Half-frame Ferris
Another in the recent series of half-frame photos, again showing a diptych and the triptych that goes with it. These images are really exposure tests, less with the idea of combing adjacent images and more to see if I could wing it without a light meter and get a decent exposure. But they fall nicely beside each other on the negative, so here they are. I was dropping my son off downtown when I passed this location. I put the camera on a concrete wall and held it as steady as I could – the first one is tilted on the rear edge. The other two have the strap jammed under the front edge of the camera which I then pressed onto it. I guessed wildly at an exposure, approximating 1 second on the first two, and two seconds on the last.
(Click on the pictures for a bigger version)
I like the upper combination a bit better than the lower. I think if I had the still ferris wheel in the middle, that it might have worked better.
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Once again each of these is single digital image scanned from adjacent frames on the negative.
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Olympus Pen, half-frame camera, Ilford Pan F Plus, ISO50, 1/50th, ~f3.5, left and middle ~1 second, right ~2 seconds
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burnt embers 
I agree with Andy – the diptych is the more effective of the two.
I’ve read that a bag of dried beans can stand it to rest a camera on for longer shots, but I’ve never tried it.
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Hi Melinda – I have heard that about beans, or rice. I think around here it would have to be a waterproof bag. We have decorative bags (shaped like cats, and so on) with wheat in them that serve as “hot water bottles” – microwave for a couple of minutes and then use them. I suppose I could take one of those out, most are longish so you can drape it around your neck, which would be handy when out and about with hands full of gear.Best tried in the dark perhaps.
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Well, I think that depends. If you want people to leave you alone while you are shooting, I’d say go ahead and drape one of those things around your neck. And a tinfoil hat and a loud conversation with somebody that no one else can see. And: no one bothers you.
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You sound very experienced in these methods – sounds like an alley dweller disguise if I ever heard one.
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Uh…no? I was thinking about my….uh….friend? That’s it. Yes. Yes, my friend told me that story.
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Well held! Sorry, couldn’t resist that opening comment! The diptych is the better of the two, the ‘stepping’ works as a compositional element. The quality is excellent.
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Thanks Andy, I like that stepping too, somehow it adds a bit of motion to these wheels.
I sure am enjoying this camera. Just had it out for a walk, along with the DSLR as the light levels right now are at the lower end of the limit that the camera will shoot with 50
ASAISO film (I find myself writing and saying ASA when referring to film which is a reflection of some very old hardwiring in my brain). So, I took a lot of shots with the DSLR and once the light came up enough, a few with the Pen. I am experimenting with various methods that may or may not make interesting diptyches, such as turning the camera 180 degrees between shots of the same subject.LikeLike
Ah Yes – ASA. I always shot on Ilford FP4, bought in bulk and then loaded my own canisters. tricky in the dark! Those were the days. I’m going to come over all sentimental in a moment!
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Me too! I never loaded my own film, but did shoot a lot of FP4 too, and I was a big fan of Kodak Technical Pan, processed for full tonal range. Wonderful lack of grain. I used it mostly for technical shots on tripod (25 ASA). I found a roll (expiry 198os) in an old camera bag a few months ago. Am saving it for the right situation and hoping for some interesting results (ie, that it is not totally past it, only a bit). Will need to find someone to process it for me too, the chemistry is still available, which is good.
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These are amazingly sharp for hand held at 1 second. The diptych works well for me and the exposure, especially after scanning, looks very good.
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Hi Ken. It was sort of “held” – pressing a camera down onto a surface is a pretty good way of holding it steady. The first shot (on the left in the triptych) did not have anything wedged under the front to hold the angle, and it is a bit blurry if you look at the larger version of the image it is quite noticeable. The exposures worked out pretty well – I think I like the “1 second” better than the “2 second” but there is little to choose between them – something in between would have been ideal.
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Makes me dizzy to look at this! Still, I’m glad some people are having fun. Great photos.
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I had fun photographing it, though it was one of those really cold days just before Christmas.
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