howard_singer

i recently bought a used hasselblad system (500 c/m , 80 cf lens and a-12 back. i wanted to make sure i wasn't buying into a problem so i and had dave odess look at the hassy body, back and lens. i visited his shop and it's set up totally to repair hasselblad. he inspected all of my equipment carefully and advised that i don't need any cla right now which i thought was extremely honest and he's a tech i plan on using from now on for my hassy gear. he's the guy to contact.

 

hs

One of my lenses is an older B&L 11 inch tessar 1c which came in a

refurbed ilex 5 shutter along with the 8x10 camera. i actually like

the lens for certain purposes, especially portraits because it has a

nice a little bit soft quality to it when used at f22 or above.

however, the ilex 5 shutter is the older style and does not have a

flash sync so i can't use the lens and shutter with a strobe. it's

a pain having people hold still for more than 1/2 a second so my

choices are:

 

1. do nothing and use it when i can based on light

 

 

2. have the lens put in another ilex V shutter with a flash sync

 

the lens itself is perfect and the shutter it's in is a little fast

but works fine. anyone have any ideas about finding an ilex V

shutter with a flash sync that works?

 

any thoughts you have re: this situation including other options,

would appreciate your comments.

i took a workshop with Tillman at his darkroom in Camden Maine this winter in platinum printing. Great teacher, excellent photographer, no wasted time when working with him. superb experience.

 

howard

sometimes you just have to take the picture and do what you want with the negative. if you must make a living at it you play under those rules. if you want to take a picture and want to process and print it because you feel like doing it a certain way, then on rare occasion the audience will come to that picture. maybe someone will pay you something for it and maybe when you die the picture will still have an audience, a life of its own.

 

hsinger

If your goal is to create a technical masterpiece, that's cool. On the other hand, if your goal is to explore the outer edges of rationality, that's cool as well. The biggest problem you may have is that you believe the constraints that those in the know may put on you. If I was strong enough I'd be carrying my 8x10 and tripod with me all the time and use it whenever the impulse hit. why not?

i have viewed various postings re: portrait lenses but for me i'd

like an update. I'm learning my way though 8x10 portraiture and at

the moment i'm comparing a g claron and a 1930's 11 3/4 b&l tessar.

i'm using strobes so i can use the b&l at f22-f32. so, at first it

seemed obvious that the modern g claron seemed much superior but the

more i use the strobes and get better at exposing the b&l, old ilex

shutter correctly, the more i'm starting to feel/see the huge

difference in the older glass. the modern glass produces

consistently sharp, clear contacts but the older glass "sees" the

vision in a much less than perfect but quite interesting manner, not

necessarily soft but more ---well, as if through a memory. with

this in mind, i'm now interested in your breakdown of how the

various older lenses you use capture a quality beyond clarity.

specifics about a lens you know well will be helpful.

i'm using 4x5, 5x7, 8x10 LF B&W primarily and am exploring

portraiture. I realize that some photographers are professionals

who have to sell their services to clients and the client has to

like the portrait and as a result there's a lot of discussion about

getting sharpness/softness, the right focus, etc. Well, what about

portraiture purely for the sake of good photographic art when it

doesen't matter if the subject likes the output. Anybody doing

anything interesting that breaks the rules or makes the rules with

regard to format, lens choice, exposure, development, etc.?

 

Would like to hear your ideas.

 

Thanks

 

Howard

who cares? go look at photographs made a hundred years ago and when you can equal the quality in your own work then take time out for the digital debate. let's get this bb back to discussing art and technique or else let's start another area for people who want to do the craft rather than window shop

i was pleased with the meeting as it was a masterful first step in what i hope will be an ongoing process. the fact that andrew pulled this together is to be commended. from this point, we can continue to develop agendas etc. let's keep it going and thanks andrew.

I came across a "bee hive" shaped hut/cabin abandoned in the woods

nearby. It is made of large stones and wood. Where there was a door

there is now just a black empty inside but through the darkness there

is a square opening which was at one point a window I guess. Through

this once window you can see light and woods outside. The structure

has sunk into a wetlands area so there is no way to enter it. The

only way to shoot it is from an old wall looking down into the front

door space, into the darkness where it looks like the once window is

hanging in mid air.

here's my question: I've been doing 4x5 for about a year and I'd

like to play around with focus, etc. using this beehive structure as

the exercise.

 

the outside stone has beautiful texture and the stone is very light;

the wood is interesting and the wood is both dark and light.

The "hanging window" through the black space is interesting but it is

about 25 feet from the near part of the structure (the stone),

through the blackness to the window. the scene is interesting in a

totally realistic way and in an abstract way. The structure

is "beehive round" and with all of the different textures, contrasts,

etc. I guess I'd like some general thoughts about how you might think

out a complex situation like this and create an approach that would

get you down a path that would allow you to test and also create

something interesting in steps.

 

i'm shooting b&w, 4x5 and i do my own darkroom work.

 

I know that words can't define the problem perfectly but I guess I

have faith that many of you will have interesting approaches.

 

Howard Singer

you can get front tilt with a crown graphic by attaching the camera

to the tripod via the hole under the strap and then moving tripod

head to get the camera upside down. i've been doing lf about a year

and have resisted the tendency to go for another camera; using

graphic view II and crown graphic and via searches find "new"

features all the time that allow me to learn more and more without

having to go for more expensive equipment so far. putting the money

into lenses.

graphic view II & crown graphic for 4x5 b&w, rolleiflex 3.5e for b&w;

contax rx for b&w; do all my own darkroom work mostly 11x14 ilford

warmtone fb; am very computer literate and at this point have no

interest in digital photography; no professional need, no interest

in spending more time staring into a monitor