Large format "grab shot"

[billkantor]

I always find it amusing to see what people post as "grab-shots". Most of

these of course are images taken with digital or 35mm cameras. This has got me

wondering. Is it possible to create a grab-shot in large format? I think we

have to relax the standard for LF. So here is my suggested definition of a LF

grab-shot. Any image that you did not set out to take and that you pulled off

in less than 10 minutes (for a 4 x 5). OK let's not be that precise... and for

you 8x10 and ULF guys we will cut you some slack and extend the time limit

accordingly. With that in mind let's see what you got. Post away.

[gene_e._mccluney]

I don't have a grab shot, just my thoughts on what one could be. If you set up your view

camera on a tripod...say in an urban location, and then wait until the traffic or people in

the shot get to the arrangement you like, and then take the exposure...that would be sorta

a grab shot, or at least a semi-candid. Same for wildlife..camera allready set, darkslide

pulled, cable release in hand...wait for the bird to raise its head, or whatever.

[jeffpolaski]

Back in the day in the US Army, when I had unlimited (free) pack film, the Graflex got grab shots. I simply preset it the same way I preset my Kodak Retina II on the street.

[ellis_vener_photography]

You are aware that possibly the most famous large format landscape shot of all time -Ansel

Adams' "Moonrise Over Hernandez, N.M." is essentially a grap shot with an 8x10" camera and

done in well under five minutes from the time he first noticed the posibillity as he was driving

down the highway till the second (failed) exposure was made. And he didn't even use a

meter!

[billkantor]

Great thoughts here. For me a grab-shot is usually taken at the end of the day. The lighting

changes in some unexpected way and I quickly reposition or re-setup the gear to grab the

shot before the light is gone. Here is one example.<div></div>

[billkantor]

Touch項llis. I had forgotten about that one when I posted the question. Sometimes the best

comes from the unexpected.

[pete_andrews10]

Apparently, Adams's "Moonrise over Hernandez" was a grab shot. Seen from his truck as he passed by, he leaped out, set up the camera and tripod, and quickly "grabbed" the picture before the light changed too much.

 

At least that's how the mythology has it.

[billkantor]

That was supposed to read "Ellis" not "llis". Appaently the "颠with the accent throws off the

post.

[ellis_vener_photography]

"At least that's how the mythology has it."

 

There were two witnesses in the truck with him.

 

No worries Bill :~)

[billkantor]

I wonder if the "witnesses" were helpful or if they got in the way. Let's see some of your grab-

shots people.

[pico]

Handheld 4x5 was about the rule for decades in news work. I envy Jeff Polaski for his situation back then. Unlimited film!

 

Until fairly recently I was handicapped as I recovered from a hand injury and thumb amputation, but I'm good to go now and almost have the Rangefinder 4X5 working and it IS for handholding. I'm sure I will get some real grief from the Pretty Camera folks. It's an ugly camera, all black wrinkled paint covered lumpy aluminum, telescoping steel "bellows" with a Graflex coupled rangefinder.

 

Why it is so ugly ... (insert favorite here) and I'm not afraid it will be stolen, 'cept maybe by a fisherman looking for an anchor.

 

Yeah, Adams' Moonrise was a quick setup, maybe a grab shot, but he spent thirty years getting the print right. Not a Bad Thing. It kept him off the streets.

[Monophoto]

In his LF workshops, Tillman Crane routinely gives two assignments. One is to make an image in which the total elapsed time from initially seeing the subject through setup, exposure, and repacking the camera is 5 minutes or less. The second is similar, except that the elapsed time has to be 30 minutes or more.

 

The objective is to understand that the difference is governed by the creative dimension of visualizing and achieving a final print, and has nothing at all to do with the mechanics of setting up and operating the camera.

[pvp]

OK, I got one. I made the pre-dawn trek to the rim of Crater Lake in anticipation of taking the standard shot, seen here:<P>

<center><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/115/294289995_ecb61e512d_m.jpg"></center><P>

About the time I hit the release for the above, I looked to my left and saw rays of sunlight coming through the haze and smoke (visible in the first shot as a layer in the caldera -- it was forest fire season.)<P>

I spun the camera around on the tripod, never mind focusing because it was already at infinity, took a couple of quick meter readings, flipped the film holder that was still in the camera, pulled the slide and took this one:<P>

<center><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/121/291304546_7bb550284d.jpg"></center><P>

Elapsed time from scene selection to exposure was not more than 30 seconds. I had an advantage of sorts, in that I was using a Calumet monorail, so once I had cranked the settings down tight I was confident things weren't going to move.<P>

The three-point muley buck on the ridge was a bonus; I didn't notice his presence until I had the film developed and on the light table.

[allen_whittier]

I use a hand held 4x5 frequently. F11 at 1/60 sec is the same with 400 speed film no mater what camera you use. Why do people think "Oh! it's a big camera, can't take a picture without a tripod and a ton of other gear." In fact it's easier because the heavier camera ends up being steadier than a 35mm. Look at all the work done with press cameras over the years. And, if you're holding the camera away from you the extra size makes it easier to know the camera is square to the subject.

 

I use a Graphmatic or Bagmatic with my Supergraphic and can go through a box or two of film in a day of street shots. Just like with a 35 I end up tossing quite a few sheets of film, but I'm not afraid to take a shot that I see in an instant hoping it'll turn out. If I know I missed the shot I pull the film out of the holder right there so I don't end up developing it. If I think I have the shot but need to do something to salvage a missed reading, I can make notes for processing and salvage it. Try that with the fourth frame in a role of 35mm film. Impulsive photos are fare easier with 4x5.

[david louis]

"Is it possible to create a grab-shot in large format?"?.Yes, of course. Weegee did it for

decades, as did just about every other photojournalist prior to 1950 or so.

[billkantor]

Lot's of answers here but few samples. Let's see 'em folks.

[wieslaw1]

Here is what might be classified as a the REAL 'grab shot'. It

was summer 2005, I went to a remote valley (called Rowienki) in

the High Tatras, to shoot with Linhof for my project 'The Silence

of the Rocks'. In the afternoon I reached elevation of about

1800m and decided to overnight there (I had a sleeping bag with

me) and I carefully selected a space to be sure that no falling

rock would hit me - the snow was still melting and you could

constantly hear rumble of falling stones around. I was

wondering around and taking pictures until the sun started to

set. The sun was shining along the axis of the valley, but the

clouds often obscured the sky. Anyway I had 8 cassettes with

me, so I carefully counted each shot and waited for the most

?spectacular? opportunity. I shot the last Agfa negative at the

moment when the shadows from the mountains on the horizon

in the west covered the entire valley. There was nothing else to

do, so I disassembled the camera and the tripod and put it back

to the backpack. Later, at night I would reload the cassettes with

a fresh film for the next day.

 

At this very moment I turned back 180 degrees, and... Christ!

The clouds around the sun, which was barely above the

mountains disappeared and illuminated the upper part of

encircling rocks behind me with copper-like colors. The

illumination was uncanny! I still had one holder with unexposed

IR Film!

You can imagine - I started acting like a madman. Anyway here

is the shot. Without actually looking through the ground glass,

focusing was 'by feel only'. With the H+B 092 filter on you don?t

see anything even in daylight. I managed to expose both

negatives one after another, and suddenly there was darkness.

No, I am not going to challenge AA with short preparation time,

although this is my record with large format camera.<div></div>

[drew bedo]

Hello Bill;

 

What about that classic 4x5 image of the Hindenberg burning? Surely that clasifies as a "Grab-Shot". What about the news photos taken with press cameras in 4x5 and 5x7, some as late as 1960 or so, most were hand-held, zon-focused and flash-lit "Grab-Shots" The Graflex and Bush press cameras are still out there and people use them.Lets not forget the sophisticated and modern Linhoff Technicas either. There are now also 4x5 conversions of the Polaroid 110 B and other Polaroid bodies that have been rebuilt into effective range-finder large format grab-shooters. As I think about the act of grabbing a shot, maybe the phrase at first referred to ho hard the photographer grabbed onto the camera while taking the shot!

 

Regards,

 

Drew Bedo

www.quietlightphoto.com

[bart feliciano]

I have a lot of fun with my handheld 4x5.<br><br>

I think most of my pics are grabshots/snapshots.<br><br>

 

<a href=" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/54/142411024_ff9eb8f501.jpg" width="500" height="370" alt="." /></a>

[jsfyfe]

Bill,

 

All of the photos listed below are from using a 4x5 field camera on a tripod. I just set it up and waited as suggested in a previous response. What's interesting is that many people are just plain curious when you do this and they look at the camera while you're just ignoring them and pressing the cable release.

 

 

http://www.photo.net/photo/5472063

 

http://www.photo.net/photo/5458892

 

http://www.photo.net/photo/5472417

 

http://www.photo.net/photo/5473015

[billkantor]

Hi John,

 

Would love to see these but they are returning a Server Error when I follow the link. Can you repost links that work or lost them inline here?

 

Thanks,

Bill

[billkantor]

... "or post them inline here."

[jsfyfe]

Bill,

 

The links seem to be working now. I think they were doing some server maintenance.

 

John

[robert_hughes4]

I was walking around a political rally in Washington DC the other weekend with a Busch Pressman, got a few fun handheld shots. But what knocked me out was the response from people around me - "Man, I haven't seen one of those since FDR died!"

[laurentbaig]

This is a grab shot because I didn't have a composition planned out. I just saw the light changing and thought it was pretty so I set up and pressed click.

 

http://homepage.mac.com/mrljb/Galleries/NPN/lf200612_16.jpg<div></div>