I've been trying to go back to basics after a recent series of mediocre photos. I was blown away by what a friend has been doing with his Kodak bakelite Brownie Hawkeye. When he showed me what you could do with a simple light meter and a fixed focus/fixed f-stop camera I just had to try.
The Hawkeye has a fixed focus lens with a close up attachment, and a fixed f-stop. I tried to emulate it's operation by only allowing my bodgy plastic lensed Vivitar 28mm f2.8 to operate at f8 only at two focusing distances of 23cm and 2metres.
I tried to do the exposure manually like you had to with the Brownie Hawkeye using a separate light meter. Since the only light meter I have is in my camera, I used it in centre weighted mode and tried to meter different parts of the scene for best overall exposure. I came up with a shutter speed of 1/250th (which seems a bit too fast to replicate the older camera).
Processing was done as simple as possible, for the next lot of Browniesque photos here are my steps
1) Match the framing of the Brownie prints - center crop to a 1x1 aspect ratio.
2) Give it that film feel - Process using some sort of preset lightroom film type in this case Fake Fuji Superia 100.
3) Simulate the light fall off on a brownie lens - Use a preset vignetting.
Now the real challenge is that my friend pays $3-$4 per print from his camera, so I couldn't exactly be unjust and chimp away with my digital. I have to focus on composition and exposure and I'm only allowed one click to get my photo right.
So here is my attempt this month, a Cosmo Flower grown by Therese on our balcony. The photo is still too clear and sharp, and doesn't have that dreamy look that my friend's photos have. I think I need to look up the Brownie Hawkeye's specifics and constrain myself even further.
EDIT: Yup, next time I need to fix the 28mm to f16 and only use a shutter speed of 1/45th. I might also introduce some negative clarity into my processing as the crappy Vivitar 28mm is still sharper than the meniscus lens on the brownie. I could just buy a hawkeye to play with but I can't afford the film processing costs!
The Hawkeye has a fixed focus lens with a close up attachment, and a fixed f-stop. I tried to emulate it's operation by only allowing my bodgy plastic lensed Vivitar 28mm f2.8 to operate at f8 only at two focusing distances of 23cm and 2metres.
I tried to do the exposure manually like you had to with the Brownie Hawkeye using a separate light meter. Since the only light meter I have is in my camera, I used it in centre weighted mode and tried to meter different parts of the scene for best overall exposure. I came up with a shutter speed of 1/250th (which seems a bit too fast to replicate the older camera).
Processing was done as simple as possible, for the next lot of Browniesque photos here are my steps
1) Match the framing of the Brownie prints - center crop to a 1x1 aspect ratio.
2) Give it that film feel - Process using some sort of preset lightroom film type in this case Fake Fuji Superia 100.
3) Simulate the light fall off on a brownie lens - Use a preset vignetting.
Now the real challenge is that my friend pays $3-$4 per print from his camera, so I couldn't exactly be unjust and chimp away with my digital. I have to focus on composition and exposure and I'm only allowed one click to get my photo right.
So here is my attempt this month, a Cosmo Flower grown by Therese on our balcony. The photo is still too clear and sharp, and doesn't have that dreamy look that my friend's photos have. I think I need to look up the Brownie Hawkeye's specifics and constrain myself even further.
EDIT: Yup, next time I need to fix the 28mm to f16 and only use a shutter speed of 1/45th. I might also introduce some negative clarity into my processing as the crappy Vivitar 28mm is still sharper than the meniscus lens on the brownie. I could just buy a hawkeye to play with but I can't afford the film processing costs!
