Poor planning had me testing my new (to me) 8×10 Calumet C-1 view camera as a cold front moved into Happy Valley bringing with it a drop in temperature (12F), wind, and snow.  But only needing one exposure I figured it wouldn’t be so bad even though the view out the front of the van suggested otherwise.  Working in large format photography requires practice and method and while I once possessed both ten years ago it’s not like riding a bicycle.  The new camera immediately felt like a foreign object.

You might wonder what any of this has to do with riding the Vespa?  I’ll get to that.

My Belgian Sheepdog Junior loves the cold weather and was content periodically chasing the tennis ball down the hill as I wrestled with the camera.  Setting it up in a warm home is nothing like trying to do it when a biting wind is at you.  I could do most of the setup with gloves save for mounting the camera to the tripod.  By the time I turned the mounting screw into the base of the camera both hands were numb — not a good start to a test.  I was reminded of how I had to develop a process for riding the Vespa scooter in the winter and how the same would be necessary for the big camera.  I made a mistake just venturing out like I did.

The test destination was about 100 yards away — the tree in the distance on the far right of the photo.  Lugging the camera, lens and tripod (35 pounds total) is a chore in itself that requires some practice.  At least I could wear mittens.

Not sure how old the camera or lens is or even if the shutter is functioning properly.  That’s one of the reasons I was doing a test though about at this point in time I was wondering why I wasn’t conducting it in my livingroom. At least the snow slowed a bit so I could spend some time composing a picture.

Junior is relentless and I try to imagine myself as such though my cold tolerance just can’t match his.  Each time he lunged into the snow to retrieve the ball he turned just a little whiter.

Finally I had everything ready and made the exposure — 1/1o of a second at f32 on Ilford HP5 8×10 film.  Later in the day I processed it in Kodak D76 developer at a 1:1 dilution with water in a new BTZS (Beyond the Zone System) processing tube.

I was able to get everything back into the van without becoming frostbitten but was aware some practice was in order in handling the camera from setup to tear down.  Practice will make this much easier over time.  It’s like learning to ride.

The darkroom was pretty much the same thing — some practice is in order to streamline the process.  And the final result indicated the need for an adjustment in exposures and/or processing time — the negative was dense.  But it was a good first step and here is the result:

The black and white contact print “feels” like what I saw — white and cold as snow blew through the air.  Because the negative was so dense the image has lost detail in the highlights but I suspect I can retrieve them in the darkroom.  This quick print was really to evaluate the sharpness of the lens and see if I could detect any processing inconsistencies.  So far, so good.

So, what does this have to do with the Vespa?  Well, my plan is to haul the camera on the scooter to work on a two-fold project.  One part focuses on landscape — man-made, social, environmental, natural, whatever I see while riding.  The other is a series of portraits of the Vespa in the riding landscape.  I’ve worked out in my head how I’ll haul everything.  The camera will be packed and hauled on the front rack.  The film holders and light meter will ride in the topcase while the lens and dark cloth will call the under-seat space home.

One step at a time I’ll keep plodding along…