Technical - Large Format Photography

Mommy! Why is that man standing there with a blanket on his head?!!

Photography with a view camera is little changed from the 19th century. The very first cameras from the 1840’s were little more than wooden boxes with a lens and a means of holding light sensitive material.

The modern view camera has 3 main components: a lens, a body with extendible bellows, and a groundglass. The sheets of film are held separately in special film holders.

The camera is relatively cumbersome, and must be tripod mounted.

The groundglass is used to compose and focus the image, however the image is dim, and the photographer must use a dark cloth over his/her head to view this upside down, reversed image. Once the camera has been set up in this way, a holder is inserted into the back of the camera, a darkslide removed and an exposure is made.

Using a view camera forces you to pick your scene with care, and take time to set up and compose. This is a very deliberate and contemplative form of photography.

Using the view camera, my “hit rate” (i.e. proportion of successful images) is much higher than using digital or film SLRs.

How a view camera works