Time Savers in the Field

[Mark Sawyer]

I generally check my lenses and filters for cleanliness at home on slow evenings after an outing. I hate finding fingerprints on the glass just before taking a photograph, almost as much as finding them just afterwards. I don't clean my lenses unless they need it, and I'd much rather clean them at home than in the field.

I also keep a handy list of curse words so I'll know just what to say when I pull the dark slide before closing the shutter. Otherwise, I have to go through so many...

[John Hennessy]

My tripod legs are covered with tables of information such as the 1) maximum rise without vignetting for each lens (if I end up inside the maximum, there is no need to check vignetting visually); 2) warming filters; 3) near-to-far focus scale difference and matching f/stop; 4) panorama data such as degree of pan for horizontal and vertical images for each focal length; 5) a table of one-third stops for exposures longer than one minute (saves mental arithmetic during stress caused by failing light).

[Brian K]

I forgot one big time saver. I had Camera Bellows co. in the UK make me a custom bellows that I can use with all my lenses between 65mm and 480mm (non tele). It means I never have to change bellows in the field. It also compresses to about an 1 1/4" so it takes up very little space.

[John Powers]

Kirk,

Great thread and ideas from all. Thanks.

When I can drive the SUV close enough I keep the camera (8x10 or 7x17) mounted on the tripod, last used lens on the camera. I use a Toyota Highlander that you (Kirk) saw at the VC conference with an upholstery material and color tonneau that goes from the back of the front seats to the rear door just under the tinted glass line. This makes things out of sight if I have to park in public some time on the trip.

Having shot at Maine beaches the 2005 summer I carry each lens with a cable release mounted in an open zip lock. I can see which lens is inside. The bag keeps out most of the dirt or sand. It is open to prevent condensation. Today if it were really sandy I would probably close the zips once the temperature was stable. I put all lenses, loupe, meter and dark cloth in a padded cubic foot size cooler bag for protection and ease of handling. Seven or eight film holders are in a back pack, different packs for different size holders. Fresh film on top, shot film put back to the bottom. Each two 8x10 holders are in a black plastic bag from a photo print paper box. This helps stop light and dust. There are additional 8x10 holders in another bag.

When I don’t work out of the car, all gear goes in a 20 inch wheeled baby jogger with camera mounted on tripod, lens bag in the seat padding the camera-tripod and film holders on the rails under the seat. http://babyjogger.com/performancesingle.htm

John

[Geert]

I have a sign hanging on the tripod that says:

TEMPORARILY DEAF PHOTOGRAPHER.
DOES NOT HEAR AND SPEAK UNTILL EXPOSURE IS MADE.

I already missed a few fantastic light exposures because people started asking me about the age of my camera...

G

[j.e.simmons]

The most important technique to me is practice. Have a place for everything, and keep it there. Practice setting up. Practice setting up for speed - time yourself. Practice knowing the limits of your lens(es) so you can walk up to a scene and know roughly how it will be framed. To my mind, large format photography is a performance art and muscle memory is an important part of it.
juan

[Bruce Barlow]

Many, many great ideas. I feel validated because we coach folks to do many of them at Fine Focus Workshops.

I agree with "practice" the most. We watch the bulk of our workshop students take ten minutes or more to set up their cameras and we wince. Too long. I once did an exercise with one of our all-time favorite students: he would set up his 4x5 from the car while I similarly assembled my 8x10 Sinar Norma, including setting up and leveling the tripod, assembling the standards, attaching the inserting the lens board, leveling the camera and focusing on infinity. I had never done this with my 8x10 out of sheer laziness. First one to ten times assembled and unassembled won. He was still on setup number four when I finished. We'd make everybody do it ten times at our workshop but they'd mutiny and strangle us. Too bad, it's one of the best exercises one can master. We recommend going home and doing it at least 25 times. I know of only one who ever has, but he's truly exceptional in many ways.

I also sat in front of the TV one night for a half hour and learned about my shutters. Are they open when the switch is up or down? How can I set aperture by feel, even if it doesn't have click stops? How do I know when it's cocked by feel? Can I find the cocking lever by feel? Each of my lenses lives in an individual Tupperware-ish box with a silica gel pack, like Richard Ritter taught us in his video on Camera Repair in the Field. Magic Marker has decorated the Tupperware with the focal length, so I can find the right one easily. All lenses care carried in cheap picnic bags from Wally World, as are film holders.

I helped design the Zone VI Photographer's Apron. It's awful. Splurge $1.99 and get a cheap Ace Hardware one. My meter case is tied to one tie-string, a lanyard holds the meter on the case, slightly shorter than the distance to the ground. A slightly larger case on the other side holds lens pen, lens tissue, notebook, pen, bubble level, small tape measure, mints, quarters, etc. The left apron pocket holds up to 5-4x5 unexposed holders or 3-5x7 holders. As I use them, I transfer the exposed holders to the right pocket so I'm never confused.

Lens caps ALWAYS go in the left pants pocket.

All these little habits - and they are habits I've had to practice - I think make me one of the faster guns in the west or east. the big advantage isn't speed, however, but rather that my mind is freed of all these nasty but essential details. Freed, my mind can pay more attention to whether I'm standing in the right place pointing the camera at the right stuff. "Don't be mechanical when you should be creative, and don't be creative when you should be mechanical." Picker's phrase, blatantly stolen.

And Kirk, place the high value on Zone VIII and take what you get in the shadows. Develop it long enough to get a trace of tone in a Proper Proof. Then reverse the film holder, close down a stop and a half, make the picture, and develop it for 25% more (or better, test N+1 1/2 development time to see whether it might be only 20% instead). You'll have a great choice of negatives to print. Now metering and exposure is fast, mechanical, and will never miss.

Keep this thread alive. Who's got more ideas?

[Darcy Cote]

Originally Posted by Darcy Cote
I get to the scene with plenty of time.
And when that is not possible?

I am serious, there are some great tips here and I may implement a few but I have found the better I am prepared and researched an area and I give myself more time to get to a site, the less stress, the more I enjoy what I am doing. Also, If I miss the "shot of the lifetime" there really are plenty more to get and it gives me the incentive to go out more often to collect that perfect shot. Knowing your equipment and having it in the same spot everytime are also the most important tips in my opinion. To get to a site with little time and get a shot off at the last moment is stressful and not enjoyable and if you get the shot, you are lucky. Yes, there are times when you want to get a shot when you are there the last minute and if you get the shot off it is a bonus. If you miss it, I don't consider it a lost opportunity, I just look forward to the next opportunity. If I am in a hurry to get that shot I always mess up anyways, aperture out darkslide in, wrong meter reading.

[Ed Richards]

One I might have missed seeing is putting a leveler on the tripod - Gitzo and Manfrotto both make one. Then you can smack the tripod down and level the base of the head in two seconds. That lets you pan without having to relevel. If you keep the head itself zeroed, or do not use one, the camera is instantly leveled.

[cyrus]

Save time in composition using a visualizer, already mentioned.
Best tip i got from a recent LF class at SVA in NYC.

But in case other newbies like me don't know what this is:

Make a small frame from cardboard with a hole cut sized proportional to your format, and hold it at a pre-determined distance from your eye so that the view through it matches the view through your lens. I know, for example, that looking through this while holding it close to my nose simulates the view from a 180mm lens.

I made this frame out of a piece of flat plastic sheet with a 2 3/8 inches x 1 7/8 inch hole - it slides into my shirt pocket and is a lot cheaper and smaller than the Linhof viewfinder!

Using one of these means you don't have to set up your entire camera kit before deciding whether you have to move everything to another spot or switch lenses to get a better composition.