Those Days....

Go ahead, take a gander at the shot below….. That is the top of my Pen F half-frame. A nice morning here in Philadelphia USA with the humidity bound to climb. I have no idea how the folks prior to air conditioning ever survived being back east with Humidity. Regardless, June 14th And my Pen F is telling me I have around 4 shots to go before I max out my film roll. Actually only 2-3 since going to the full 72, makes it really difficult to rewind the film. That my friends is an issue with all Pen F’s….. If you go to 72, the camera won’t rewind well and you risk ripping the film in mid ‘wind’…. So with a few shots to go, I take off to work on my “Alone” project.

With.an extra roll of 400, plus my notebook to record events, happenings…reflections. My project takes me to various locations on the streets of Philly and being summer….and getting into humidity, I knew I had maybe 3 hours before I needed to find shelter (air conditioning). Many times when I shoot in Philly, I make a line, half-way thru my day….to an air conditioned place such as the local camera shop, perhaps the National Park at Independence Hall or Constitutional Hall or the Museum of the American Revolution. I become rejuvenated.

Now, the nice thing about the Pen F is that it is small. Probably the smallest film camera I own. Today I decided to attach my 60mm (85 equivalent) as I did purchase this thing for $895 and dang-it-all Deputy Dog, I am going to get my use from it. So with nothing around my neck to attract sweat, and just my pocket stuffed with that extra roll of film and my notebook; with the Pen F in hand…..I wander.

I looked….I sat…I journaled in my notebook on my day….what I needed to look for ….I placed it back into my pocket and walked some more. A new place. I waited….sat, walked….skirted from one shady spot to the next. Wrote again in my journal as I sat on a cement bench, still cool to the touch from the night.

The funny thing is….2 hours into my walk and nothing….not one shot…no release of the shutter to even make it to 69, let alone 71. But I had time to ponder, sit…bounce my leg around a bit, twiddle my fingers and stare off.

With three hours nearing, it was time to pack up. Take note, there was nothing really to ‘pack up’. Along the return route, it wasn’t that there wasn’t anything to shoot on the streets as there always is, but when I go out with a project in mind, my brain focuses on that project. I seek out images for that particular project. Today, after near 3 hours I had zero shots. But, that’s okay as that is part of doing business….that is photography. With a stated purpose in mind and my brain focused on the shots I want, my mind isn’t just meandering and desperate to take shots just to take shots. I don’t work that way. If nothing comes my way, well….that is the day. Today just happens to be one of ‘those days’.

Film? Far From Bias I am, right?

This is a post that perhaps some….well for sure, those who shoot digital…will not grasp. For those that shoot film, well…..you are the ‘some’ that I am speaking to for you will grasp this.

What is art? ;….. art as in photography. For me, it is film and nothing more or not less, yet in my mind, digital photography is a bit less. And why might that be? Questions to ponder and for the most part those questions are responded to by imagery represented within film, and the process one takes to derive it.

Let’s go back, whether to Mathew Brady or Ansel Adams or anyone in between or forth that shot film. It doesn’t make a difference if you are medium or large format or 35mm or even if you are shooting video of the same film line. The process that is needed to truly shoot and capture that ‘slice of life’ in a way that represents true art, humanity…the essence of that ‘slice’….has to be done via the process of shooting film.

I was just in a forum the other day where Ricoh came out with a new GR digital which has a new feature to better capture the look of film. But why….why not just shoot film in the first place? It has utterly been decades since digital photography came out and it seems that the nirvana of many camera makers is still to develop a digital process that produces film-like images. Photographers can sense an image that just ‘gets it’…. or many semi-professional/pro’s can tell when an image is film. Why would manufacturers such as Sony, Fuji, Ricoh, Leica, Canon, Nikon, and Olympus/OM System….continue to want to capture film-like images and do so via digital gear? Because many people like that feel; be it black and white or color. Recent firmware updates and in-camera settings that have the mood and character of film….and use various filters embedded in the cameras that attempt….and I use that word judiciously ….’attempt’ to have as an end product, a filmisque quality about it. Even today, with decades between us and when digital first came on board…..many photographers inherently see a need for the film-look. They keep putting forth new products and cameras and software and mega-pixels and ND filters and mist filters and whatever…. Some digital photographers even return to early. digital such as the Leica M8 or M9, the early versions of Contax or Ricoh GR….all because someone says that they come ‘close’ ….(but never achieve) the quality of film.

So… that viewpoint is ‘out there’….it simply exists. Now let’s take a leap into the artistic world. And this is where the split between digital and film take another twist.

They shoot horses (scratch that; I mean film)…don’t they? When shooting film the emphasis is on ‘prior to taking the picture’…as opposed to ‘after the shot has been captured’ which is more akin to digital photography …..I argue there is a certain artistic talent that relies upon that pre-step of the process. For instance, when I shoot film, I know ahead of time what I want my image to become and sometimes I actually achieve it. When in the field….I am forced to truly comprehend the relation of sun/light and shadows. as I read the scene. I am watching and waiting and sometimes that wait corresponds to minutes and half-hours …or more…or I return to the scene later on. I wait….I set my ‘triangle’ of exposure and understand the relationship between all three parts of that triangle. I react to it….. F8 or F2 or F16….and use the exposure comp dial if the lsubject and light might dictate it …. Do I dial in 500 shutter or 250 or maybe a 1000 but no more, since my old camera is limited to no more. ISO (or is that ASA?) is set as I place in the film…… either way, I just go for it. One press of shutter at a time and then, guess what? I do it all over again before I press the shutter for image number 2. I add in other minor things such as if I want to use a ND, depending on my lens…. An ND of 2 or 4 or 6 or 8 or ? …. I see the connection between everything. I overexpose or underexpose….. I am not about “post’ processing, rather…I am concentrating on the ‘pre processing element’…. I stand up, or take a step back using my prime lens…. I move and circle my subject and I embrace the situation.

Phew…. I take a shot…I have captured it. But I have absolutely no immediate feedback to tell me what I did right nor wrong as film cameras have no ‘live view’. I just have my intuition as an artist….as art. I move on. I might have captured 1 to 5 photos of the same scene and in most cases, one shot, or maybe two. It isn’t that I negate any post-processing, but with. the exception of a bit of contrast (which film just plains lacks), I am done with just touching up on the contrast, as opposed to…well; read on.

Now…..I am not going to repeat the process for digital, for it is for many….the vast majority now I dare say….an act of placing the camera in ‘auto’….. or….just snapping and going back to photoshop with my thousands of shots taken, and pressing buttons until visually I see what I want. The so called ‘art’ emulating from this process is not a matter so much of skill (yes, bash me…..), but rather which button and which sequence and to which layer in photoshop do I deal with and ultimately accept as art. Or, a digital camera can present ‘live view’ where the photographer sees exactly what the image is and presses an ISO, or Exposure or shutter or aperture and without any real knowledge of why or how they interrelate, the ‘live view’ tells them the image is fine.

But admittedly, there are also excellent digital photographers who bring to the table a finely honed craft and set of skills. I will never diminish them. I simply state that the manner or process of getting images differ from film and digital. And, the digital never quits looks like film and film never looks like digital. Let’s understand that.

To me art…..is the process of creating via my brain and my intuition and my skill….as opposed to having a software program thick with AI, create for the image as many do. AND, don’t even get me started on phone photography.

There …..it has been written….and as Ramses supposedly might have said years back in the ages of the Pharaohs and ancient Egyptians…..“So let it be written, so let it be done”.

The photo below isn’t an award winner….but it is a creation. You see the light or I should say, where it is? I needed to take that into account. I used the shadows below the ladies eyes to my advantage and exposed for what was visible as opposed to getting her entire face and in perfect exposure, for …in this particular ‘slice of life’….this is how she presented herself to me and her unique raccoon look. Why change that? the deep shadows….the darkness…the slightly overexposed chest or the bright nose of her partner….there were all naturally occurring in the scene. That is what the image ‘wrote’ in reality’…and that is what was captured. This is indeed a slice of life; an art exposed and composed to represent what was in front of me (in black and white of course)….. :-), with only one shot taken…one and only one.

Barnacks...Down Under

I am off on my yearly and soon to be, bi-yearly adventure down to Australia as I have a daughter there with two grandkids and one on the way. Yes, a camera decision to make. Taking the ultra-small Ricoh GR is a give-me as I take photos of grandkids. But, which film camera to haul along? …Leica MA and if so, what lens(s)?, Leica Barnacks 1 Model A, or Olympus OM-1 and which Lens’s? My Decision…. leaned to the Barnacks…. Keep reading to understand my reasoning. You see, rarely do I shoot even a dozen images per day, when I venture into the streets. I like to frame my shots, slowly compose them…carefully craft the ending image, and yet admittedly, that goes with any camera. But it really relates to a Barnacks. Now, to grasp what a Barnacks ‘is’, let me ‘step out’ this camera to you and the process:

• Find a shot….not particularly unique here but perhaps unique in my view of the process. I look for the angle, the shadows, the tones, contrast….

• It is a Leica, so I need to make sure the lens cap is ‘off’ (same as with my MA!) and then pull out the lens and lock it in place. The Barnacks has a retractable 50mm Elmar lens.

• Advance the film manually in the Barnacks. It takes one complete turn of the knob.

• Using the sunny 16 and my 400 ISO film, I determine shutter and F-stop. Am I exposing for the shadows or the light? I cannot adjust the shutter (20, 30, 40, 60, 100, 200, 500) on the Barnack’s until after until ‘after’ I advance the film.

• Select the F stop….The stops on the Barnacks do not equal what we normally see on cameras today. The stops on a Barnacks are: 3.5, 4.5, 6.3, 9, 12.5 and 18. This requires a bit of re-thinking as the stops of yesterday, are not equal to the usual stops on cameras today, so a bit of re-adjustment in how to approach this needed.

• Then I take the protective screw off of the shutter button. This helps prevent accidental taking a shot.

• The focus on a Barnacks is not determined by a traditional rangefinder mechanism as we know of it today, unless I have an accessory called a FOKOS which fits on the top of the shoe (only reason for the shoe mount ). Otherwise the Barnacks focuses based upon ‘distance’ ….in feet or meters, depending on the version you have. It is surprisingly not all that difficult to measure by distance estimation and is rather an enjoyable part of the process.

• Once I have distance estimated or more precise using the FOKOS, I can now move the lens focus to the appropriate feet in length. On a Barnacks 1, Model A, you have to release the ‘lock’ on the focus adjuster on the lens. This is done by pressing the ‘hockey stick’ (which was what it was informally called) and sliding the lens counterclockwise to the estimated distance, in order to focus.

• After the above has been complete, I can then move my eye to the viewfinder and compose my shot. The viewfinder has no connection to focus, distance etc…merely composition as one frames the image.

• (h) Press shutter …. Then be prepared to do all of that all over for another shot, when / if, one presents itself.

FOR ME…..that entire process adds to the experience of creating, and crafting, and tooling and slowly ticking the boxes with a check. In no manner is this process akin to any automatic or “P” mode function or that of a traditional rangefinder for focus or cameras with light meters etc… You see, I am a bit of a highbrow when it comes to this particular camera, and relagate more modern camera designs to that of just taking a tourist shot, or an everyday snap shot…. A Barnacks’s is purposeful…. it is imprecise, it is slow, is can be tedious, success implies I shoot alone, so I can force myself to get into my zone, I immerse myself into the process. I demand that the tool I use, equals the rough 1930’s photographic outlook that at times, I require.

Barnack's Update one day later

I had a quick go at the Barnack’s. I loaded up a 24 roll of 400 film and managed to escape the house before the wife had me do more Xmas chores or cooking. Sometimes she just gets a bit too carried away. So a well needed break for me.

Just walked our downtown neighborhood in Philly as this is a condo we have here on the east coast. I love Philadelphia for the ‘ street shooting ops’ as I can’t get this character of a city back west. I shot 9 shots which is rather high considering I was only out shooting for 30 minutes before I made my way to the grocery to pick up stuff (never quite got away from chores).

Within that time frame of 30 minutes…my 9 shots were not of anything I would call as shots I might normally take but, I want to run thru this roll of film to see how shutter speed is, light leaks etc. I shot at around F11 although the dial goes from F9 up to F12 but there seems to be play in between and I can visually observe the opening and closing so suspect I was at F11 or just under. I was at ISO 400 and speed of 500 since it was a nice ‘cold’ but sunny day. I eventually moved down to F9 as well.

My distance calculations was set at 30 feet as I wasn’t stopping too much to talk or grab shots. Perhaps that is for tomorrow. But 30 feet was fine, and a few even at 50 feet as I took from a top of a building looking down. The distance markers on this camera start at 1.5 feet min focus and work up to 50 feet and then to infinity. My Barnack shows distance in ‘feet’ and doesn’t show meters so must have been a camera meant for America.

Impressions? Pretty easy. I have to manually advance the film and that is easy with just a complete turn. The camera provides me with a warning of sorts as the winding mechanism gets a bit ‘tight’ when it is shows 10 + over the actual number I should be at. So, if I shot 9 shots and I advance the film, as I advance the mechanism should tighten up a bit around 20, which is 10 above where it actually should be. Then just keep advancing until you get to your number.

The “F stop is a bit more difficult to adjust. It isn’t impossible but does take a bit of doing as the lever to chance on the lens is small, difficult to grasp, difficult to turn. They should have made that bigger but, hey….I am not Leitz/Leica and obviously this camera was a winner so who am I to judge.

The shutter knob is easy to use.

The optic viewfinder is clear and bright although it took some getting used to as I had to ‘think’ where to place my eye as I am used to M cameras and the placement of the viewfinder. I will get used to this I am sure. Framing in the viewfinder was no issue.

Moving the ‘distance’ to match what I want is not difficult either but one does have to be in good light to see the slotted dot where it corresponds to the distance number. In fact, I have found that I have to turn my camera to bring some light to not only that, but also the small arrow on the film advance as well. Maybe thru years of use, those became less pronounced.

Tomorrow will bring a more productive day as I will have more time to actually work with the camera and walk around more. I want to play with shorter distances and become more proficient at dialing in the F stop, and getting used to the viewfinder placement.

All in all….a positive. I love the uniqueness of it….relying upon distance for focus….the compactness of this camera, lightness….look and feel that I get from shooting it. Again, not going to replace my MA but will provide a twist upon shooting.

Barnack's

In my continued quest to expand my ‘challenge’ ….to push my 35mm learning curve etc…. and of course to do so using film; I purchased a Barnack 1930’s Leitz 1 Model A camera.

I am off digital…..well, with the exception of taking ‘snapshots’ of my grandkids with my iPhone, or perhaps roaming the streets with a Ricoh GRD or GR2 or GR3…. Digitals are a different species, simply put. The enjoyment I get from my Ricoh’s is capturing the human in the wild, their expressions…their mannerisms etc… Yet I find myself not being driven to digital with any substance, depth. Frankly, most people who shoot digital or even film; lack impact…lack depth, lack subject matter. They are purely snapshots at best.

As I having been shooting my Leica MA lately, I have enjoyed it all. Love film. It has been a bit cold outside with the windchill and all, so I have been ‘Ebaying it’ and perusing my Leica books and ran across the older Barnacks. In the past I haven’t given them a thought as I was too focused on the latest, as opposed to earlier models which might actually be better. I found a few Barnacks and put myself thru the ‘history lesson’ of learning the family tree of Leica’s from the word GO. Model A or B or C, or 1, 11, 111, or F or G or Compur or Standard or or or or….. Go ahead, look em up…. It is quite the family tree and all of this occurred within 20-30 years. (1925 thru the 50’s). I settled on not getting the Leica 111 in any ‘letter’ which might follow. They were simply too close to the M3 and M2.

I narrowed it down to the Barnack version 1 or 2 (and there are sub-versions in between). I’ll let it go at that but did see a few on Ebay that I ‘watched’…never pulled on though, just watched. Today, as I walked around with my MA, I needed to ‘relieve my bladder’ so went into the local Unique Photo Store (Philadelphia) as they always have len’s I like, or more importantly, they had a bathroom I could borrow. On the way to the bathroom I started talking to the staff and they said they had Barnacks to sell… A Leitz 1, Model A…..a Leitz 11 and a Leitz 111F. Wow, all 3!I immediately perked up my energy to take a look but knew from the start that I didn’t want the Leitz 111F. That left me with the Leitz 1 and Leitz 11 as they stared at me on the counter. Pick me, pick me please. I picked up one, then the other. Tried this, pulled it to my face….pressed the shutters etc…. Gees ….which one? If they just had one of them it would have made a decision earsier.

Ultimately I decided that yes….screw Ebay….It would be better to buy one from the local camera shop who is aware of the camera’s history. Both of these came from the same collector so I knew they were in good shape. Sure, will most likely need a CLA but heck…who cares. I went back and forth and just decided I wanted the Leitz 1 Model A. No rangefinder….nothing, as opposed to the Leitz 11 which does have a rangefinder although not all what we think of what a rangefinder is, as we compare it to the current crop of focus models in the M line.

I liked the Leitz 1 Model A….. I focus by distance only. So, tonight I was grabbing my measuring tape and practiced distance…. How many feet from here to there? For, that is how I focus the Model A. I set the shutter, the ISO is film so already set, and I move my aperture and most likely to either F6.3 or F9, but they as those are the options. If I know the distance, and plug it in, I win….I get focus.

Does it work? Not sure……. I will play with it and expect some off-focus images until I know distance. If I can keep the shutter at 500 and F8 or F9, I should have enough depth of field where I can be ‘off in distance’ and still have focus. Again, will see…. More to come.

Barnacks Leitz 1 Model A, circa 1930. Black Paint with 5cm (50mm) lens.