Charles Bridge, Prague

Hyper stereo image

Hyper stereo image

Some of you may get a feeling of deja vu with this one. It is almost identical to a shot I took with my TL-120  a few years back. This time I returned with my Lubitel rig to get a hyper shot of the wonderful and famous Charles Bridge in Prague, which I was just itching to do. The TL-120 image did not show enough depth for me. This one does. I was thinking about putting both images in the folio for comparison, but I would rather show some variety. I prefer this image to the original.

Provia 100f, but I have no idea what the aperture was, but the shutter speed was 1/125th. I never change that, lest I lose my matching shutter speeds.

 

Prague Tarmac

Vatslav Havel Airport, Prague

Vatslav Havel Airport, Prague

This image was taken with twin Lubitels again. This time I did not have my tripod or my mounting bar, and I am pretty sure if I did, I would have drawn a little too much attention in the airport terminal. Instead, I recruited my son Preston to look after one camera. We used a window ledge to rest the cameras on about a meter and a half separation and aimed them at a chosen target. Then we did a count down to fire the shutters, with our fingers on the lense’s shutter release. (I didn’t even have cable releases with me. just the cameras, to protect the film inside from the harsh baggage X-ray). We figured the shot was spoiled because both of us managed to turn the camera 45 degrees on the slippery aluminum window frame when we tripped the shutters. To our surprise, they both came out perfect. the shutters must have closed before the cameras slipped. On top of that, the cameras were aimed so well that I could align the chips in my largest mounts.

The plane in the foreground is Poland’s “Air Force one”. We had just watched the plane arrive to a crowd of reporters and photographers gathered on the tarmac to greet the Polish President or Prime Minister or some such, coming to town for some summit talks. They had all cleared out before we could get the cameras set up.

Here is a quiz question. How many aircraft can you see in the image?

South Bohemia Town

South Bohemia Town

Southern Czech Republic

We were on our way to a different beautiful historic town when we chanced upon this wonderful view. We stopped by the river bank and I set up my Lubitel rig and shot this hyper (about 16″ separation) using my trusty one-cable-release-in-each-hand synchronization method. As usual, it stopped a bird in flight. Provia 100f and almost certainly sunny 16 on this one.

The Outer Defenses, Kingston Ontario

OuterDefenses

This image is of 3 of  the “Martello” towers which are part of the Fort Henry complex in Kingston, Ontario. These towers date back to the War of 1812.

This image is the third MF image I ever shot. It was my test reel of my first Sputnik camera. The day was so bright and clear that it was almost impossible to take a bad image. This shot, taken hand held, sold me on MF. The light that came from the clear sky was so bright that even full shadow was well illuminated.

Hluboka Fairytale Palace

HlubokaPalaceThis Czech palace looks like a wedding cake, both from far away and close up. What’s great is that it has been in constant use as the setting for Czech children’s movies and TV shows about historic times (Princes and Princesses and such).

Tabor Square

TaborThis is a TL120 image taken on Provia 100f film. I believe it was shot at f16 and 125th. I just had to get a shot of this fabulous statue on the top of the fountain in the square of Tabor, Czech Republic. We stopped in this historic town for some lunch, and as usual, I was delayed in ordering.

Charles Bridge, Prague

CharlesBridgeIf you go to Prague, you will inevitably find the fine stone bridge built by King Charles I. It is one of the oldest stone bridges in Europe and is a very popular attraction in the heart of the medieval town. This image was shot with my TL120 camera on Provia 100f film. Maybe on the next round I will have a similar, only  hyper shot from my Lubitel hyper rig. I still have to take the film in for processing.

Avebury Hyper

Avebury HyperThis image is a medium format redo of one of my earliest stereo images, and one of my favourite places on Earth. I backpacked through England in my youth looking for stone circles to photograph. I borrowed my friend’s Revere and shot about 5 rolls of Kodachrome slides, my first experience with stereo (outside of Viewmaster). I still have my first ever hyper stereo (cha cha) slide, in Realist format (two actually). This was my proud return. I found the same spot and set up my twin Lubitel rig. Almost all shots on my Lubitels are 125th and f16. I set the shutters by recording the sound they make using Audacity, and I don’t dare try to change the speed settings. In the field, this rig is a bear to set up, so I also usually save time by leaving the apertures at f16  and wait for bright sunlight. This way I can leave the focus at the hyper focal, so I can concentrate on the composition. it’s a hyper rig, so most objects are near infinity anyhow. I trigger the rig with two cable releases. One in each hand.

The stone circle at Avebury was described by the archaeologist, Aubrey, as being like a great cathedral, compared with Stone Henge, which is more like a village church. This image shows only a small part of the circle. A large part of the town of Avebury is actually inside the circle. The stone my wife Kamila is posing in front of is called the “Barber stone” since one of the medieval residents who tried to destroy the “Pagan” circle was crushed by this stone when it was toppled, and he was found with a pair of scissors.

Krumlov Tower

Krumlov Tower

Everywhere you go in this UNESCO protected town there is a great potential for photographers. The narrow lanes and medieval buildings also make for plenty of deep stereo subjects. This image was shot hand held on the fly at 1/125 on Provia 100f. I set the aperture while metering through the lens of my TL120 and don’t remember what it was.

Krumlov Lane

Krumlov Lane

Shot hand held f16 at 1/125 on Provia 100f using my TL120.

Czesky Krumlov has become a popular tourist attraction in the Czech Republic, but up until the Velvet Revolution in 1989, it was just another medieval town. this place is a target rich environment.

My wife is originally Czech, and we go there every year, so you can expect a lot of my stuff to be from there. We were in a hurry when we walked past this street scene. It looked so cozy, I wanted to capture that feel.

Timo Puhakka

The Trillium

The Trillium

 This is an older shot of mine and it says a lot about the Sputnik, since I can’t remember If I took this with it, or my  TL120. It is shot on Provia 100f and clearly a small aperture, likely f11 at 1/125 hand held.

I remember waiting an agonizing time for the sun to come out before opening the shutter.

I have taken other shots of ferrys from this location, but it is rare to see the older, paddle wheel Trillium at the Centre Island dock at the same time as another ferry, in this case the Thomas Rennie.

The Trillium was built in 1910 and restored in 1976 after spending some time resting on the bottom of an island lagoon.

Greek Theatre – Guild Inn, Scarborough, ON

The Greek Theatre.

This image was taken at the Guild Inn, on the Scarborough Bluffs in Toronto using my Sputnik camera. I can’t remember the camera settings used but it was shot on Fuji Provia 100f. I remember putting my tripod as low as I could, since there were many people on the stage that would have created a distraction. My son Preston features in many of my shots, since we usually go on shoots together.

The Guild Inn is a property which is rich in Toronto history. The previous owner, Spencer Clark, was actively collecting stone fragments of Toronto architecture, which was being demolished to make way for the glass and steel towers that now dominate the Toronto skyline. The eight columns and Corinthian capitals of the Greek Theatre, with arches joining the columns, were saved in 1966 from the demolition of the Bank of Toronto formerly located on the corner of Bay Street and King Street. The bank had been built in 1912. They were reassembled in 1982. The blossoming trees have now been trimmed back quite a bit.

Timo Puhakka