lightcraftsman

If you want more information on Mono Lake and the surrounding area, point your browser to http://www.monolake.org. In addition to the usual travel info (weather, road conditions, lodging) they have a photo gallery, a history of Mono Lake and lake level information, which has risen two feet in the past year.

Scroll down to Admin Issues on this page, click the first link and follow the directions. If you haven't accessed or bookmarked the Medium Format Digest web page, the URL is http://db.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a.tcl?topic=Medium%20Format%20Digest

It isn't APS like, but my Mamiya TLR gives me the ability to shoot vertical without turning the camera. Twin lens 2-1/4 x 2-1/4 cameras are pretty much useless for wildlife, but I enjoy using them for landscapes and studio portraits.

 

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Seriously, I understand why so many people shoot mainly horizontals, and that's fine with me. If shooting verticals is too much work for most people, that just means there is less competition for the photographers with the patience and determination to shoot for the intended use.

 

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Even with 35mm I shoot more verticals than horizontals. I haven't tried to sell any nature images yet, because I've only been at this a little over a year and need to build my stock, but I know verticals will outsell horizontals, so I shoot vertical unless the scene screams "horizontal!" at me.

Mono Lake is accessible in March, unless there is a freak snowstorm, but then you'll just have to wait for Caltrans to plow the snow out of the way. Tioga Pass through Yosemite National Park will be closed, so you'll have to take Highway 50 or Interstate 80 to Highway 395, then head south. Bodie may not be open that early, as it's up fairly high and off the main highway, but Mono Lake is worth the trip by itself. Get your pictures now, as Los Angeles finally stopped draining the water and Mono Lake is refilling slowly. At the rate the water has risen in the past two years, I'd say the tufas will be covered in 10 to 15 years.

 

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Stop at the Mono Lake visitor center on the north edge of Lee Vining and ask directions to the South Tufa and the mud pits. You can also drive down Highway 395 to Mammoth Lakes, and get some photos of Mammoth Mountain before it blows its top.

 

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Further south on 395 - but still within two hours of Mono Lake - take a right at Lone Pine and drive into the Alabama Hills. Those of us who grew up watching westerns on television can hear the ricochets of bullets and see the ghosts of celluoid villians in these rocky clumps. There are many, many photographic opportunities along the Eastern Sierra. I recommend it highly.

The craft will live as long as there are people like you who feel strongly about nature photography. You could have argued that landscape photography would die when 35mm SLRs replaced Speed Graphics in the 1950s. More people use EOS Elans than 4x5 cameras, but there is still a healthy market for 4x5 cameras.

 

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Those clumsy amateur shutterbugs are going to lose interest and plop in front of the television before constructing a believable digital image. If they can't learn to use an auto-everything SLR, they sure as hell aren't smart enough to learn PhotoShop. And don't forget the garbage-in-garbage-out maxim. If someone takes two or more crap photos, scans them into PhotoShop and manipulates them, they will produce crap images.

 

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There will, however, be a few skilled graphic artists pushing digitally manipulated images off as nature images. Will they call it photography? Not if they are honest.

 

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U.S. News & World Report is way off on this. Computers will no more help bad photographers produce stunning images than they help bad writers produce Shakespearian prose. Do you remember all the ridiculous newspapers, newsletters and magazines that flourished and died with the advent of dekstop publishing in the late 1980s?

 

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No, its the crafty amateurs we need to watch. Meanwhile, I'll take my TLR and hand-held meter into the back country, and shoot black and white film. If that makes me an eccentric purist, so be it. Just remember, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction (Isaac Newton). Don't be surprised if 4x5 black and white shooters make a strong comeback in the next 10 years.

I used to own a Beseler 23c with an Aristo cold light head, and loved it. It had a condensor head and a dichroic head when I purchased it. I immediately sold the dichroic head because it was too dim to be useable. I could barely focus the enlarger with it. The condensor came off and went to pasture when I purchased the cold light. If you plan to print black and white only, this would be a good combination. You can purchase such a system new for around $900 with a timer, or used for about half that.

 

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I recently purchased a used Beseler 45 MXT with all negative carriers for $600, a Nikkor 80/5.6 lens in Beseler mount for $130, and a Zone VI cold light with Tik Tok for $200. Total investment $930 to go to 16x20 with 6x7 film. All I need now is a Nikkor 135/5.6 and I'll be ready to print 4x5 too.

Condensor heads use optically clear glass to focus, or condense, light from a bulb onto the negative plane. The problem with them is the light is hotter in the center than at the edges, and the focused light shows every little defect on the negative.

 

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Cold light heads use blue tubes to cast light on the negative plane. The diffuse glow from these tubes produces much richer tonal gradation than condensors, and minimizes negative defects such as dust and scratches. They aren't a cure-all, but I cannot think of one good printer who uses a condensor. The down side to cold lights is they do not work well with variable contrast papers, unless you spend too much money on one of the new VC models.

T-Max 400 or Ilford HP5 Plus would be excellent films for this type of work. You'll need to experiment with processing to develop for your enlarger. Condensors seem to give greater contrast than cold-light heads. T-Max is very sensitive to exposure and processing. HP5 Plus is more tolerant of shooting and processing technique. I haven't tried the Delta 400 yet, so can't offer advice on that film.

 

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If you need more detailed information, and if no one else jumps in here and offers solid advice, get back with me in a couple of weeks after I get my darkroom up to speed. I'm using a Jobo for processing, and will print on a Beseler 45 MXT with cold light.

 

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You may need a prism finder for your Mamiya if the people and boats are moving. I'd also recommend a brighter screen than stock when using telephoto lenses.

I have a Mamiya C330 and the ground glass seems to show the entire image. At least I haven't had any unpleasant surprises after developing my film. I haven't done any scientific testing because this hasn't presented a problem. If you want to add crop marks I'd suggest experimenting with a spare ground glass. I usually compose about one-fifth of the way in from the top and bottom or sides, depending upon whether I want a horizontal or vertical print. Of course, I sometimes compose for a square print, and sometimes change my mind when I have the negative in the enlarger. That's the beauty of the square format.

This is like asking how much a car, or a camera, costs. The going rate will vary depending upon the photographer's skill and confidence. Neither I nor anyone else can set your rates. However, there are a few things to consider before you decide how much to charge.

 

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1) How much money do you have invested in your equipment? Take 20 percent of that value and use it as an annual expense.

 

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2) If you were doing this full time, how many hours per week could you bill? Realistically about 15 to 20. The rest you spend developing and printing or taking your film to a lab, filling out paperwork, looking for customers and catching up on bills. Figure on 20 hours per week just to keep the math easy.

 

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3) How much will you spend on film and processing for this job? Add this to the bill.

 

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4) Keep track of your mileage to and from the sites. You're wearing your vehicle and draining its gas tank while you drive to these houses. And you're on your professional time.

 

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Decide how much money you yearly need to live comfortably. At 20 hours per week you'll need to charge $60 per hour to bring in $60k per year (remember, you pay your own vacation time). Add your depreciated equipment and your estimated expenses, including equipment maintenance. Suddenly $75 per hour doesn't sound like a whole lot.

You are more likely to succumb to skunk spray, rattlesnake injection or fighter-jet attack than anything you'll pick up rolling around in mouse poop. I don't know much about hantavirus, but I grew up in the Texas Hill Country and never contracted anything despite stepping in many cow pies when I was a kid. From what I have read the virus is spread more easily in enclosed places such as old textile mills than it is out in the open country.

Joshua Tree is worth the trip despite the crowds on weekends. Search at http://www.switchboard.com and look for motels in 29 Palms, CA. The main worry this time of year is weather, especially with El Nino active. You may want to reconsider the Channel Islands if you don't like rough seas. The National Park Service has a good web site for Joshua Tree at http://www.nps.gov/jotr, including tips on what to see, hiking trails, weather etc.

I recently purchased a Mamiya TLR system, and took it to Yosemite National Park for a week. While at the park, I watched the film on Ansel Adam's life they show each Sunday evening. One portion of the film showed Ansel leading a photo seminar at Yosemite, and using a hat to shade his view camera's lens while shooting. I did that with my Mamiya, with excellent results. Seems like a more simple a solution that finding an out of production shade for each lens.

I just returned from one week in Yosemite National Park, and while there I watched the Ansel Adams film they show each Sunday. Ansel spoke of donating his negatives to a college, and said he wanted the students to print his images according to their interpretation, not his. I'm paraphrasing because I wasn't prepared to take notes, but Ansel compared a B&W negative to a classical music score, and the darkroom technician as the musician. The photographer scores the scene on film and the negative allows many interpretations of that score. Ansel specifically mentioned this as an advantage of B&W over color. With color, you are less free to interpret the negative than with B&W.

 

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This is not to say color is a less valid photography medium than B&W. I bring this up only to answer Steve's question, "Why do you like b&w?" Because it allows the creative freedom to interpret the scene, rather than just record what I saw at the time. I shoot mainly in color now because I don't have a darkroom. After spending the last week in Yosemite, I'm going to buy a changing tent and start shooting B&W again, but I will carry color film in a second camera.

About 10 years ago I printed several thousand black-and-white photographs for a jewelry manufacturer which was redoing its dealer catalog. I pulled the condensor head off my Beseler 23c XL shortly before beginning this contract, and the results were so good I went back and reprinted all my personal prints using the cold light head. The difference is amazing to anyone who has not used a cold light head. The tonal gradation is much smoother, blacks blacker, whites whiter and dust much less problematic. Use a cold light head and fiber paper, you will appreciate the difference.

Check out http://www.lightroom.com/. They're in Berkeley, which is close to SF if you don't mind the drive across the Bay Bridge. I haven't used them, but they have an excellent reputation and a couple of my friends have been very pleased with them. All prices and services are on their web site, plus some helpful information on shooting slides for reproduction and the problems with printing slides.

Even though I haven't made this move yet, I have used the Bronica SQA and the Pentax 67. I like the square format because it is easier to handle, especially in a studio. No need to turn the camera sideways for vertical compositions. Of course, you gain very little in transparency size versus 645 format.

 

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The Pentax is a bit clunky to use, and needs a very strong tripod head for vertical compositions. The Bronicas have the advantage of interchangeable backs and all lenses synch at all speeds. The Pentax 67 has only one leaf shutter lens available new, a 165 f4, but I know an international fashion photographer who makes a very good living with this system.

 

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My choice for landscape work would be the Bronica GS1, if I could afford the lenses. For a combination studio/field camera the Bronica SQ is hard to beat if you can live with the square format. If anyone out there wants to trade a Bronica or other MF system for a good used PowerBook let me know. :-)

The composition and framing are nice, but the lighting is flat - it like this was taken in the middle of the day. Also, there is nothing here that serves as the center of attention. Sure, the creek is nice, but this photo needs something that will draw your eye back, an anchor after you look around the composition. Overall, this is a nice photo but nothing special.

Thanks Mark. I wasn't thinking clearly when I answered obviously. Of course water condenses on cool things. That's why grass and cars get covered with dew before streets and people. That's why aluminum lens hoods and glass filters get covered before plastic barrels and my gloves. Guess I'll just keep that cloth handy.

Let me take a stab at this so the people who know more about it can correct me.

 

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Your lens hoods get damp before your lens barrels because the hoods flow more air. The barrels only allow airflow on the outside (you hope) while the hoods, being open on one end, allow air to flow inside and out. More airflow means more moisture to condense. Most modern lens barrels are plastic, which is less prone to condensation than aluminum.

 

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The filter gets misty for the same reason. Convection currents carry cool air across the surface of the filter, condensing the moisture out of the air. The problem is your equipment is warmer than the surrounding air. You need to let your gear settle to the ambient temperature before going out to shoot in the morning. You can do this in several ways:

 

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a) sleep in a tent

b) sleep with a window open

c) leave your camera bag in your car overnight

d) get up really, really early

 

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The problem is less severe in winter because there is less water in the air. I sleep in a tent when out shooting nature. You may want to carry a small lint-free cloth to wipe off your filter.

What specific lens are you using? I have found a 105mm lens works fine for 6x7 prints. Are you using the 6x7 mixing chamber? Are you printing color or black and white? I have successfully used an Aristo cold light head for black and white on this enlarger, but of course that would not work for color.

 

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If you are using a 105mm lens stopped down to at least f/8 and projecting through the 6x7 mixing chamber, I would suspect a problem with the print head. Maybe a longer lens would help?

For those who haven't found photo.net, the URL is http://www-swiss.ai.mit.edu/philg/photo/index.html. Some of the photographers who participate regularly give excellent advice. Just don't ask which camera or lens you should buy. :-)

 

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Phil Greenspun has an excellent front page with equipment reviews, links to other related sites, and two discussion forums - one on photography in general and one on nature photography.

I don't believe Galen's store has 95mm filters, but to contact Singh-Ray, call 800-486-5501 or send e-mail to: BSingh@desoto.net. You can check out their web site (it's under construction, so there isn't much content yet) at http://www.singh-ray.com.

Contrary to popular opinion, most minilab equipment is not fully automatic. The operator looks at each negative and makes a judgement call on adding or subtracting contrast, then punches the appropriate button on the Noritsu or a similar machine. In your case, the operator probably hit +3 instead of +1. Take them back and get them reprinted. If the lab will not reprint them, find a different lab. Any good lab will reprint the photos without argument.

Some of my best shots have been taken in inclement weather. My wife and I spent an April weekend in Yosemite Valley this year, and pondered the wisdom of leaving camp to set up for a shot of Halfdome even though it had been raining lightly all afternoon. I decided I would feel like a world-class fool if I was sitting in camp and saw the clouds break for a few minutes. Sure enough, as soon as I got my gear ready, the clouds broke for three minutes and I captured some beautiful images of Halfdome's peak shrouded in a snowstorm with the setting sun lighting its face.

 

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In July I spent an entire day wiating for rainstorms to pass through the Bristlecone Pine National Forest so I could capture the light on wet trees. Bristlecone pines are incredibly colorful when wet, and dark clouds make a nice, contrasty background if you are lucky enough to shoot the ancient trees on a rainy day.

 

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Shooting only in good weather leads to blandness in my photography. Not that I like being out in the bad weather, but the images make it worthwhile. Besides, all the tourists stay in their motel rooms in bad weather, so I have more time to enjoy the solitude.