Back to Basics
Between struggling with poor health and trying to keep up with family activities and events, I've ended up in a not-so-surprising funk. I get bored during extended bouts of poor health and finding interesting things to keep me busy while also keeping my mind occupied and feeling productive becomes a bit of a challenge. I always find something to accomplish but sometimes the usual things I turn to become rather boring to me. Lately, I've turned my focus to photography and, unfortunately, I've found that I'm in a bit of a funk when it comes to my photography.
I'm bored.
The things I shoot, I've shot a million times already (perhaps even literally) so it is something I feel I can do in my sleep now. It is hard finding inspiration in the same old situations over and over again. It is difficult finding something new, exciting and interesting in all the usual shooting subjects when you find yourself in a rut.
I'd really love to spend more time building a portfolio of portraits but that is a difficult thing. Sheila is my primary model and she works all day. When she arrives home, she is exhausted so I don't want to bother her by asking her to be a model for an hour or two while I experiment.
The grandkids... well... they don't have the focus or patience to model for more than a second or two (literally) so that is not an option either. We'd love to get some good portraits of the kids but they simply do not have the patience, willpower or focus needed for modeling. They are fine for a short time with instantaneous snapshots but that is it. Modeling is out of the question. My attempts to get them to actually model, thus far in seven years, have been fruitless. I do try at least monthly to get them to model but they always become frustratingly restless within a few very short seconds. Needless to say, using the grandkids as models hasn't been an option for me to get out of this funk either.
Getting out and about to find good landscapes to shoot has been difficult too. I don't drive much anymore and wandering from the house has become difficult with my health anyway. Landscapes are best to shoot very early morning around sunrise and very late in the day around sunset, typically, and those are two lousy times of the day for me, generally speaking.
So, I'm bored and in a bit of a funk when it comes to photography.
I decided that I need to shake things up and challenge myself. There are all sorts of projects that can be attempted to accomplish this and I've accomplished many already since becoming disabled. It is definitely time for a new challenge though. One thing I have not done, however, is to go way back to basics. By "back to basics" I mean going back to shooting film with manual cameras.
I've been spoiled with the latest digital cameras. When I was a kid many decades ago, I learned photography on cameras that required manual focusing, manual exposure, shooting on film and then developing that film in a darkroom. I learned how to make prints and do enlargements. I learned about dodging and burning. I learned about the chemicals. Today, I don't remember how to do most of that! I don't even think about most of this process anymore. Maybe it is time to get back to at least some of these basics to create a spark in my photography again.
I had originally started with 35mm film. To be honest, even thinking about going back to 35mm film bores me to tears. There is just this feeling that I would become bored with that format very quickly. If I am going to go all the way back to shooting on film, it should be a film format that will provide better prints than I can do with my digital gear.
I never had an opportunity to try my hand at medium format so that seems like the next logical step. This would be something different... this would be a challenge... this would be something completely new but challenge me to go back to the basics!
I had already written about getting a twin lens reflex camera in the mail a week or two ago (pictured on the right, above). This twin lens reflex camera shoots instant film so that has its limitations but it is near medium format and it was something I always wanted to try anyway. For this new project, however, I really needed a true medium format camera so I could shoot medium format film.
I was leaning toward a big old medium format camera by Mamiya. The size of this thing bothered me a bit though. Although this particular camera would definitely produce absolutely beautiful prints, I knew that if the camera and gear was too big and too heavy, my spinal injuries would overrule and I wouldn't do much with the new medium format camera. I needed to find a smaller medium format camera that I could easily carry anywhere.
After a bit of research, I found a collapsible medium format camera on eBay. This small, collapsible camera was also a Mamiya camera. Mamiya is a well-known Japanese camera maker used by many commercial photographers. They are known for quality medium format cameras and are right up there with Hasselblad.
Medium format is about big negatives or big digital sensors. In this case, we are talking about big film negatives. The only way to minimize the size of a medium format camera is to make it collapsible in some way. This particular camera model, a Mamiya Six, has a lens that is attached to a bellows and it can be folded up into the body of the camera making the camera very portable and relatively lightweight.
This camera is actually quite simple but the craftsmanship is exquisite. This particular model is from around 1952 and yet it is in "near mint" condition. I spent some time this afternoon cleaning the camera and getting to know it. It really is an impressive camera. It is relatively small yet it produces big medium format film negatives.
In this photo, below, the lens is folded into the body of the camera. You can also see how small this medium format camera is in my hand.
Most of the popular digital cameras today have sensors that are referred to as "crop sensors". I shoot with cameras that have crop sensors as well as cameras with larger full frame sensors. The crop sensors are perhaps the most popular today when we are talking about cameras and not cellphones. A crop sensor is nine times smaller than this medium format film back. This medium format film is huge compared to a digital sensor.
Light is captured on the film which is 60mm x 60mm (6cm x 6cm)... a crop sensor captures light on a sensor chip that is only 24mm x 16mm. This medium format film camera, if all is working correctly, should produce amazingly sharp images with smooth tonal qualities.
Although this camera is actually a medium format camera, the photo below also shows how small this camera is in my hand...
This particular camera can shoot in two aspect ratios... a 6cm by 4.5cm ratio or a 6cm x 6cm ratio. I'll be shooting in the square 6x6 ratio. Part of choosing the aspect ratio is on the back panel of the camera, as seen below... these windows with sliding covers show the respective exposure numbers. One format is larger than the other so the exposure edges will be in different places hence two different windows on the back of the camera.
Even with the lens extended, this is still a small camera. As you can see on the top plate, this camera is called the Mamiya Six referring to the 6cm film frame size...
I bought this camera from a shop in Japan. When it comes to cameras and electronics, the Japanese are the leaders and have been since the 1950s. This camera is still in great condition as though it were new and it arrived with a leather half case...
The lens on this camera is supposed to be pretty good too. Naturally, it is all manual. You even need to remember to cock the shutter before each shot! I tested the shutter and it seems to be working just fine.
The first camera I ever bought myself when I was in college was a 35mm rangefinder camera. Rangefinder cameras are a bit unusual in how they focus. You sight through two windows... one window is straight through... the other is angled and off to the side... you need to line up the two images inside the viewfinder in order to focus. What is really unusual is you are not focusing through the lens. You are focusing through these two windows shown here, below. The other thing worth noting here is that most digital cameras today show a "live view" of the exposure and composition. This film camera only allows you to see a representation of how to compose your shot. If it is dark out, the view through the viewfinder will be dark. You will have no representation of exposure either. Nevertheless, it is an interesting way to focus.
This wheel on the top left of the camera serves two purposes. The main purpose is to advance the film after each shot. The secondary purpose is to indicate what type of film is in the camera. This has no effect on the film but is more to remind the photographer what type of film is already loaded in the camera. You can't open the back of the camera to see what type of film is loaded without exposing all the film so you need some way to remind you what is already loaded in the camera.
On the top right side of the camera we have a rudimentary depth of field scale...
Below, is where you select your aperture on the lens...
The right thumb is used here, below, on this wheel to focus. Focusing is easy in good light and almost impossible in very poor light. Then again, film isn't really for poor light.
After the camera arrived today, I disassembled a good portion of the camera to clean it up. The glass still seems to be pristine which is a good sign. After cleaning each section, I reassembled that section of the camera and then moved to the next section. For a camera that is about 60 years old, I am impressed with the condition and the quality!
Going back to basics should slow me down and get me to think more about each aspect of capturing an image. It should force me to become more methodical and deliberate. Taking the time for all of this allows more time for seeing and attaining creativity and interest.
I'm looking forward to trying my hand at medium format photography!
I'm bored.
The things I shoot, I've shot a million times already (perhaps even literally) so it is something I feel I can do in my sleep now. It is hard finding inspiration in the same old situations over and over again. It is difficult finding something new, exciting and interesting in all the usual shooting subjects when you find yourself in a rut.
I'd really love to spend more time building a portfolio of portraits but that is a difficult thing. Sheila is my primary model and she works all day. When she arrives home, she is exhausted so I don't want to bother her by asking her to be a model for an hour or two while I experiment.
The grandkids... well... they don't have the focus or patience to model for more than a second or two (literally) so that is not an option either. We'd love to get some good portraits of the kids but they simply do not have the patience, willpower or focus needed for modeling. They are fine for a short time with instantaneous snapshots but that is it. Modeling is out of the question. My attempts to get them to actually model, thus far in seven years, have been fruitless. I do try at least monthly to get them to model but they always become frustratingly restless within a few very short seconds. Needless to say, using the grandkids as models hasn't been an option for me to get out of this funk either.
Getting out and about to find good landscapes to shoot has been difficult too. I don't drive much anymore and wandering from the house has become difficult with my health anyway. Landscapes are best to shoot very early morning around sunrise and very late in the day around sunset, typically, and those are two lousy times of the day for me, generally speaking.
So, I'm bored and in a bit of a funk when it comes to photography.
I decided that I need to shake things up and challenge myself. There are all sorts of projects that can be attempted to accomplish this and I've accomplished many already since becoming disabled. It is definitely time for a new challenge though. One thing I have not done, however, is to go way back to basics. By "back to basics" I mean going back to shooting film with manual cameras.
I've been spoiled with the latest digital cameras. When I was a kid many decades ago, I learned photography on cameras that required manual focusing, manual exposure, shooting on film and then developing that film in a darkroom. I learned how to make prints and do enlargements. I learned about dodging and burning. I learned about the chemicals. Today, I don't remember how to do most of that! I don't even think about most of this process anymore. Maybe it is time to get back to at least some of these basics to create a spark in my photography again.
I had originally started with 35mm film. To be honest, even thinking about going back to 35mm film bores me to tears. There is just this feeling that I would become bored with that format very quickly. If I am going to go all the way back to shooting on film, it should be a film format that will provide better prints than I can do with my digital gear.
I never had an opportunity to try my hand at medium format so that seems like the next logical step. This would be something different... this would be a challenge... this would be something completely new but challenge me to go back to the basics!
I had already written about getting a twin lens reflex camera in the mail a week or two ago (pictured on the right, above). This twin lens reflex camera shoots instant film so that has its limitations but it is near medium format and it was something I always wanted to try anyway. For this new project, however, I really needed a true medium format camera so I could shoot medium format film.
I was leaning toward a big old medium format camera by Mamiya. The size of this thing bothered me a bit though. Although this particular camera would definitely produce absolutely beautiful prints, I knew that if the camera and gear was too big and too heavy, my spinal injuries would overrule and I wouldn't do much with the new medium format camera. I needed to find a smaller medium format camera that I could easily carry anywhere.
After a bit of research, I found a collapsible medium format camera on eBay. This small, collapsible camera was also a Mamiya camera. Mamiya is a well-known Japanese camera maker used by many commercial photographers. They are known for quality medium format cameras and are right up there with Hasselblad.
Medium format is about big negatives or big digital sensors. In this case, we are talking about big film negatives. The only way to minimize the size of a medium format camera is to make it collapsible in some way. This particular camera model, a Mamiya Six, has a lens that is attached to a bellows and it can be folded up into the body of the camera making the camera very portable and relatively lightweight.
This camera is actually quite simple but the craftsmanship is exquisite. This particular model is from around 1952 and yet it is in "near mint" condition. I spent some time this afternoon cleaning the camera and getting to know it. It really is an impressive camera. It is relatively small yet it produces big medium format film negatives.
In this photo, below, the lens is folded into the body of the camera. You can also see how small this medium format camera is in my hand.
Most of the popular digital cameras today have sensors that are referred to as "crop sensors". I shoot with cameras that have crop sensors as well as cameras with larger full frame sensors. The crop sensors are perhaps the most popular today when we are talking about cameras and not cellphones. A crop sensor is nine times smaller than this medium format film back. This medium format film is huge compared to a digital sensor.
Light is captured on the film which is 60mm x 60mm (6cm x 6cm)... a crop sensor captures light on a sensor chip that is only 24mm x 16mm. This medium format film camera, if all is working correctly, should produce amazingly sharp images with smooth tonal qualities.
Although this camera is actually a medium format camera, the photo below also shows how small this camera is in my hand...
This particular camera can shoot in two aspect ratios... a 6cm by 4.5cm ratio or a 6cm x 6cm ratio. I'll be shooting in the square 6x6 ratio. Part of choosing the aspect ratio is on the back panel of the camera, as seen below... these windows with sliding covers show the respective exposure numbers. One format is larger than the other so the exposure edges will be in different places hence two different windows on the back of the camera.
Even with the lens extended, this is still a small camera. As you can see on the top plate, this camera is called the Mamiya Six referring to the 6cm film frame size...
I bought this camera from a shop in Japan. When it comes to cameras and electronics, the Japanese are the leaders and have been since the 1950s. This camera is still in great condition as though it were new and it arrived with a leather half case...
The lens on this camera is supposed to be pretty good too. Naturally, it is all manual. You even need to remember to cock the shutter before each shot! I tested the shutter and it seems to be working just fine.
The first camera I ever bought myself when I was in college was a 35mm rangefinder camera. Rangefinder cameras are a bit unusual in how they focus. You sight through two windows... one window is straight through... the other is angled and off to the side... you need to line up the two images inside the viewfinder in order to focus. What is really unusual is you are not focusing through the lens. You are focusing through these two windows shown here, below. The other thing worth noting here is that most digital cameras today show a "live view" of the exposure and composition. This film camera only allows you to see a representation of how to compose your shot. If it is dark out, the view through the viewfinder will be dark. You will have no representation of exposure either. Nevertheless, it is an interesting way to focus.
This wheel on the top left of the camera serves two purposes. The main purpose is to advance the film after each shot. The secondary purpose is to indicate what type of film is in the camera. This has no effect on the film but is more to remind the photographer what type of film is already loaded in the camera. You can't open the back of the camera to see what type of film is loaded without exposing all the film so you need some way to remind you what is already loaded in the camera.
On the top right side of the camera we have a rudimentary depth of field scale...
Below, is where you select your aperture on the lens...
The right thumb is used here, below, on this wheel to focus. Focusing is easy in good light and almost impossible in very poor light. Then again, film isn't really for poor light.
After the camera arrived today, I disassembled a good portion of the camera to clean it up. The glass still seems to be pristine which is a good sign. After cleaning each section, I reassembled that section of the camera and then moved to the next section. For a camera that is about 60 years old, I am impressed with the condition and the quality!
Going back to basics should slow me down and get me to think more about each aspect of capturing an image. It should force me to become more methodical and deliberate. Taking the time for all of this allows more time for seeing and attaining creativity and interest.
I'm looking forward to trying my hand at medium format photography!
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