Saturday, August 3, 2013

Skeletons From The Closet - More Results From May's Autocord TLR in the Studio

I had a roll of film in the Autocord since May. I finished it up, and share some results today. These shots were made during my studio session with musician friend Melissa Wright.
 
(Click Here) to see the images I made of Melissa with the Nikon D700.
 
Near the end of our session, I asked Melissa if she minded being patient with me, long enough to shoot some pictures with my old film camera. She agreed. This entailed connecting up my sync cord to the studio wireless transponder (what a combination of technologies, huh?), putting my Rolleinar closeup lens on, and transferring exposure info from the D700 at iso200 to the Autocord, where I was shooting Portra 160 film. Here's the result.
 
Melissa Wright, by Reed A. George
Minolta Autocord, Kodak Porta 160 Color Print Film
 
I think I did okay on exposure and focus. This was at the end of our session, so Melissa was undoubtedly tired of being photographed, but she hung in there. The old Autocord did a pretty good job.
 
Here's a shot that I've rendered in both color and monochrome. Which do you prefer?
 
Monochrome or Color?, by Reed A. George
Minolta Autocord, Kodak Porta 160 Color Print Film
 
It really was pretty hard to see through the Autocord finder to focus, even though this camera has the brightest finder of any Twin Lens Reflex (TLR) I've used, including several Rolleiflexes. I have trouble imagining shooting the whole session with this camera, but it sure added to the fun. I suppose brighter modeling lights, or hot lights (instead of strobes) would make focusing easier.
 
That said, the Autocord is a joy to shoot, especially in good ambient light. It's one of the cameras I have trouble putting back in the closet after its month in the sun.
 
Avedon did the bulk of his shooting with a TLR in the studio. He must've figured it out.
 
DMC-365.blogspot.com
 
 

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