Would You Try and Photograph A Bison With A 4x5?

I'm so tempted. I've made the acquaintance of a man who has a Bison

heard. That's N. American Bison. He's interested in having me do

some photographs for him and he needs someone to help him out with

managing his animals. He's a neighbor and I have offered to look in

on them when he is traveling. Basically I have my own private Bison

heard to point cameras at as much as I want.

 

They aren't exactly tame but they are given treats in the form of

corn and alfalfa cubes each night. They subsist on grass and hay

but the treat thing keeps them kind of ... 'subserviant' you might

say. However they are not bovines. You gotta watch your step around

them.

 

I shot a couple rolls this afternoon using MF. I and the rancher

were pretty much in the midst of them for quite some time. They

were veritably milling around us and as close as ten feet. The

heard bull who stands over six feet at the shoulder and weighs about

2000 pounds is more alloof. He clearly resented me pointing the

camera at him but after a while ignored me. I got several shots

with him more than filling the frame. Over the next weeks and

months I will accustom them to my camera weilding ways and they will

come to associate me with their corn and cubes as well.

 

So here is the silly part. I desperately want to photograph them

with my 4x5. Has anyone here ever had any luck with nature shooting

using LF? I would suppose Velvia is right out untill they come up

with the new ISO 100 (in quickloads). I'm thinking of investing in

a good hunting type rangefinder and using tables in conjunction with

my calibrated mm scale on my rail to focus rather than careful

scrutiny of the gg. But that leaves me with the pain of composition

and framing. Do I need a sports finder? Maybe a bino-viewer?

 

Any help would be appreciated and thanks to any contributors in

advance.

 

Good Light ~~~ Scott Fleming ~~~ River Run Ranch ~~~ Texas

Scott, Sure you can! In the best of all possible worlds though, you'd have your mits on an old speed or crown graphic(which would probably cost as much as a bino viewer!) It might take some(well, alot) patience with a tripod and focusing on the gg and there is always the possibility of an impromptu game of 'deadman's poker' like in PRCA rodeos. I imagine if you can AI a critter, you can shoot 'em with LF. I shot some hot and bothered bull sea elephants on the beach a few months ago with the 'dorff, but I was on a bluff about 9' above the sea elephants which offered a reassuring degree of safety. I suggest haveing a friend videotape your adventure---worst case scenario you can enter the video in one of those funniest video tv shows and win enough to pay for a new replacement camera!

I think your plan is ood... right up to the point where one of the animals gets spooked

by something and tramples & gores you. Stick with medium format and a longish lens

and give 2,000lb wild animals with pea size brains the respect they deserve.

Scott,

 

Get an old press camera with a range finder attachment and use the sports finder frame. They are perfect for dealing with quickly changing scenes. I shoot action shots on construction sites with mine. I'm on the move all the time and looking for photos of opportunity, much the same as you'll be doing. Any photo you can shoot hand held MF or 35mm, can be shot hand held with a press camera; same film; same f stop; same speed. A heavy camera is often easier to steady than a light on; more mass to counteract against small muscle movements.

 

You'll have to make sure the range finder is calibrated. Calibration is a common problem, but when they work they relieve you from the focusing loop. The sports finder is the 4x5 wire frame that mounts over the lens. When you look through the little eye loop at the film plane the sports finder frames the image in front of you that's hitting the film. With the need to focus and frame taken away there's no need to ever look at your ground glass. You'll find focusing and framing almost as easy to work with as your MF. Once you try it you'll understand the attraction of the press camera.

 

PS Be careful, you can shoot a whole box of film as fast as you can change holders.

I agree - press camera, Linhof Technika, or an old folder like a Voigtländer Bergheil. I wouldn't use anything which needs tripod or dark cloth...

Technikas and Bergheils have distance scales which are usually very reliable. If you are able to guess the distance to within 10%, that should generally be good enough even at f:8. That should be enough to shoot Velvia at 1/200 second on a sunny day.

Two tips from my past:

 

First, get the sun around behind you. Fur really soaks up light. And if anything will spook an animal, it's flash. I have created major problems with thoroughbred horses and fill-flash.

 

Second, I'll pass along advice given me years ago by a professional photographer of cows: "always shoot the clean side!"

Scott,

 

Perfect job for an RB Graflex - if you insist on using 4x5. Also, why Velvia for this? The film is overly contrasty if you plan on photography in sunny conditions (Bison horns will leave very dark shadows on their head/body. Ektachrome or Provia/Astia would be a better choice, not to mention ISO 100 would be quite useful here. Good luck!!!

Thank you gentlemen. Much to consider from the board and I appreciate it. The lust for square inches ... it just gets in your blood. Once you've seen a 4x5 tranny those itsy bitsy 35 and MF windows on reality just don't do the trick anymore. I MUST stay away from anyone who owns an 8x10 (or bigger for goodness sake). It's too much for my imagination to grasp and as long as I don't actually gaze upon the fruit I think I can continue to resist.

Reminds me of my high school photo class - I decided to go 'shoot' cows across the street from my high school.

 

I couldn't tell how far away they were thru an SLR and I suddenly realized they were approaching me faster than I expected.

 

I knew pigs could be less than friendly so I played it safe and grabbed my tripod and an. I slipped thru the wire fence and grazed the back of my neck on a wire an found out it was an electrified fence! The cows were right behind me. I was not happy about either of these issues. Later someone tried to reassure me they were just curious.

 

Good luck and watch your step.

 

Murray

Maybe this is a good time to try a "pancake" cameras where the lens is mounted in a

helical focusing mount marked with focusing distances or possibly the large format

Hobo cameras

"Would you try and photograpg a Bison with a 4x5?"

I've never seen a bison with a 4x5...as far as I knew, they all use

Hasselblads. Best of Luck

Scott - Sure I would try it with a 4x5 but not within the fence, and with someone to keep watch. Secondly, don't try it during calving season. The cows become extremely aggressive when they have calves - I mean, they will flat go after you. And they can move faster than you can think. Other than that, if you go inside the fence, stay with a small and quiet camera. And have someone with you that the animals are comfortable with. Cheers from Kansas!

Scott, using the infinity stops and sports finder on my crown graphic, I can get everything from about 12' to China in focus with an old 127mm Ektar which, incidently, is a pretty nicely color corrected lens.

Hmmm - the actual wild (not farmed) buffalo here like to inhabit the one and only major highway - they find it good for getting from a-b... - they have also been know to take on vehicles they didn't like - espcailly parked ones taking photos. The Buffalo usually seem to come off on top :-)

Be sure not to use a red focussing cloth!

I'm back here in the East so we don't see herds of Buffalos very often. There was a local farmer who had a bunch in a field not to far out of town. I was able to get a shot of one once with my 8x10. But I was on the other side of the fence from where he was. So it could be done..... but you would have to ask why do you want to?

 

I wouldn't recommend a camera that would need to be on a tripod for an animal shoot that is going to be moving quickly. The suggestion of a Speed Graphic would be my choice, if I needed the big negative. If it just "negative size" or "Trannie size" envy, I would forget about that and just shoot with equipment that is better suited for that type of work. The bottom line is making good images, use the right tool for the job. After all, a camera is just a tool to make an image. It is the image that matters, nothing else.

 

George Losse -- here in wonderful Southern NJ

�So here is the silly part.�

 

You said it yourself. However, I think �silly� is too weak a word. Just how important is this project? What are you willing to risk? Your tripod? Your camera? Your body? Do you want to see your insides?

 

If you must do it and want to work inside the fence, get a spotter. The spotter will keep his or her eye always on the animals present and will alert you at the first sign of trouble, even if it�s just a minor difference in how the animals are behaving. It would be important to have a spotter who is familiar with bison behavior. It�s especially dodgy when there are a lot of animals around. It increases the chance of one of them acting up, or of you getting caught in the middle of some bison fun. I�m sure you are familiar with analogy of the elephants dancing with the chickens. Substitute bison for elephants and Scott for chickens and you get the picture.

 

I think the best plan is to be outside the fence. Second best, be in a solid vehicle that you don�t care too much about. Above all, be safe. A picture of a bison is not worth your safety. After all, I�ll bet some of your MF images are pretty good.

 

Cheers,

 

Joe Stephenson

.....of course, if you had a crown graphic, you could shoot from the back of a horse! Yeee-haw! ;-)

I photographed bison at Yellowstone last month using 4x5. My shots were of the "grand landscape" type, though, with bison included as part of the landscape. I did not try getting close enough to do full-frame shots of individual critters. Seems like, if you've got your own herd available, you might be able to work with a fence between you and the bison.

Ain't no such thing as "farmed" or domestic buffalo. No one in a thousand years has been able to domesticate the North American Bison. Although they can be successfully maintained in relative captivity, and can behave fairly docile, they can go from asleep to full rage in an instant. They can go through a tight four-wire barbed fence like it ain't even there. And seeing a 2000 lb bull sail over a six-foot fence is a memorable moment. Think your Ford F-150 is tough? Ha! Get it in the pen when Mama has a calf, then call your insurance agent to report a total loss from buffalo butting. Scott, just be careful and heed the warnings people are giving you, especially that of having a spotter who's familiar with them. Happy Trails!

I read an article in National Geographic in which the author related photographing bison from _underneath_ his truck. (Not his own idea - someone told him that would be the safest way to do it.) He was not using a 4x5. This was in an article on the Lewis and Clark trail I think some five or so years back.

Large animal, large format! =^)

I have slightly different problems, but I too wish to use a 54 for unusual applications - birds, gymnasts and ballet dances in flight!

 

My Fiancee has a ballet/gym/tap school.

 

"They aren't exactly tame but they are given treats in the form of sweets (mice) each night. I hope they do not use grass. However they are not bovines. You gotta watch your step around them."

 

They can be dangerous - my Fiancee pulled two ribs away from her sternum catching one (a vaulter who was going to land on her head).

 

A beam trigger is a valuable tool - focus on where thay are going to be and let the auto do the rest. (To save film check it out with digital.)

 

Bison are herd animals, (bit like ballerinas) so get up somewhere high and safe, set up the tilt to have a few hundred acres in focus... and wait.

 

When you need a challenge, try African Buffalo - I think they kill more people than any other species, and they do not live in open plains!

 

Just in case anybody is not familiar with agricultural/medical abbreviations, AI means Artificial Insemination - but they do not use big lumps of glass for that job!

Scott

 

Your situation suggests why God created Nikons with 600mm lenses. We would hate to lose the forum's favorite right-winger, or even worse, a nice 4x5 camera. Just kidding, but be VERY careful!

Why not? I use it for rattlesnakes.