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

  1. #11

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

    Quote Originally Posted by pepeguitarra View Post
    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.

  2. #12

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

    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.

  3. #13
    Serious Amateur Photographer pepeguitarra's Avatar
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    Re: 8x10 in Paris-Chamonix-Normandy-Dublin-Clonakilty

    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.
    "I have never in my life made music for money or fame. God walks out of the room when you are thinking about money." -- Quincy Jones

  4. #14
    Pieter's Avatar
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    Re: 8x10 in Paris-Chamonix-Normandy-Dublin-Clonakilty

    Quote Originally Posted by pepeguitarra View Post
    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.

  5. #15

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

    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

  6. #16

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

    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.

  7. #17

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

    Quote Originally Posted by Jeff T View Post
    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.

  8. #18

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

    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.

    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 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.

    ------

    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!

  9. #19
    http://www.spiritsofsilver.com tgtaylor's Avatar
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    Re: 8x10 in Paris-Chamonix-Normandy-Dublin-Clonakilty

    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

  10. #20

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

    Quote Originally Posted by Cameron Cornell View Post
    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.

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