View Towers Half-Frame
Another in the recent series of half-frame triptyches, in this case more of a panorama than most of the others. And, the top one is a diptych while the bottom one has the upper image added. I think the diptych works better because of the emphasis on the weird effect at the join between the two exposures, as if there is an opening in the block wall. This was unintentionally emphasised when I changed the exposure for the upper images which I expected to be brighter than the lower one.
However, the lower image gives a better impression of the height of the building, something I have explored in a much earlier post and which was what interested me in this composition. Not to mention the shadows from the balconies, which is the main reason I stopped to take a picture.
(Click on the pictures for a bigger version)
Once again each photo is a single digital image scanned from multiple frames on the negative.
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Olympus Pen, half-frame camera, ca 1961. Ilford Pan F Plus, ISO50, 1/50th, f16 and f11 (lower frame).
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burnt embers 
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Like Andy, I thought the first one was actually a single image. I like the shadows of the stairways, but my favorite part of the post is the contrast between the (very well-focused) stairway and the blurry woman walking on them.
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Thanks Melinda! The focus is done by estimating the distance and setting it on the lens. The shutter speed is limited on this camera by age to either 1/50th (well 1/60th according to testing) and 1/100th (1/125th) which leaves me with a choice of film speeds limited to ISO100 and lower. But this reminds me of another thing that is interesting about this kind of panorama which is that it is very easy to adjust both the exposure and the focus between shots and still have the resulting image work well. I suspect that making a focus adjustment and combining in post would likely cause some serious headaches, though I have not done that kind of panorama stitching so don’t know for a fact.
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Me, too: What Melinda and Andy said.
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Thanks Linda – glad you like them. That single image appearance is a bit disconcerting. It might be pretty hard to do on purpose, but useful if I can.
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This is bold work and I like it. The first one, at first sight, looked like a single image, but on second sight I see the black line between the two frames. This is a clever idea that I know has been explored by others but I don’t recall examples in B&W. More, please!
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Thank Andy. No problem on the more front – I just picked up another couple or rolls of film, though at 72 exposures per, it will be a while before the next one is out of the camera. That gap in the first one was not planned, but certainly gives me ideas. It seems nearly every combination of shots that I took is teaching me something right now. There really is so much more to learn with this approach than I imagined. It really is nothing at all like combining images in post-processing.
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It’s the triptych that works better for me. I like the added building at the top and the alignment is excellent. But that’s just me.
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Thanks Ken. I go back and forth. I really like the emphasis on the disconnect/gap in the first arrangement, but it is present if a bit more subtle in the second one. I could live with either of these. Alignment is a challenge.
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wow, that’s really cool! big like.
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Hi dothob – thanks so much for commenting, glad you like it. I wanted to say, where my readers could take the hint, that your photographs are wonderful. Any of my readers that don’t know about your work should scoot right on over and check it out. Good place to start is your year-end roundup at http://wp.me/p1jFDz-1bo.
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hi there, thank you very much. you’re too kind. i’m very happy you like my stuff and the link is really much appreciated. thanks again! very encouraging.
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