Photographing architecture and landscape with a view camera and sheet film, requires meticulous preparation, careful planning and patience. It takes years to acquire a skill set that balances success with frustration. One must be comfortable with complexity, have a highly organized kit and calmly make the correct decision as the light changes.
Who knew that 40 years ago, when I started my career, that the view camera/film based work methods would be a firm platform for becoming a digital photographer. With a digital work flow, we have the normal and expected rectangular images, but more exciting, to me at least, are the panorama possibilities.
I use 2 terms to describe panoramas; rectilinear and curvilinear. A rectilinear image is a left and right image taken from an image circle, stitched together in the software. The advantage of this type of image is that only the image plane is shifted so the stitch is perfect. This is particularly useful in architectural imaging where multiple lines and patterns need to align. By using a view camera, I retain control of the horizon and the plane of focus. A view camera is rigid so that if it is level and plumb, the stitching software has no trouble making a seamless image. Since the image is composed without moving the lens, no distortion is induced. Architects prefer this method.
Curvilinear panoramas depend on mounting the camera on a step motor which is a highly accurate motor that communicates between the software, the computer and the digital back. Since the camera lens moves through an arc as rows of pixels are registered by the software, the image has a curvilinear aspect to it. In landscape images this curve is hardly noticeable. When the subject is architecture, the curve is evident.
My principle digital tools are the Betterlight scanning back and the Phase One instant capture back. I use each when the circumstances are appropriate. I am equipped to do a rectilinear panorama with either imaging device. A curvilinear panorama is produced with the Betterlight PanoWide adapter.
We photographers are the beneficiaries of the work of scientists, mathematicians, engineers and programmers who have given us the best imaging tools in the history of photography. To maximize the decision making power the photographer has over these tools, I always work tethered to a laptop. The majority of my final images are composited from multiple exposures. The information displayed on the laptop allows me to make critical judgments as I work. The organized collection of images makes post production go more smoothly.
The camera that I most frequently use is the SK Grimes custom 4x5. I use it for architectural images because the lens plane and the film plane are fixed. In place of the bellows, it has a machined aluminum tube. For most architectural applications, focus is only required on the surface perpendicular to the image plane. As soon as I twist the helical focus mount and see a sharp image on the ground glass, I can insert the digital back without disturbing the focus. I use this camera bolted on to the pano wide adapter for curvilinear panoramas and I use the Phase One flex adapter fixed to the back of the camera for rectilinear panoramas.
When the situation requires manipulating the image plane, I use a Sinar F2. For studio work, I use a Sinar P2 because of its geared rise, fall and shift. The Horseman L is my favorite field camera. It breaks down into a small package for backpacking and is more rigid and more precise than any film camera I have ever seen. The Hasselblad is the camera of choice when the tempo is very fast and panoramas are not expected.
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