar shutter! it saved to exposure for sure.

both are shot wide ope at f7.2. nice lens. too bad the film holder had a light leak.

eddie

eddie

23-Mar-2008, 16:33

same shots but with VDB

eddie

23-Mar-2008, 16:39

same shots but with VDB

Alex Wei

24-Mar-2008, 12:40

Guys, I can't make it this time. have fun!

Skorzen

31-Mar-2008, 08:06

At this point weather is looking good, hopefully it'll stay that way lol.

Just thought I would mention that the Philly Art Museum is running an exhibition of Ansel Adams prints right now (and through some time in August I think). I was there yesterday and must say that I found it to be a wonderful experience. This was my first time witnessing St. Ansel's prints in person, I found it very inspiring and felt that it helped me in putting all the pieces together in my own printing. Seeing the range of values that he talks about in The Negative and The Print in actual prints was very helpful.

Any details on the times for Saturday yet? I probably can't make Friday but might be able to do Saturday.

eddie

2-Apr-2008, 04:39

thanks for the tip skorzen. my wife wants to go to the museums. is this the museum that is near the ESP?

i have not heard from the "overnight" crowd about hotell/motel choices. it would be nice to have somewhere to crash where we could talk cameras and eat and drinkl together! we could always just drive around and find something BUT i think after we shoot, then go and ewat we are not going to want to drive around.

so far the two suggestions are the holiday in on the S side of town near the stadiums or the motel 6 (i think thats what i said) on route 73. i would like to keep the fees down to around $50 if possible!

i am cutting down some film for my 7x11 tonight. i am ready to get there!

eddie

John O'Connell

2-Apr-2008, 05:41

Well, I can't make it, so I'll throw in my advice for anyone heading to the shipyard.

For ships:

As you go in (on Broad St.), there's a berthing area on your right---skip it unless there's something you really want, and make a right on the first street you can after that. Keep going until you hit the water, and head to the left to hug the water. The mothballed ships are all there in a row. Wild and wacky stuff, usually, of varied vintages. Last time I was there I saw a bunch of Adams-class vessels (curvy bulkheads), some barges, some FFGs (mostly docked stern-in).

To see the carrier that I used to photograph bow on, go straight to the end of Broad, make a right, and hug the water. It should be on your left. You can get right up to the edge of the dock and get a frame-filling shot with a 110 or maybe a 90, but my best effort was with a 355 G-Claron on 8x10.

The Kennedy was just brought in, but I don't know where they docked it, so there should be 2 carriers there now.

For architecture:

Depends on your tastes. The buildings are all numbered in the order of their construction; for older stuff, Building 6 is the marble palace about 2/3 of the way down Broad St. on your right. I used to like the 41 Shop/Boilermakers building: go about halfway down Broad and make a right. If you like broken-down, big, square brick buildings, the place is a gold mine; but I never had much success with the architecture there.

Skorzen

2-Apr-2008, 06:02

thanks for the tip skorzen. my wife wants to go to the museums. is this the museum that is near the ESP?

Yeah the Art Museum looks like it is about half a mile from ESP so it is pretty close. The AA exhibit is across the street in the Perelman building (included with admission to the Museum).

arkady n.

2-Apr-2008, 07:19

What time and where are people meeting on friday?

On a personal note, I am still unsure whether I will be able to make it on fri, although I will try.

eddie

2-Apr-2008, 07:23

lets get a count for sat at the synagogue. they recommend reservations. i was thinking about noon or later so this way we get time at the navy yard and we will get good sunlight through the windows and skylights.

the prison opens at 10 am. i will be at the gate ready to roll then. not sure if i can get there too much earlier.

thanks for the additional info john.

see you all soon.

eddie

Pete Roody

2-Apr-2008, 07:24

Scott Davis

2-Apr-2008, 09:42

Yes, there is a big public (pay) lot next door. Otherwise it is catch as catch can on the main streets around the prison, which is highly unreliable and time-limited.

Looks like I'm not going to make it for Friday either. If folks have a schedule for the Navy Yard, I can try to make it there, but no guarantees.

Skorzen

2-Apr-2008, 10:48

I should be up for ESP on Saturday, but I am just wondering how much time we would be given as it sounds like the synagogue is going to be pretty structured in that it looks like scheduled tours.

eddie

2-Apr-2008, 15:01

scott,

we are hitting the navy yard in the AM. i plan to head back over to ESP to tour the synagogue some time in the afternoon on sat.

i would guess the tour is 1 hour. if we could fill the tour maybe we could just shoot around in the synagogue for the hour and skip what ever tourist activities they might have and. who knows. i plan to bring some high speed 35mm film and maybe some 120 high speed as well.

eddie

3-Apr-2008, 08:32

okay,

i just made a reservation for the synagogue for sat at 3:30. i told them we have 8 people. please let me know who wants to come so i can add or subtract people. the most we can have is 15.

i am all ready....film is cut and loaded!

see you all tomorrow.

eddie

Skorzen

3-Apr-2008, 14:58

I should be good for the synagogue,

How many people are expected to show up for this gtg?

-Will

eddie

4-Apr-2008, 04:18

i have not gotten an exact count for the synagogue. i am going to guess 5-8 people. we should be there about 3:20 for the tour.

i am running a bit late this morning (i love sleeping!) i will be there between 10-11 on friday. i may also stay over sat night. we all heard the weather man say that sunday should be nice. depending on how much shooting i do and how tired i am on sat. night i may just stay one more night and shoot some more or go to the ansel adams show. it is along drive so i will maximize my time there.

see you all soon.

eddie

Skorzen

4-Apr-2008, 09:19

I think I may head into the city Saturday morning, stop over at Calumet because I have been meaning to get there for a while and then head over to the Navy yard. Looks like weather is going to be a little spotty in the morning but getting better later in the day. Eddie I'm going to send you a PM with my cell phone so you can get a hold of me over at the Navy yard if we wanna hook up at all (I'm assuming you will be able to get online).

Just a heads up that if you do stay until Sunday admission to the Art museum is whatever you want to pay on Sundays rather than the normal $14, makes a difference for students like me.

eddie

6-Apr-2008, 13:47

great time! thanks everyone who came along. the weather was pretty good the whole time. we were shooting inside the ESP anyway.

a few things i learned. the navy yard is closed to civilians at 5 pm and on the weekends! DOH! when shooting into a prison cell in the doorway be sure when you set it up you can pull the darkslide out! doh! (i focussed with my rear standard and when i was all done the standard was inside the small doorway.) not only could i not get my DS out but i could not see around to the front of my lens to adjust the aperture or shutter speed! DOH! the last thing i learned was that the 7x11 is big and tough to move around when compared to my chamonix 4x5! ( alec brought his 11x14....i am glad he was carrying it!)

here are two scans of my 7x11 negs. my scanner is on the fritz! i am getting all kinds of artifacts and other computer type problems....anyway you can get the idea for sure. i will print a few negs this week. my scanner does much better with prints than negs.

the one shot is inside a cell. it was dark and the logistics of it all was tough as you can probably figure. i was having trouble focussing in the dark with my 165 SA.

the other shot was a hallway with some great old peeling paint. again i was not able to scan the whole neg....good thing cause the other wall is way out of focus....i needed more movements but i could not work out which ones:) ! :)

see you all again in NH.

eddie

eddie

6-Apr-2008, 16:39

here are a few color shots. WARNING! very small format!

http://photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=823403

enjoy.

Skorzen

6-Apr-2008, 17:25

A great time indeed, it was nice to meet everyone who made it out. I just finished doing some quick scans of a few of the images from yesterday and thought I would share them. Slightly larger versions can be found here (http://www.pbase.com/wfournier/large_format&page=2) on my pbase site.

From earlier in the day in the city:
http://www.pbase.com/wfournier/image/95251490/medium.jpg

These three are from ESP:
http://www.pbase.com/wfournier/image/95251485/medium.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/wfournier/image/95251482/medium.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/wfournier/image/95251486/medium.jpg

That last one I shot in color too, I am looking forward to see what I get out of that. There are a couple more sheets still left to be processed but I'm not sure there is going to be anything too exciting there.

Wish I could make it up to NH for that gtg but I'll shill be down here in PA until May.

alec4444

6-Apr-2008, 21:25

Negatives are drying. Made two errors, it seems (and given my experience, that's not so bad...):

--The door shot that I took in the AM when there was no sun could have used some more development. It's really lacking contrast, and it's a little thin.
--The interior shot where Eddie popped his flash unit twice should have been developed normally. I pulled it with the other interior shots, and that was a mistake.

Pete, that shot we took down the hallway that was barred off came out pretty well. The stupid door that was in the way is a bit soft, but it'll probably print at zone 2 so it won't look so bad! Might even look good in an alt process.... Very pleased given I was kind of winging the exposure.

Plan to go back with my 5x7, as I think I can do better with the interior shots with it. The 11x14 was fun to shoot, but a bit awkward in some of the tighter places. Thanks for the invite, guys, and for the ride, Pete!

--A

Skorzen

7-Apr-2008, 13:16

So did you guys get any shooting in after I left? (just wondering what I missed out on lol)

Alec,

I just saw your website very nice work there.

eddie

8-Apr-2008, 04:43

So did you guys get any shooting in after I left? (just wondering what I missed out on lol)

Alec,

I just saw your website very nice work there.

yes, you missed out on the best light/shooting of the day! ;)

here are a few of my better 4x5 negs. the second shot i used my 90mm SA. the rerst were my 8 1/2 ektar (my new favorite lens)

eddie