Digital BW, The Print

> Re: Speed Graphic:

A quick anecdote: I once drove about one hundred miles to shoot an important
architectural shot for a client with a graphic. I used the ground glass to
compose and focus, inserted the film holder, removed the dark slide and
exposed. I repeated the same step with the other side of the film holder as
a "bracket." Upon processing the film I discovered that 2/3 of the image was
obscured by an irregular shaped, diagonal rectangle. I thought that there
couldn't be anything inside the camera because I had focused with the
groundglass and if it had been there I would have seen it. It was a "Crown,"
not a "Speed" Graphic so it had no focal plane shutter to get in the way. I
checked the film holders and they looked great. What the hell could it be?

I removed the back from the camera and there, inside, was a parking ticket!
Duh! it dawned on me that I had put it in my jacket pocket. When I put the
film holder in the same pocket it "picked up" the ticket and because I was
looking at the back side of the holder when I inserted it in the camera, I
didn't see it. When I inserted the holder and pulled the slide it fell out
inside the camera an the bellows kept it "standing up."

Live and learn. What's the lesson in this? Always park legally.

Rick Colson