This past week I have been very busy, and I was in Phoenix over the weekend, so am posting this a little late.  Back in December, on a drive from San Francisco to Los Angeles, I stopped along the interstate just before twilight at an unnamed exit.  In this part of the San Joaquin Valley, most of the far-between exits are for farm roads that connect the few rural farm towns.  Not one car came by for the 20+ minutes I had the camera in the middle of the road.

It was dense overcast that day, so the twilight would be longer than usual.  Since there was no one around, I set up the view camera for a couple of shots.  I wanted to show the wide open spaces, so shot a little wider.  The subject itself was the lonely road and sky.

The simple graphics of the double yellow line, the seams and white edge keeps your eye moving around the image.  This image has lots of interesting details when viewed full size on a monitor.  A print of 16×20 or larger would also show the subtle light cone from the lamps in the high humidity (almost fog).

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Here is a vertical view shot from a different perspective about 50 feet away.  The careful placement of the camera is critical for a successful composition.  I think this one also works.

The technique of finding the right composition is different when shooting with a view camera as compared to a camera with a viewfinder (or chimp screen).  You cannot really walk around looking at the ground-glass of a view camera on a tripod.  What I do is simply walk around to find the correct perspective and balance of foreground-to background.  At than point, I bring the tripod to that location and then choose the lens for the amount image I want to show or not show.  I can rotate the back to make the decision of a horizontal or vertical image.  I have a wide range of lenses to help me get what I want.  Yes, it takes time, but with practice, it becomes fast and intuitive.  I was not taught this back in art school, but figured it out on my own over the years.  It was probably done this way in the early years of photography, too.  It is important to note that the lens does not change the perspective, but it’s the placement of the camera.  My selection of lenses is carefully chosen, that took years to work out.  Some of the lenses I’ve had over 20 years.

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In late November, while working with a student on location about the finer points of night photography with the view camera, I did one shot at twilight while he was setting up.  This image is shot at the beach at Playa del Rey, near the end of the runways at LAX.  These stainless steel columns are simply shower heads.  I have shot here many times before, since it is only five miles from my house, but not in 4×5.  I find I enjoy going back to interesting locations repeatedly to experience the change and note how the light of sunset or the difference between at clear evening vs. an overcast one.  Note the different feel of the skies of this image compared to the ones above.  There is always a new view to be had.

The subtleties in tones on the brushed stainless catches the surrounding light, making for some interesting patterns.  I liked it so much that I have cropped a tighter section to use at the blog header.