Speed graphlex shot 1
2 Sunday’s ago I finally took out my Speed graphlex for the first time to shoot. It was raining so naturally I went to Santa Monica (very diverse environment). Out of the 8 photographs made, only 3 came out. I found out it was due to me not closing the shutter when I pulled my dark slide.
For those of you who don’t know large format photography, the dark-slide is what blocks the film from being exposed when the film is not in the camera (film doesn’t come in rolls or canisters, but in sheets that have to be loaded into a holder). The holder gets loaded in front of the ground glass (after you compose your shot) then it can be exposed. One has to open their shutter to look through the ground glass (it is like looking through a viewfinder). The problem is that if they(me) forget to close the shutter the film can be exposed long before you make the photograph as the dark-slide may be pulled a bit before one makes the photograph.
While it wasn’t fully successful I am happy with the results and hope to shoot more with the camera. The value of a camera like this it that is makes you slow down and value your shots. You have to make a photograph as you don’t have the option to gun away 5/10/20 frames and hope you got one. It is a very unique process in today’s world but at one time this was the fastest out there. Makes me think how far we’ve come in 80 years.
32ndframe 