Topic: It's Friday! What are you waiting for?

[Francois]

I wanted to start off the weekend real bad.
So, here's a dandelion for you all

[Bryan]

Nice weed Francois.  I just got back from my third trip to Los Angeles this year, two for work and one for pleasure.  I probably have at least one more trip there before the year is done.  It's been years since I was last there, now all of a sudden I'm going there a lot.  On a hot day off I went to the beach to keep cool.  I started at the Santa Monica Pier and walked to Venice Beach and back.  I brought my Leica IIf and a Summaron 3.5 lens with a yellow filter.  The film is Panatomic-X, expired 3/1963 developed in Rodinal 1:50.  I set the shutter speed to 1/100 and the iris to f/5.4 and left there all day.

Breakdancing on the Santa Monica Pier by Bryan Chernick, on Flickr

This young girl was amazing, she showed all the big boys how it's done.
Venice Skate Park Girl by Bryan Chernick, on Flickr

A lot of junk to take in here. 
Seaside Burgers by Bryan Chernick, on Flickr

1955 Chevrolet Truck by Bryan Chernick, on Flickr

Sorry for posting so many, there's more from this roll on my Flickr page.

[Pete_R]

I set the shutter speed to 1/100 and the iris to f/5.4 and left there all day.

"f/5.4 and be there" - Weegee might have preferred f/8 but would have agreed with your technique.

[Francois]

Thanks, the dandelion looked too good not to waste a few frames on it.

"f/5.4 and be there" - Weegee might have preferred f/8 but would have agreed with your technique.

With a 35mm lens, 5.4 is plenty for depth of field.
Weegee was using a speed graphic so f/8 was more appropriate.

[Pete_R]

"f/5.4 and be there" - Weegee might have preferred f/8 but would have agreed with your technique.

With a 35mm lens, 5.4 is plenty for depth of field.
Weegee was using a speed graphic so f/8 was more appropriate.

I think you misunderstand the concept Francois. Depth of field isn't the issue. I'm sure Bryan, and Weegee, still focussed their lenses. It's about exposure, or, more to the point, not being concerned about exposure or any technical details but just 'being there' and getting the picture.

[02Pilot]

FWIW, when doing street photography, I have often pre-focused at 10ft/3m, set the aperture to 5.6 or 8, shutter to 1/125, and shot without any attempt to focus. It's much faster, and with a 50 or wider, there's plenty of DOF for most shots.

[Francois]

I was thinking pretty much the same thing.
Weegee had one advantage though, most of his photos were taken at night with some flashbulbs, so focus and exposure were pretty simplified.

[Bryan]

"f/5.4 and be there" - Weegee might have preferred f/8 but would have agreed with your technique.

With a 35mm lens, 5.4 is plenty for depth of field.
Weegee was using a speed graphic so f/8 was more appropriate.

I think you misunderstand the concept Francois. Depth of field isn't the issue. I'm sure Bryan, and Weegee, still focussed their lenses. It's about exposure, or, more to the point, not being concerned about exposure or any technical details but just 'being there' and getting the picture.

That was my intent, I knew exposure wasn’t going to change while I was there, the California sun is quite reliable.  I mostly shoot handheld at 1/100 so that’s why I used f5.4, the film is rated at ISO 12.  I did focus every shot.  For the action shots I focused on one spot and waited for the subject (skateboarder) to get there.  I chose that location because they seemed to be doing the best tricks there.  Also, I need my reading glasses to see the lens settings, this way I wasn’t fumbling around with them and my sunglasses all day. 

[EarlJam]

As it's Memorial Day weekend here in the States, one from the archive: my dad on his way to basic training, with his dad, a WW 1 veteran. I suspect the photo was taken by my dad's younger brother. Scan from the original negative.

Re exposure under Southern California lighting conditions, Bryan's correct: the light is generally consistent between 9:00am and about 4:00 pm, from April through October. About the only correction I'll make is for haze or overcast.

[irv_b]

I wish the weather was more consistent over here at the moment. These were taken an hour and a quarter, about 40 miles apart and I managed to over exposure the second one, even though I metered seperately. I must go back to making notes at exposure time.
FP4+ in HC110  Linhof 5x4

[Francois]

One thing I've begun doing is putting a strip of masking tape on the holders themselves for taking random notes (including which holder it was). That way, things are easy to trace back. And I can always peel and stick the masking tape in a booklet for instant notes after processing. It also indicates which film was exposed, very convenient.