Monophoto

The Berkshires and surrounding areas are nice yearround, and especially in the Fall. Whether you will see any color in mid-October is a bit of a gamble - when the color comes, and how long it lasts, is one of life's real mysteries.

 

In addition to Williamstown and Stockbridge, I would suggest adding Great Barrington, Housatonic, and Leonx to your list of towns to visit.

 

More specifically, I would suggest the following things to do and/or visit:

 

- MassMOCA in North Adams - this place is not for everyone, but I find that it stimulates creativity.

 

- The Clark Institute in Williamstown - wonderful, classic art

 

- Hancock Shaker Village, outside Pittsfield - a beautifully restored 19th century Shaker community. Wonderful architecture (including a unique round barn) and furniture. Note: they don't allow tripods.

 

- Norman Rockwell Museum outside Stockbridge - more art from an American classic

 

- The Red Lion Inn, Stockbridge. This hotel has been in business since the 1700's, so they have pretty much figured out how to do things right. Great place for lunch.

 

- Vermont Center for Photography in Brattleboro. Open only Friday - Sunday afternoons.

 

- Emily Dickinson Museum in Amherst. Small and quaint, but a nice experience.

 

- Crane's Paper Museum in Dalton. Very small - doesn't take more than an hour, but you will learn a lot about fine paper making. Afternoons only.

 

- Springfield Armory. Most of the site has been converted to a college, but the old arsenal building is a gun museum and has some interesting displays on the early days of precision manufacturing. There is a beautiful spiral staircase in the main entry to this building. Weekdays only.

 

- Valley Photographic Center, also in Springfield. On the ground floor of the commercial structure that houses the Marriott Hotel. Interesting displays - hours are erratic.

 

As to scenic roads - Rt. 183 (Old Stockbridge Road) from Gt. Barrington to Stockbridge by way of Housatonic paralles the Housatonic River and is quite nice. Also, all of the roads in and out of Lenox.

The comments from others pretty much cover the traveling issue.

 

My wife and I were in Rome a few years ago. One thing you need to be very cautious about is pickpockets. They are everywhere, persistent, and the fact that most are cute kids makes the situation even more difficult to manage. Be very careful, if possible have someone with you to watch you as you are looking through the viewfinder of your camera and making pictures.

Kerry's article in the May/June 2003 issue of View Camera provides exhaustive history of the Caltar lens brand. According to table 10 of that article, the 150mm f5.6 Caltar Pro was made by Schneider in 1982 during a short (one-year only) partnership. These were private-label versions of the Schneider Xenar line that offered good performance in a small, lightweight package, and Calumet's marketing strategy was to offer these as a budget line in parallel with a line of more expensive lenses that were also made by Schneider.

Adrian -

 

I'm originally from Jacksonville. Unfortunately, Florida is not all that exciting as a photographic subject - there has been too much development, too quickly done, and the result is a melange of kitsch punctuated by fast food restaurants. The epicenter of this is Orlando, but it affects much of the state.

 

There are a few exceptions. Some of the old fortifications are very interesting - Castilio de San Marco in St. Augustine is the best preserved, but Ft. Clinch in Fernandina Beach is also nice. The Everglades are interesting if you don't mind heat, humidity, insects, snakes, etc. It's been many years since I've been there, but some of the more remote areas like Key West and Tarpon Springs used to be very interesting.

Parker -

 

There certainly are technical considerations involved in LF - larger negative, greater detail, more limited DOF, etc. But those aren't really the reasons for making the switch.

 

LF requires a different attitude toward photography. LF work is done almost always on a tripod. It is necessary to slow down considerably - it's difficult to set up, make a negative, and then repack your gear in less than around 15 minutes. You have to think more about what you want to photograph, both becaue of the time and because of the increased cost. The need to think more causes you to take a more studied approach - LF doesn't lend itself to the "snapshot" mode of operation. LF photographers tend to be much more "fussy" - strange as it may seem, I think LF photogaphers are more inclined to compose carefully in-camera and use the full image frame, and are less inclined to crop to achieve the final image.

 

If you find yourself using your RB in this fashion, then perhaps you are ready to make the change. But if you prefer faster shooting, either of subjects that are moving or in a studio with strobe, then you may be better off with your present format.

A Polaroid 545 back is about the same thickness as an ordinary film holder and slips under the ground glass back. AFAIK, a 545 (or any of its more modern incarnations) will fit on just about any 4x5 camera.

 

The 405 back is more problematic. Before I bought my Zone VI, I asked Calumet specifically if it would work with a 405, and they assured me that it would. My experience is that it will work, but - - - the 405 is thicker than an ordinary film holder, so it does put more stress on the camera back to slip it under the ground glass. I don't think the stress is necessarily harmful, however. The other issue is that the 405 has a built-in darkslide, and its handle sits very close to the body of the camera. As a result, when I try to grasp the darkslide handle with my fat fingers, I tend to lift the holder away from the camera body. The result is that if I'm not careful, I will fog the edge of the film.

You might try Tim Whelan's Bookstore in Rockport, ME.

Bob -

 

There you go - Peters Valley is in the Delware Water Gap recreational area in north-western NJ - probably not more than 90 minutes from you.

 

But if you are near the city, I suspect that you may be able to find something even closer, and perhaps something that is not "summer camp for adults". An obvious option is ICP, and I think that there are other programs offered by the 97th Street YMCA and other agencies.

Robert -

 

You didn't specify where on the East Coast - it's as much of a pain to get from Maine to Key West as it is from New York to California.

 

The Peters Valley Craft Center offers several LF workshops each year. This year, the introductory course was taught by Ray Yaros, an outstanding LF landscape photographer and really neat guy. This would be exactly the workshop you have described - but it took place Memorial Day weekend.

 

Peters Valley has a couple of LF printing workshops coming up - Tillman Crane on Pt/Pd printing starting next Friday, and Sandra Davis on gum bichromate primting a week later. Both are oriented toward production of the final image and not on handling LF cameras. Scott McMahon is doing a pinhole workshop in early August - also LF but probably not on target for your needs.

 

The final LF program this year is in early September and is a field photography workshop with John Kierston. I met him once, and I have seen his work on his website (http://www.johnkiersten.com/) - my sense is that this workshop may also be a step beyond what you want, but you might contact him for a better description of what he plans to do.

 

Check the Peters Valley web site for more information - http://www.pvcrafts.org

 

Incidentally, Peters Valley is especially nice because the workshops are usually fairly small - about 12 people tops - there is only one photography workshop each weekend, and for a teaching facility the darkroom facilities are excellent. And there are workshops at the same time on other subjects - ceramics, woodworking, blacksmithing, jewelry making, weaving, etc - which makes for a very creative interdisciplinary environment.

 

Another possibility is Maine Workshops - they are longer (a full week rather than a weekend) and more expensive, and the location is a bit more remote.

Mike -

 

You might want to contact Curt Miller. Curt is an accomplished photographer and also officer of the Adirondack Mountain Club. He can probably tell you more than you want to know. His blog is http://curt-miller.blogspot.com/ and contains an e-mail link.

Mike -

 

Where in the Adirondacks do you anticipate being?

 

Also, what kind of nature photography are you interested in? There are oppotunities for "nature shots" just about everywhere in the Adirondacks. Whether you are inspired by those opportunities depends on what you are actually interested in. Closeup/marco/wildflowers and mushrooms versus wildlife, versus streams and lakes and sunsets versus mountainscapes, etc.

 

You might look at books by guys like Carl Heileman, Nathan Farb and Bill Healy for examples of what others have done in the Adirondacks.

Bruce -

 

Good nude models are hard to find - most people associate nude modeling with skin magazines, and if the model brings that attitude to the shoot, the results will be either borderline pornographic or merely tacky.

 

The ideal nude model is a person who has an appreciation for art - and who therefore understands what you are looking for. Also, the ideal model has the ability to move gracefully to adopt poses that emphasize the curves and surfaces of the body that are the real subject of classic nude photography - and the most common way to gain that ability is with ballet training.

 

In my experience, the best was to expand your portfolio in this area is to go to a few workshops. Pick workshops that are more concerned with photography and art, and less concerned with glamour and "girls". The models are more likely to be appropriate for what you are seeking, and I find that working in a group helps stimulate creativity.

 

A photography teacher who frequently offers excellent workshops that coincidentally feature nude models is Ernestine Ruben. She is teaching two workshops this summer at Peters Valley Craft Center. Unfortunately, they sell out rapidly and it may already be too late to get in this year.

Travis -

 

Let's work up a schedule -

 

San Francisco, Fisherman's Wharf, Alcatraz, Chinatown, Golden Gate Park, Palace of Fine Arts - three days

 

Marin County - Sausalito, Marin Headlands, Muir Woods, drive up the coast pst Point Reyes to Bodega Bay, and back down the Russian River to Sonoma County, followed by a day of winery tours and tastings - two days

 

South Bay - drive down Rt. 1* to Monterrey, tool around Monterrey and Carmel(lots of photo galleries), spend a couple of hours in Point Lobos State Park (suggest late afternoon) - two days

 

How much time were you planning to be there?

 

* I understand that Rt. 1 has been closed by a landslide partway down the coast. You will probably have to take either 280 or 101 about halfway down and then cut over to Half Moon Bay.

Randy's suggestion of reticulation is interesting, but I don't think it will give you the effect you are seeking. Reticulation tends to exaggerate grain, and the effect would be an overall increase in grain size. It sounds to me like you are seeking something that will imitate the effect of cracked glass - ie, a random pattern that is considerably larger than the size of the grain in the film.

 

My guess is that the best way to create that would be some kind of texture screen. I haven't seen texture screens for sale in years - but you might be able to make something if you could find a surface that has the pattern you are looking for. Make a photograph of the surface using very oblique lighting - try a variety of exposures, and then overdevelop to emphasize the pattern. You might need to make multiple generations of the image using litho film to reduce things down to the pattern itself.

Large format cameras rarely have hotshoes, but LF shutters frequently have synch contacts that can be used to trigger flash.

 

That said, strobe may not be a practical option for a portable LF setup. The reason is that to achieve the technical quality that LF is noted for one must often use a small aperture. And in the world of LF, small is much smaller than in 35mm - I typically use f32, and f45 is not unheard of. And when the aperture is that small, you need either a very long exposure or a very bright strobe. LF is used with strobes in studios, but a small portable (eg, Vivitar 283) won't do much.

 

Most LF work is done by composing on the ground glass. So its very easy to use graduated filters. Naturally, if you are using a small aperture, it may be hard to see an image on the ground glass, especially if the lighting is dim.

 

As to stuffable reflectors - there is something out there called a "space blanket". One side is covered with a metalized fabric (intended to reflect heat) that can also be used as a light reflector.

My field camera will not fold with the lens in place. I store each lens in a lens wrap, and have a dedicated place for each in my backpack. I have a release for each lens, and I simply wind the release around the lens before putting it in its storage wrapper.

Deb -

 

I grew up in Jacksonville and used to get to St. Augustine frequently. Alas, it's now been at least 30 years since I was last there.

 

An obvious subject is the fort. There should be enough material there to occupy a full day.

 

The Flagler Hotel (now Flagler College) should be very interesting and probably more accessable as a college than as a hotel. The "oldest house" is a possibility, but my recollection is that it was microscopic and unless you are using a very wide angle lens, you might be limited to working details.

 

I also have a vague recollection of an old jail.

Paul -

 

I suggest asking Richard Ritter. Richard worked with Fred Picker to design the Zone VI and may know if the anomaly you have found was intentional or inadvertant.

Before I retired, my job entailed extensive travel. I have a 35mm rangefinder that lived in my briefcase and went with me on every trip. I kept it, and at least one spare roll of film, in a lead bag, and put the briefcase through the carry-on x-ray machine without any concerns. Initially, the inspectors would want to open the lead bag to see what was inside, but I noted that over time, the frequency of visual inspections declined to less than 20%. Because most of those trips were work, the film often was x-rayed many times - easily a dozen or more - without any signs of fogging.

 

Last year, my wife and I made a couple of trips - one to California and one to China. In each instance, I just threw the film into the bag and let it go through the x-ray with no protection at all. On the west coast trip, the film went through x-ray twice - once outbound and once on return. On the China trip there were six inpsections - once at our local airport, once at JFK, and again when we left Hong Kong for Beijing, and then repeated on the journey home. I can't detect any evidence of fogging on the film from thoze trips.

 

That leads me to surmise that, if you can limit the number of exposures to x-ray, there may be more risk of damage to film from improper handling by the inspectors if you call attention to its presence and request that it not be x-rayed.

Boonville - it's called that because it's in the boonies.

 

I live about 100 miles east of there - my sense is that there are some interesting things in the area, but they are not right in town but rather scattered over a pretty wide radius. There are old canals (including a now-abandoned canal that went from Syracuse up to Lake Ontario), Fort Stanwyx in Rome, the classic old train station and the Art Museum in Utica, Cooperstown (the Farmer's Museum, the Fenimore Art Museum, and oh yeah, I think there is some kind of sports museum thingie there also), the odd covered bridge, interesting old towns with interesting old barns, a classic Russian Church with traditional gold domes in Jordanville, the George Eastman House in Rochester, Hanford Mills in East Meredith, etc.

Ethan -

 

The issue is whether the customs official will believe that equipment that you have with you on your return to the US was purchased outside the US and is therefore subject to US duties. The purpose of the form is for a customs official to certify that he has personally inspected the equipment in the US. The customs officer must see the equipment and record the serial numbers on the form, and then sign the form. This cannot be done over the internet.

 

I don't know where the appropriate office is at SFO - I got mine (back in the early 70s) at JFK, and at the time you had to find a service window buried in the bowels of the old International Arrivals Building.

 

As a practical matter, it may not really be necessary. For one thing, customs folks are most likely to question new equipment. If your stuff is older, it's probably not going to raise any questions. Secondly, whether you actually are subjected to anything more than a cursory inspection depends a lot on the circumstancs of travel and your demeanor at the time. The vast majority of my travel was business, and I always presented myself as a business person - I traveled light, had a big briefcase complete with laptop, and when asked, I identified my employer (a widely recognized company). As a result, in the literally hundreds of times that I returned to the US from an overseas trip, I was never subjected to an actual customs inspection.

 

Finally, when the form was originally designed (back in the 60's), the focus of the customs service was on contraband goods - merchandise brought into the US without paying duty or in violation of agreements giving designated importers sole rights to import goods with that brand. Today, the focus is more on drugs and terrorists.

Marcel -

 

Photo shops - Calumet, Glasser, Keeble & Shuchet (down the peninsula in Palo Alto).

 

Sights/places:

 

In the city: Fisherman's Wharf and the Embarcadero, Guiradelli Square, Alcatraz, Fort Mason, The Presidio, The Palace of Fine Arts, Land's End and the Cliff House, Chinatown, Golden Gate Park (the Japanese Garden is very nice, also the botanical garden), The Legion of Honor Museum in Lincoln Park. Parking in the city is a hassle - but San Francisco is spread out and VERY hilly - its a great place to walk, but unless you are accustomed to hills, you will tire quickly.

 

North of the city: Marin Headlands, Golden Gate Bridge (the parking area on the right side just north of the bridge is a great spot), Sausalito, Muir Woods, Napa Valley, Point Reyes National Seashore.

 

South of the city: Palo Alto (Stanford University campus is very nice), Santa Clara, the Tech Museum in San Jose, Monterrey and Carmel-by-the-Sea, Point Lobos State Park, Salinas (the John Steinbeck Museum is a must for culture), Pidgeon Point Light, Lick Observatory at Mount Hamilton.

 

"Short trip to the grand canyon" is an oxymoron. It's a full day drive to Yosemite - and finding lodging when you get there is a challenge. The Grand Canyon is at least two full days of driving.

Hash -

 

Our son lives in the South Bay area, so we get out to San Francisco every year or so.

 

First point - it's San Francisco. Don't let the locals hear you call it "Frisco".

 

In the city: Fisherman's Wharf and the Embarcadero, Guiradelli Square, Alcatraz, Fort Mason, The Presidio, The Palace of Fine Arts, Land's End and the Cliff House, Chinatown, Golden Gate Park (the Japanese Garden is very nice, also the botanical garden), The Legion of Honor Museum in Lincoln Park. Parking in the city is a hassle - but San Francisco is spread out and VERY hilly - its a great place to walk, but unless you are accustomed to hills, you will tire quickly.

 

North of the city: Marin Headlands, Golden Gate Bridge (the parking area on the right side just north of the bridge is a great spot), Sausalito, Muir Woods, Napa Valley, Point Reyes National Seashore.

 

South of the city: Palo Alto (Stanford University campus is very nice), Santa Clara, the Tech Museum in San Jose, Monterrey and Carmel-by-the-Sea, Point Lobos State Park, Salinas (the John Steinbeck Museum is a must for culture), Pidgeon Point Light, Lick Observatory at Mount Hamilton.

 

The food in San Francisco is great - it's hard to get a bad meal there.

 

Have fun!

This picture appears to be in the style of Neal Slavin, but I can't confirm that its actually his work. He is noted for photographing groups of people.

Mark -

 

I've flown from New York to the West Coast with my full 35mm kit several times since 9/11. No problem - the TSA inspectors know what 35mm cameras are.

 

On one trip, I did encounter an inspector (in San Jose) who wanted to inspect every roll of film. He was polite, he didn't expose the film, but he insisted on taking each cassette out of its canister and doing a wipe test for explosives. After half a dozen or so, he got bored and let me go. But the lesson from that experience is to get to the airport early to allow the inspectors more time to poke around through your stuff.

 

By the way - its not a good idea to check a bag containing a camera, and NEVER, EVER put film in a checked bag.