Generally I am quite happy with the way the 5x7 view camera dump photos turned out this last trip. I had not really shot that much large format (especially a 5x7 with dark cloth) in the field, in available light before. I had done a bit with the 4x5 Linhof but this time I went all in with the larger 5x7 format/longer lens. Things turned out reasonably well but I can make improvements to my technique.
I lost many shots to subject movement and poor focusing techiniques. When your photographing people (especially children) and you cannot speak their language it is very hard to keep them still. Things also can look a bit posed and staid when doing large format portraits. I want to get a better feel, a more real human look and feel to the pictures. I can almost accomplish this with my reflex viewer and press shutter on my 4x5 Linhoff but with the 5x7 and cumbersome dark cloth and slower lens it is a tough thing to do.
I have been thinking of a new way to focus with a view camera right to the last second before exposure camera, the Graflex! I buy a hell of a lot of cameras and sometimes I never use them but other times like with the Rolleiflex F they and Lecia M6 they become revolutionary tools for me creatively. I want to do the same thing with the Graflex Super D I bought a year or so ago.
The Graflex is a 4x5 SLR which would allow me to see my subject and focus on them right to the last second before exposure. The problem is I am unhappy with the standard Kodak lens I got with the camera. I want to try to use more modern 135mm-150mm lens (wide open at f 5.6 or f 8). I ordered 2 Graflex lens boards off E-bay a week ago and will do some shooting with the Graflex and modern lens combos in the coming months. If this new camera combo measures up it will be another useful tool in my efforts tell the stories of the "Families and the Children of the Dump"
I lost many shots to subject movement and poor focusing techiniques. When your photographing people (especially children) and you cannot speak their language it is very hard to keep them still. Things also can look a bit posed and staid when doing large format portraits. I want to get a better feel, a more real human look and feel to the pictures. I can almost accomplish this with my reflex viewer and press shutter on my 4x5 Linhoff but with the 5x7 and cumbersome dark cloth and slower lens it is a tough thing to do.
I have been thinking of a new way to focus with a view camera right to the last second before exposure camera, the Graflex! I buy a hell of a lot of cameras and sometimes I never use them but other times like with the Rolleiflex F they and Lecia M6 they become revolutionary tools for me creatively. I want to do the same thing with the Graflex Super D I bought a year or so ago.
The Graflex is a 4x5 SLR which would allow me to see my subject and focus on them right to the last second before exposure. The problem is I am unhappy with the standard Kodak lens I got with the camera. I want to try to use more modern 135mm-150mm lens (wide open at f 5.6 or f 8). I ordered 2 Graflex lens boards off E-bay a week ago and will do some shooting with the Graflex and modern lens combos in the coming months. If this new camera combo measures up it will be another useful tool in my efforts tell the stories of the "Families and the Children of the Dump"
