Getting Out and About With the 4x5 Speed Graphic

I have a beautiful early Graflex Speed Graphic 4x5 camera. Because it's not so convenient to use, I haven't spent much time with it. I decided to change that over the three day 4th of July weekend. I made a total of ten exposures (on Arista EDU film), and found that five of them are worth sharing. That's a pretty good hit rate compared to smaller formats, where I shoot a lot more images per scene.

 

Here are my five favorites from the weekend:

 

 

I usually set the camera on a tripod, using the ground glass back to frame and focus. I did that for the last three images above. For the first two, I used the rangefinder and shot handheld. Getting the focus right is a challenge, and I missed on some other shots. But, when you get it right, it's pretty nice.

 

In the picture of the house (Thornton House at Manassas National Battlefield), I used the front rise movement of the camera to allow me to keep the camera level to avoid distortion, yet still capture the roof and chimney. Pretty cool.

 

In the shot of the lotus flowers, I threw all concern for distortion to the wind, shooting with the camera nearly on the ground, pointing up at a steep angle.

 

I'm very happy that the Speed Graphic is not my only camera, or even my main one. But, it's instructive and fun to use.

 

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Computer Upgrade Brings Up Some Old Images

 

Hands of Time, by Reed A. George

Graflex Speed Graphic 4x5

 

I'm about half-way through migrating all of my images to my new computer. As expected, the process has been difficult, mainly because I'm not much of a computer tech person. But, I've now successfully moved Windows to a fast SSD drive, installed a new hard drive, installed Lightroom and moved over my existing catalog, etc. So, much progress has been made.

 

As I move images over, I'm seeing a lot from about 8-10 years ago, when I started storing them on my computer in earnest. This one is from 2006, I believe. The watch is one of the only things I have to remember my grandfather, who died when I was a child. The hands belong to my daughter, who's just started high school.

 

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Evan Leavitt Does It Again

Eternal Movement, by Evan Leavitt

Image Source: https://evanleavittphotography.wordpress.com/2015/06/23/eternal-movement/

Man, I really love this guy's work. Every once in a while I repost it here, when something catches my eye. Evan made this with a 4x5 Graflex Speed Graphic on a paper negative.

(Click Here) to go to Evan's blog.

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Lessons from the Forest - My Upcoming Exhibition

I spent some time yesterday printing and preparing for my upcoming photography exhibit, as part of the "Coffee and Critique Exposed: The Exhibit," to be hosted at Glen Echo Park, Maryland, from November 21, 2014 - January 5, 2015.

 

I've been working on a set of photographs related to my meditation practice. I've put together five prints for the show, printed on matte paper. I'm using Epson matte paper at the moment, but may experiment with some other papers before the exhibit hangs on November 13.

 

One thing I learned from the Magnum Days workshop with David Alan Harvey is to make short slideshows of my work, as part of the editing process. Here's one that I made and posted on youtube for this exhibit:

 

 

Lessons from the Forest, by Reed A. George

 

All five images were shot on 4x5 film. The first and final shots were made with a Graflex Speed Graphic, the others with a pinhole camera. I have a lot more to do on this project, but the goal of this series was to share something of the state of mind that I achieve in meditation, and particularly in walking meditation.

 

I hope you find it interesting!

 

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Burnside Bridge, Antietam National Battlefield, Two Perspectives.

Here's a shot I made of Burnside Bridge, site of a bloody battle at Antietam in the US Civil War. I made this image in 2010.

Burnside Bridge, by Reed A. George

Leica M8, Minolta Rokkor 40mm f2

iso 160, f11, 1/15 sec.

 

What drew me to this scene was the lighting - a mixture of diffuse shade, hard direct sun, and reflections of such up under the bridge arches.

 

What got me thinking about Burnside Bridge right now? The image below, by Evan Leavitt:

 

Image Source: http://evanleavittphotography.wordpress.com/2014/06/05/antietam-view-3/#comment-679

 

Evan made this shot with a Graflex Speed Graphic and 4x5 paper negative. Lovely.

 

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Japan in the 1950s - Cool Picture of Nikon Lens Manufacturing

I saw a post on Rangefinder Forum with a link to The Atlantic Monthly's site, sharing images of Japan in the 1950s. The first image below really caught my attention. It's a Nikon factory worker, assembling rangefinder lenses. Very cool.

 

The second image is a press conference in Japan. Not a Nikon (or any other) rangefinder in sight. Instead, we see movie film cameras, and a lot fo 4x5s, mostly American, if I'm not mistaken. I'm sure I see a lot of Graflex Speed Graphics in that crowd.

 

Image Source: http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2014/03/japan-in-the-1950s/100697/#img12

(Click Here) to see the images on The Atlantic Monthly.

 

Thanks to Rangefinder Forum member VTHokiEE for the post (Click Here) with this link.

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Dodge and Burn Presents Their Newest Camera T-Shirt - The Graflex Speed Graphic With Aero-Ektar Lens!

 

The Newest Dodge and Burn Shirt - Speed Graphic With Aero-Ektar!

Image Source: dodgeandburn.com

 

I've written about Dodge and Burn before. They make the coolest t-shirts with classic camera designs. (Click Here) to go to their home page and see all of their designs.

 

(Click Here) to read my previous post.

 

I want you to know that I'm not financially connected with them in any way; I simply love their products. In fact, I now have three - the Street Shooter, the Rangefinder Classic, and now, the MAPC (Modified Aerial Press Camera) shown above.

 

The Aero Ektar is a 178mm lens with fast f2.5 aperture. It was built for the US military to use for aerial photography.

 

The Graflex Speed Graphic needs little introduction. It was the most popular press camera (4x5 film) for many, many years.

 

A quick google search for either the camera or lens will yield more information than you can consume.

 

(Click Here) for a single page with lots of good information.

 

One more plug for Dodge and Burn - I had a minor flaw with one of my shirts. They took care of it immediately and efficiently. Their customer service is exactly as it should be - customer-focused. Thanks, Dodge and Burn!

 

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