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Thread: Route 66 in the 1950's (also an obituary)

  1. #21

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    Re: Route 66 in the 1950's (also an obituary)

    Quote Originally Posted by Willie View Post
    "Box Camera"? I guess the Agfa 8x10 is that. After checking with the Khela's who put this together, the camera is a 5x7 as are all the negatives.

    "Developed again" - washed and cleaned, scanned and printed. Would be nice to see fine contact prints from someone like Paula Chamlee or another excellent contact printing specialist. Even better would be a book with Lodima Press high standards with the 600 line screen separations.
    A good project and thanks for posting the link.

    The one V notch showing on the film edge - What film was used?

    After my Uncle checked with Paula Chamlee she showed the notch code for Kodak Super XX, which is three notches. That is the only B&W sheet film she uses. Maybe this was an earlier version with two notches?
    If it was Kodak film the single notch would make it Plus X or Sheet Verichrome. I strongly believe it was Verichrome. ut that was a longtime ago and I don't have any sheet Verichrome (it was B&W not color) left to make a better judgement.

  2. #22

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    Re: Route 66 in the 1950's (also an obituary)

    Quote Originally Posted by Vaughn View Post
    While it was in the 30s that flash bulbs were invented and slowly improved upon, with the first all-glass ones made in 1954. I imagine flash powder was still available for quite a while -- and it would certainly add a little more showmanship into the photography. The large DoF of the interior images looks to be because of a very small aperture, so the flash must have been extremely powerful. I would not rule out flash powder.

    Who knows...perhaps he knew O. Winston Link and got some flash tips. He certainly had the equipment for flash-lamp photography (or at least he posed with it) at the beginning of his and his new wife's adventures!
    Bulbs, not powder were prevalent in the 50's. There were bulbs which put put amazing quantities of light. A "peanut #5 put out enough to light the faces of the crowds on the opposite side of a football field. And they truly were "peanut" size in comparison to those which were as large as a 250 watt bulb, like a #2. Those great little #5's were said to put out more lumens than the largest handheld strobe.
    Last edited by Jim Noel; 28-Apr-2020 at 13:42. Reason: spelling error

  3. #23
    Vaughn's Avatar
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    Re: Route 66 in the 1950's (also an obituary)

    I only saw sheet film that had two 'V' notches...that would be Super XX. But there was one that looked like the Vs were spaced further apart (Royal Pan), but difficult to tell.
    "Landscapes exist in the material world yet soar in the realms of the spirit..." Tsung Ping, 5th Century China

  4. #24
    Drew Wiley
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    Re: Route 66 in the 1950's (also an obituary)

    Apparently the Super XX notch pattern remained the same over the years; two close notches the whole time. I just checked the 1947 Kodak manual, which is the closest date version I can find on my shelves to the given era. He's cut the corner on the Royal Pan examples, so could have been toting both. I had to brighten the screen to detect the difference, but it's there. Royal Pan was recommended for flash, Super XX the dependable long-scale workhorse film for many years.

  5. #25

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    Re: Route 66 in the 1950's (also an obituary)

    If you have not found the link to the rest of Custer's 150 photos yet, it is https://www.okmorephotos.com/backtothepast

  6. #26

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    Re: Route 66 in the 1950's (also an obituary)

    Looks like a very small lens in some of the only photos. Any ideas on what lens they used to make these remarkable images?

  7. #27

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    Re: Route 66 in the 1950's (also an obituary)

    What a delightful story and photos. Thanks for posting!
    "I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White

  8. #28

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    Re: Route 66 in the 1950's (also an obituary)

    If you look at the shadows in most of the photos, he must have been using a flash held high above and photographers' left of the camera. Sometimes balanced with exterior lighting (in the sense that when there is a window, it is usually bright, but not totally blown out). Probably a moderately wide angle lens to capture the interiors - you can see mild wide angle distortion of people's heads - stopped down a lot for depth of field.

    The floors always look textured to the point of dirty. I doubt they were actually mostly dirty in the stores (I'm sure they were stained in the garage!). Probably some combination of the perspective showing more floor than we usually see, people not being able to afford new floors of mark-resistant material, and the lighting accentuating the detail, makes it stand out in a way that newer, fancier interior design photos would hide.

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