[photo-3d] Rhinebeck Experiences

[Brian Reynolds <reynolds@xxxxxxxxx>]

There's been a lack of traffic here recently so I thought I'd write
about Liz and my recent trip to Rhinebeck, NY.

Liz and I have been going up to Rhinebeck for several years.
Generally we go up to see the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome
<URL:http://www.oldrhinebeck.org/> or the New York Sheep and Wool
Festival and to get out of the city.  I'm an aeroplane buff and Liz is
a spinner and weaver.  This time we were going up for something
different, the Goodguys Rod & Custom Show.

Earlier this year I managed to mangle my Sputnik.  If you're not
careful closing the back doors you can bend the right side pressure
plate with the left door mechanism.  Through procrastination and a bad
experience with another camera (a Zeiss Ikonta 6x9 folder) at a local
camera repair shop, I hadn't gotten the Sputnik fixed in time for this
trip.  That meant going back to using the twin Lubitels.  Luckily for
me John Billingham had made me a very nice twin cable release based on
ideas discussed here earlier in the summer.  This worked like a charm.
I had no problems with synchronization.  Also along for the trip was a
Fuji GSW 690 III I rented for a week.  The Fuji is 6x9 rangefinder
camera with a fixed 65mm lens.  Sort of the Texas Leica (56mm x 84mm
frame size vs. 24mm x 36mm).

There were an incredible number of really nice cars at the show.
Everything from some wild custom jobs (including a surprising number
of Ford hot rods with Chevy engines) to very nice restorations of
historic cars.  The car Lois Lane drove on the 1950's Superman TV
series and a Ford personally owned by Henry Ford (and driven off the
production line by him) were there.  It was lots of fun to see the
cars on the street before and after show hours.  Although some cars
were trailered, many of the cars wre driven to the show and quite a
few towed matching custom trailers.

As space and spectators allowed I tried for a front 3/4 view and on
some cars a closeup of the engine compartment.  The twin Lubitels are
definitely at a disadvantage in taking close ups.  Much to my chagrin,
despite my patience, I would up with several shots with various body
parts at the frame edges.

I used a mix of film, Kodak Ektachrome 100 EPP and E200.  My only real
problems with the images from this trip were exposure and focus.  The
day was mixed sun and clouds.  After all the discussion about exposure
and metering here on the list I decided to take a more relaxed view
and meter based on some rules of thumb (e.g., metering the grass
instead of my gray card, not taking notes).  This turned out to be a
mistake.  At first glance some of the shots are over exposed, although
I may be too critical.  I also decided to try and focus with the
Lubitel.  Recently I've been focusing with my Yashicamat (which I
didn't take on this trip) and transferring the reading to the Lubitels
or Sputnik.  Since I wasn't as confident with the Fuji rangefinder
(being sure of which two identical parts of the grill are lined up is
a bit tricky, especially with the wide field of view) I used the focus
magnifier on the left Lubitel.  I normally focus and compose with the
right Lubitel.  Although many of the images are sharp, some are softer
than I like.  I think that from now on I'll use E200 for daylight hand
held shots so that I can closed down one more f-stop and get more
depth of field.  I'm also thinking of stepping up to better built (and
heavier :( ) TLRs in order to get better focusing screens.

Although I'll miss the October Third Friday Dinner (we'll be back up
in Rhinebeck for the Sheep Festival) I plan on bringing the car pairs
to the November NYSS meeting and Third Friday Dinner.

-- 
Brian Reynolds                  | "Dee Dee!  Don't touch that button!"
reynolds@xxxxxxxxx              | "Oooh!"
http://www.panix.com/~reynolds  |    -- Dexter and Dee Dee
NAR# 54438                      |       "Dexter's Laboratory"