Back in 1996, my wife got me a Bender 4x5 large format camera kit. I'm no woodworker, but the instructions were very good, and kept me from making too many heinous mistakes. The result was a lightweight 4x5 monorail with full movements.
My favorite B&W photograph was taken with this camera, a picture of Cliff Palace at Mesa Verde. I was able to time the tour groups moving through it, and managed to get a negative without a human soul in it. I didn't bring developing gear with me, so I didn't even know if it had turned out until I got back from the trip and could spend some time in the darkroom. I wound up spending an entire weekend doing test prints on the enlarger before printing a 24x36 on Ilford matte paper. The film grain isn't visible in the final print, and it takes a loupe to see the limitations of the optics. It really turned out well. After framing and matting the print, I gave it to my father, who was standing with me when I tripped the shutter. When I visited him in December, I was happy to see it still hanging on his wall.
A few days ago I found out there's a black and white photo contest that's hosted in the town where I live. It's an annual contest of photographs taken in the previous calendar year. A friend of mine entered, and though his entry didn't win it did sell. He was completely stoked, and is already working on his entry shot for this year.
I've never really enjoyed doing B&W digital. It's funny, when I shoot with an SLR I think in terms of color. When I shoot with a 4x5, I think in terms of black and white. There's nothing inherent in either camera that dictates this. I've shot color transparencies with my 4x5, and I used to roll my own TMX film into cans for shooting with an A2 and later an EOS 5. But I'm comfiest shooting B&W on the Bender, or on my wife's Crown Graphic.
Since I've been doing so much kite aerial photography, I figured that would be a neat perspective to use for my B&W shot. And since I really like doing B&W with my Bender, I figured that would be the camera of choice. Sooo...
Yep, I'm going to make a Picavet suspension for my Bender, put safety lines on all the bits and pieces in case something breaks, and make a new lens board so I can put a servo right next to the shutter and mount my radio receiver and batteries on the board as well. (Yes, I really am that crazy.)
I don't have a subject picked out just yet, but that will come. I do have a pretty wide selection of locations that I've already done on a digital camera that might help me pick, but I might go for sometihng I haven't done yet. A big question I have yet to answer is which kite to use. My first choice would be the rokkaku because at the line angles I can get I wouldn't need a whole lot of line tension to lift the Bender. But it's so dependent on local flying conditions, that may not work.
I'll post more once the details get settled. I can't wait to see this camera fly.
Tom
2 comments:
The Mesa Verde shot you mentioned sounds awesome. It's winter right now where we live. Best time, IMO, for B&W... got a decent shot of an old rundown barn up against the mountains. When everything's gray and white anyway, it might as well just be amplified! Some don't like winter much. I tend to see it as a thing of beauty (and photographic opportunity) so long as I've got a warm spot to bring blood back into my fingers.
Here winter is more a matter of altitude than season, but I used to live in Pennsylvania, so I know what you're talking about. I miss snowstorms you can watch out a window while drinking a nice cup of tea and reading a good book.
I need to replace the dead power supply on my scanner. As soon as I can (today, I hope!) I plan to scan in a bunch of my 4x5 negatives. Hope I can share the Mesa Verde picture!
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