Large Format... The Options (pt 4)

 

As you can see from the image above, there appeared to be a nasty crack in the lower frame, right where the mortice and tenon joint had been made. That will need further inspection, and so it was that I started to disassemble the camera even further...

I had finally completed cleaning the bellows, which to be honest was tedious and beginning to lose its appeal(!); oddly the underside of the bellows was the worst, and not unsurprisingly, the most awkward of the four sides. Still, finishing that task meant that I could move on with taking the camera apart, and I wanted to get that lower frame out.

This lower frame has the front standard 'fixed' to it, and can normally be moved forwards by the chain drive; then the front standard can move backwards and forwards along the runners cut into the frame.

Removing the front piece from the frame (it's just screwed on) allowed me to slide the front standard off the frame, at which point the remaining frame kind of just fell apart! Fortunately it wasn't as bad as it sounds, as it was just because the glue in one of the mortice and tenon joints had failed. That will need reglueing before it goes back together again...

As you can see from the image above, the first job on this frame however, is to clean it up, as the grooves are filled up with dirt and the frame itself is just filthy. After that, I can take a better look at that crack in the frame.

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Large Format... The Options (pt3)

 

I've started to disassemble the enlarging camera so that I can give it a really good clean, and properly assess its condition and also to give me a better idea about how I'm going to convert this in a sympathetic style. You can see from the image above that its pretty grimy, and with the images in the rest of this post I've tried to show how I've set about cleaning the bellows in particular.

To be honest I was a little bit concerned about the state of the bellows as there appeared to be the start of some mouldy growth, which I'm hoping you can see in the image below...

 

I wondered about the best way to clean the bellows as I couldn't use anything abrasive and I obviously don't want to damage them either. In the end, I opted for clean water with a tiny amount of Dettol in it, along with cotton wool pads and cotton buds, to clean the bellows...

 

As I write, I've cleaned just over half of the entire bellows, which has taken about 2 hours so far, and it has had the advantage that I can see exactly what state they are in... pretty good actually! This gentle cleaning, with damp cotton pads / buds them has made a huge difference to how they look, and you can get an idea of just how dirty they were with this picture...

 

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Large Format... The Options (pt 2)

In the last post, I mentioned that I wanted to get back into using glass plates for my photography, and that sort of meant that I would require a 'new' camera to do this. I thought about buying one, but then decided that I would build another large format camera instead.

But as we'll see in this post, it all went in a different direction...

In a local antique shop, about two months ago, I found a magic lantern... labelled as Victorian, it was missing a few bits but in generally good condition, price: £58. I figured it might be worth that just for the bellows, and at that point thought it might make a worthwhile project to convert it to a camera. I left empty-handed though.

Fast forward to this weekend and I was off to a local photography shop and went past the antique centre. This time I went in empty-handed and came out with a magic lantern for £45. The image at the top of this page is of this unit, and it's a big item!

When fully extended it is around 44" / 112cm in overall length, the bellows appear to be in pretty good condition although they need a good clean first. The adjustments are chain driven and also need a thorough clean as there's 100 years of grime in it!

The magic lantern is actually "The Abbeydale Enlarging Camera" and a little badge on the front of it mentions a patent date of 1913 (which puts it well outside the Victorian era).

The other great thing about this item is that it still has the nested carriers for the various sizes of slide...

I've made a decision to use this "enlarging camera" as the basis for my large format camera, but to do so in a way that means I can return back to its original purpose.

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Large Format... The Options

I've been thinking about how to get back into large format; obviously I have my home-made 9x12 camera that I use to create paper negatives, but I want to get back to glass negatives.

I want to start the whole process of subbing the glass, pouring the emulsion, then using the camera to take landscape images. That's going to mean transporting the glass negatives safely, carrying the camera into remote locations and so on.

The first problem was the camera. I've had an 8"x5" brass, rapid rectilinear lens sitting in the cupboard for about a year or more; originally it was for my 9x12 but as that doesn't slide back far enough to get the image into focus with this lens, it was never going to work.

The options were to purchase a secondhand large format camera, or build one. I liked the option of building, but I just knew it would take a long time to get it all done. Buying seemed like a nice idea, but I don't have several hundred pounds to lay out on a camera.

Now, there's more to this story than meets the eye, as at some point over the next 1-2 years I'd like to move to the Alps in France, and want to photograph the landscape there... but I don't want to do it digitally. My wife thinks that I should shoot digitally as it's a lot easier, but in that case what would make my images any different to all the tourist with their mobile phones? No, I was adamant that my images were going to be different, and glass plates could be the answer, my unique selling point if you will...

Then I started to think that if I bought a 'professionally built' camera, then that's not such a great back story to the images as having a hand-made, home-made camera. Decision made... I was going to build one and got as far as cutting some Iroko that I had laying around in the workshop, to make the frames.

Then I had another idea, which I'll detail in the next post on this journey...

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Oh Wow!

Just a very quick post today... I just checked the Analytics statistics for the new site, just to find out how 'interested' people were with the new Creative Image Maker project (especially as I said I wasn't going to put myself under a whole load of pressure after the last attempt!).

And in the last month, we had visitors from 36 different countries! So, it looks like Chris and I might just have our work cut out again trying to get it all going! Actually, what is really neat is not so much that we've already had that much interest, but that it's kind of affirming to note that there is still so much belief and interest in analogue photography. For a while digital totally took over and analogue appeared to be relegated to the back seat, but not now.

About four years ago or so, I moved back from digital to analogue in order that I could explore some of the traditional processes after I'd been using digital for around 3 - 4 years (and analogue for many years prior to that). I don't regret it at all. I still use digital techniques for my video work, and the camera on my phone takes a cracking picture, but when I want to get back 'in touch' with photography it's always analogue.

And I'm thinking that I might not be the only one to think this way...

All the best to all of you, and thank you for stopping by... we'll be posting some articles here very shortly :0)

David. --- Click to read more ---

Fine Art Forum: Report

The Fine Art Forum in Paderborn, Germany would appear to have gone very well; with just one minor hiccup involving a fire alarm, but I'll let Robert Vonk take up the story with his short report of this event...

A small report of the FAF in Paderborn, Germany.

After a trip of 2 1/2 hours to Paderborn on a sunny Sunday in October I arrived at the Bahnhofstrasse 64 in Paderborn. The Kulturwerkstatt is a multi functional building and very suitable for these type of fairs.

A wide exposition on the walls and several interchangeble tables for prints were a welcome to each visitor. Very nice work, mainly in Black & White photography. Workshops for free and some real nice equipment in B&W photography was presented, such as a new small case Split Grade unit from Heiland, Wetzlar, Germany and a re-designed TAS (inverse) film processor suitable for 1-5 films (35mm, 120/220/127 or sheet film) in semi-automatic development. Also new, a smart fiber print washer from Kienzle, Germany. From 2 compartments, low cost to a full wash system build on request for each client and suitable for very large format prints. And what a nice sturdy easels too.

After a small interuption and clearing of the building because the fire alarm system went off, we could enjoy all these news in detail. Also on the terrace it was nice to enjoy the German beer! The Sunday was closed by a dinner at the local Mongolian restaurant.

A schedule has been made to re-do this every two years in Paderborn.

Robert
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New Book by John Lambrichts

It's always great to see that analogue photography is alive and well in this heavily digitised age, and it's interesting that there has been something of a resurgence in pinhole photography, alternative processes and the use of film (none of which is meant to diminish the role that digital plays these days) - it's just great to know that analogue is alive and well... and this new book, to be launched on 15th October, just proves the point.

John Lambricht's new hard-cover, 156 page book entitled 'Oeverlangen by the Meuse' came about as a result of the many musing trips that he made over the last three years along the Border Meuse, which John described as 'rapidly changing'. John takes up the story, '...the pictures (all analog) are a tribute to the river and the native soil of the local people. They preserve an atmosphere that is disappearing or [as] they recall it'.

Full of great images, the book is available now via http://www.oeverlangen.nl or http://www.johnlambrichts.nl, but you'll have to be quick! The print run is 950 copies, of which 650 are already sold via pre-registering during the Oeverlangen by the Meuse exhibition this year. Schaden.com will offer 20 signed copies during Paris Photo 2011 too.

Book details:
Hard cover, 156 pages, format 22,5 x 28 cm, 72 photographs B&W (analog).
Texts are in Dutch, English, and French.
Price: €39,50 including VAT, excluding shipping costs.
Publisher: Ipso Facto
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