4x5 Film Portrait - Kodak Aero Ektar
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- Опубликовано: 4 фев 2025
- Behind the scenes of a location portrait photo shoot using a vintage 4x5 Speed Graphic film camera and a Kodak Aero Ektar lens.
After first scouting a location on a wild and beautiful pond in New Hampshire, we paddled out in a cedar strip canoe to shoot the portrait at dusk.
Many thanks to my good friend and talented photographer, Peter Gumaskas. See Pete's fine photography at www.gumaskasst...
To see my commercial work: davewhitephoto...
To see my fine art work: www.davewhite....
#aeroektar #filmphotography #blackandwhite 
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fantastic video and portrait.
Very nice work 👍🏻
Interesting and different 📷👌
The very well known Sinar large format cameras employ a shutter that is mounted behind the front standard. So lenses produced for them are not mounted in shutters, but are fastened to the Sinar lensboard.
Thanks for the presentation! That is truly a very special lens. 👌
@kevin-parratt-artist - yes, I am quite familiar with the Sinar system as well as their brilliant shutters. In this application the bulk of a Sinar camera system resting on a tripod in a New England pond would be somewhat ridiculous. The vintage Speed Graphic is, in my opinion, more fitting to the lens and quite useful in this situation. Precision is not exactly the requirement nor the ultimate goal here. Further, I am not sure if the Sinar system could accommodate the size of the Aero Ektar. Regardless, I am happy with this combo when I decide to set aside my Sony's and settle into a film mood.
Thanks for watching. Happy shooting!
really enjoyable video; great photos
awesome
Fantastic!
Amazing shots!!
Thanks, Rafael. We certainly had some beautiful summer evening light.
🔥🔥🔥
Dave, these photos are GORGEOUS! The way you posed him by gently guiding the movements (boat, ore, pipe, ...), the scouting and pre-visualising the image and the light... I love this type of work! The video is entertaining too - no too agressive camera work, no too loud music. Beautiful, keep it up! Greets from Croatia :)
Alexander - thank you for you kind and insightful comments. I appreciate your understanding of the small details that go into a photo shoot - planning, posing, and light. Thanks for watching.
Really lovely!
Thank you.
This here is what its ALL about!! Nice job Dave!
Thank you!
Unbelievable pictures Dave! Congrats.
Super...... Thank you
bravo!
Great photos and nice canoes too.
Hey, thanks!
good pictures, nicely composed! Great!
Beautiful shots
Bravo! I like your loupe, by the way
Thank you! I have had that loupe for many years. I would call it one of my possessions. It's more than a piece of gear. Thanks for watching.
What’s not to love on those vintage cameras?? !!
Well, they are easy to love and difficult to operate. You're right, what's not to love!
@@davewhite138 Exactly!!
@@coastalartistlivingonislan8395 Happy Camping out there! Thanks for watching.
This is great, I love the light on New England ponds in the evening.
Thanks for watching. I agree, I love the way the light lingers on those long summer evenings. Great time to be out on the water.
I like how patient you are an confident about your focussing - it would drive me nuts if my my subject were to move as much between focussing and inserting my film holder :D
Hey Sheldon - thanks for the nice comment. I think you are focusing, pun intended, one a key aspect of shooting portraits with a view camera. The process is very slow and deliberate. The subject must respond in a very specific way for the process to be successful. This reason is what I like about large format portraiture. The subject participates in the process and the images take on a different look and feel.
It’s also good practice for expanding my limited patience!
Hi. Have used Fuji and Kodak colour negs in the past. Found then -That the speed graphic was the best for speed of setup and picture taken(3 minutes)
Soon I’ll get back into it with slide/negatives and medium format backs. Thanks Dave for the content.
HI Mike - thanks for watching. Have fun out there.
Lovely, just lovely.
Nicely done. You gotta love the Aero Ektar.
Thanks for watching.
This is awesome! I clicked on it thinking "man, that guy looks like Peter Gumaskas!" haha
Huh! You recognized him and clicked on it anyway! Nice. Thanks for watching.
That last shot is particularly wicked! xx
Yeah, that last shot was a little risky. Never sure if it will be in focus or the timing will be right. But, once you know you have some good images, you are always willing to push a little further. Sometimes we get pleasant surprises. Thanks for the comment. Much appreciated.
Inspiring stuff Dave. Thanks!
Really nice lens and great use of it as well Dave. Amazing portraits.
Thanks, Bill. The Aero Ektar is a lot of fun. The slow, deliberate process of shooting portraits with the 4x5 definitely creates a unique look and feel to the images. Then that lens does it’s little bit of voodoo magic.
Hi Dave, outstanding portraits that give the viewer the feeling of being there - or at least getting very close to the scene. I do love the rendering that the AE provides, and you really show how to make proper use of such a lens! Thanks for this video!
Thank you for those nice comments. The Aero Ektar definitely has a special place in my work.
Awesome images, lovely background blur. What a lens to use 😀
Интересно, спасибо
Some great portraits here. The Aeroektar gives a quality similar to tintype images. Might be the way I go to avoid getting neck deep in alternative processes.
Agreed. It works for me. The lens gives a great look and feel, and shooting film allows me to keep focuses on creating pictures vs getting deep into process.
Great vintage camera! Scenic area to shoot, looks like there would be some good bass fishing around there too...
@RA50 Thanks for watching. That little wild pond is actually a pretty nice spot to fly fish for trout in the company of loons. Real loons, not just photographers!
Outstanding shots! I'm currently experimenting with a hand-me-down 100 year old 5x7 camera but am actively looking for a Crown Graphic or something similar. Thanks for sharing!
Check out my good friend @pgumaskas. He shoots a lot of 5x7 as well.
Brilliant photos Sir! I love it when you can capture a person's interests in their portraits. It gives the viewer a better picture (no pun intended) of who they're looking at. Keep up the incredible work!
Hey Thomas - thanks for the nice comment. Just an FYI, I just did another video where I shot with a couple of models using both the Aero Ektar lens and a 4x5 Speed Graphic to shoot some B&W film portraits as well as a new Sony A1. Two very different cameras and two very different looks. I plan to upload the new video early next week. Thanks for watching.
Nice images. My Heliar 210mm doesn't open as wide as an Aero Ektar, but it's also not radioactive!
Hi Mark - thanks for the comment. A 210 Heliar is near the top of my want list. What camera are you using?
@@davewhite138 Wista 45DX. The lens came mounted in an air piston shutter, which I'd never seen before but is much fun to use.
@@oudviola Yeah, some of those funky old shutters are a challenge - especially when shooting portraits and the subject needs to hold still while you are fiddling with the shutter.
Mark Samuels. I had an Aero Ektar, sold it 'cause it is radioactive. And as it happens I also use the Wista 45DX (rosewood).
beautiful photos!!! enjoyed the video as well. 4x5 is a format that I've always wanted to shoot, just haven't gotten the money saved yet for one.
Thanks for the comment. Hope you make the time to shoot with a 4x5 soon. The discipline and process of working with such a deliberate camera is a great exercise in slowing down and seeing photos. It just makes us better photographers.
Lovely, enjoyed that. Inspires me to get the SG+AE for some exercise as well.
Thanks for watching and the kind comment. Now, go load some film holders and get out there. Go exercise your creative brain. It will feel good!
@@davewhite138 Will do, Dave. Thanks for the nudge.
Beautiful shot - great seeing the process :)
Thank you!
Great video and amazing portraits. I hope you make more 4x5 videos. This has really inspired me.
Hey Matt - thanks for your kind comments. In fact, just yesterday I did a fun test shoot with a model friend. We shot with a brand new, state of the art Sony A1 AND the 4x5 with the Aero Ektar. Talk about two very different pieces of technology! I use both cameras in my work and love the characteristics and capabilities of each one. We shot some BTS video. So, we will see if it makes it to RUclips.
Hope you are out there shooting, too.
@@davewhite138 that’s great. I look forward to seeing the results.
Lovely work fellas great video very Impressive set of photographs. That lens is a keeper. LF is something I've yet to try, at the moment I'm hooked on medium format folders slightly easier to slip in the pocket. Liked and subbed Dave.
Stunning work! May i know what film stock was used?
Thank you. I tend to shoot either Ilford FP4 or HP5 most of the time. Developed in HC110 at 1:31. But I am also a fan of Kodak TMax films. Ilford has been less expensive over the years.
For film exposed with the Aero Ektar I sometimes develop in D76 diluted 1:1. Because my lens lacks an aperture mark, I am guessing the settings. Plus I am not sure of the accuracy of the shutter in the Speed Graphic. The longer development times for D76 allows the film more time to mellow and, I believe, compensate somewhat for exposure differences. Of course, that’s total voodoo rationale. But it works for me! BTW, I have found that my Aero Ektar needs to be stopped down slightly to achieve focus.
Nice shots! I would have probably had at least one shot of the subject act like he is dragging the boat ashore wading through the water, body stooped, oar in left hand. His body would have broken into a natural dynamic pose that figure drawing artists like to sketch. I like the soft light that you had. Looks moody.
Hello incredible pictures and video. Do you mind sharing where you got that strap?
Hi Seth - thanks for watching. Honestly, that strap was on the Speed Graphic when I bought it. I don’t know of a source for them.
Really enjoyed this. What were you using to check focus?
Hi Jim L - I use a Peak 4x loupe. Seems like we keep some things forever. I have had that loupe since "back in the day" (pre-digital) when I shot a lot of 4x5 in the studio. Thanks for watching.
Great portrait! I just started with 4x5 as well, do you mind if I ask how you metered the scene?
Hi Edwin. For this scene I simply used an incident meter reading. It was late in the day and the light was diffuse and soft. That indirect, open light was what I wanted for that portrait. So, there was not a lot of contrast to worry about. An overall incident reading was sufficient. Also, the accuracy of the shutter speeds in the old Speed Graphic are questionable. Added to that, my old Aero Ektar has no aperture markings on the lens - I simply have to guess the lens setting. I stop down the lens slightly (f4?) to achieve some critical sharpness in the small area of focus. My lens is just not sharp at all when it is wide open. It is certainly not an exact, Zone System approach to exposure and development. But, through testing and experience, I am generally close with exposure and the negatives look good. Contrast is adjusted in scanning and post production. I should note that I have found the Aero Ektar to be a "flat" lens with little overall contrast. Not at all like newer large format lenses.
For my other 4x5 work with reliable lens/shutter combinations, I will use a spot meter to determine exposure and contrast. Then I will develop my film to accommodate the contrast range. Hope that helps. I am happy to discuss it further. Thanks for watching the video.
Beautiful. I am actually using a speed graphic and in the process to pump it up . Please, what is that you use as focusing lens?
Hello Francois - I was using a Peak 4x Anastigmatic Loupe for focus. I have had that same focusing loupe for many years. Prior to the digital era. I like that it is sharp edge to edge. But, it is large and heavy. I also have a smaller focusing loupe. But the big Peak loupe very nice. Thanks for watching!
@@davewhite138 thanks for your answer.
Beautiful setting and that lens/camera are awesome. The lighting was gorgeous but from my side I absolutely hate the smoke. There are times when smoke can add to the image this was not one of those times for me. It distracts from the image, but it's only my opinion.
Michael- I hate smoking but I do happen to like the smoke in these images. Thanks for sharing your opinion. That’s cool. As a 30-year plus professional photographer, I owe a ton of creative growth to the exchange of ideas and criticism. That’s one of the ingredients to developing our style and how we find our way. Love it when an image stimulates a response.
@@davewhite138 Sorry I wan't clear in my statement. I do hate smoking but my reference was to the smoke in the image. I felt like it didn't add to the image. There are certainly images done where the smoke from a pipe or cigarette has enhanced the image. I agree completely with you about evoking a response with your image. I would prefer "I hate this" over a casual glance and they move on. Thanks for taking the time to do your channel and responding.
content creators pretending to be photographers.. heavy sigh
Right? Almost as bad as chirping ankle biters!
Clearly you haven’t done your homework. Dave has spent his entire career as a successful commercial photographer. He’s a wealth of information and talent.