Tag Archives: Hasselblad twin rig

The Finally Part 2

by Bob Venezia

The Finally, part 2

End of the fireworks show where the pyrotechs pull out all the stops

As the Flying Karamazov Brothers would say as they approached the end of their performance, “And now, the part of the show you’ve all been waiting for. The Finally.”
End of the fireworks show where they pull out all the stops.
There is a strange set of blinking lights running through the middle of the photo. Maybe a drone?

Liz 323

by Boris Starosta

In the early aughts I worked numerous times with Liz, who was not just good looking, but quite a friendly jokester too.  At the time, I had this inflated vinyl chair sitting around in my studio, and every single time she came for a photo session, she would remark how much she liked it.  So finally, one day she came and again she said she loved the chair, so I asked her if she could show me how much she loved it, and could I photograph her loving it?   That’s how this session came to be.  Numerous really good images came out of the session, but probably my favorite one is this flub – the flash had failed to fire in synchrony with the shutters.  She had just gotten down on the floor to receive the chair, and teasing me, had starting moving with it just so (you know what I’m talking about), when I shot this image impromtu, really before I was ready.  All the subsequent images were well lit, but none showed this energy.  Sometimes the best images are visible and available for only a moment, and too much gear or technical complexity leaves them inaccessible… or too much thought and direction spoils them.

Shot with twin Hasselblads CM500 on a bar, electric twin release.

Independence Day Fireworks 2-4

by Bob Venezia

Independence Day fireworks over Seattle's Lake Union

Independence Day fireworks over Seattle’s Lake Union

Taken with twin Hasselblad 500Cs spaced 40 feet apart and triggered with an ingenious device created by my good friend James Baker. The photo is taken from James’ roof. There will be no public fireworks show in Seattle in the year of 2020. But next time I shoot them I expect to be able to trigger the cameras wirelessly, using motorized film winders. Looking forward to that!

Rockwood Farm Entrance 3-3

by Bob Venezia

Rockwood Farm Entrance

Entrance to Rockwood Farm in Snoqualmie, Washington

A popular stop for photographers in the fall is the entrance to Rockwood Farm in Snoqualmie, Washington, to the tremendous annoyance of the locals. Dozens of people stand at the entrance and spill out into the street. There’s a wrought iron gate I’m shooting through in this shot. I do wish I’d underexposed it a bit more for richer color.

Reflection Lake Star Trails #3

by Bob Venezia

Long nighttime exposure, with star trails, of Mt. Rainier from Reflection Lakes


My best guess is this is from 2010. This is a one-and-a-half hour exposure at f16 from 2 Hasselblads. These would be the 50mm lenses, and the film is Provia 100F. I don’t remember if I’d planned it this way, or if I later determined I’d gotten the exposure very wrong, but I ended up pushing the film 2 stops which was clearly the right thing to do. (I may have taken a test exposure from another film magazine to make the determination; just don’t remember). I probably had some children’s socks tied around the lenses, with handwarmers inside, to keep the lenses from fogging.

I’m impressed with the color and how blue the sky looks. Well, it is sunlight after all, it’s just getting to the scene via a large reflector in the sky. The moon would have been pretty full here. The challenge with these shots is to get enough light on the trees on the other side of the lake without blowing out the top of the mountain. I do like the reflected star trails in the water.

String of Pearls

by Bob Venezia

String of Pearls

Brooklyn Bridge with the lights on

In all but one of my shots of the Brooklyn Bridge from the Manhattan side the lights are off. This is the outlier. I think they were turned off this day at 1 am, shortly after I shot this. Twin Hasselblad 500Cs with 50mm lenses mounted on a wooden bar as close as I can get them (about 4.25″ between lens centers). Provia 100f, f22, 4 minute exposure.

Golden

by Bob Venezia

Golden

Fireworks above Lake Union in Seattle.

This was shot on July 4, 2014 from the rooftop of a friend’s condo. I get the entire 40′ long, flat space to myself! And I take advantage of the full length. The cameras are Hasselblad 500Cs, outfitted with 150mm lenses. They are triggered by a wired remote devised by my genius friend, James Baker, who owns the condo. There is an article in the 1.2014 issue of STEREOSCOPY detailing what goes into the planning. See:

http://www.stereoscopy.com/isu/stereoscopy-journal-97-2014-1.html

Light Rain #2

by Bob Venezia

Light Rain

Fireworks on Seattle's Lake Union, 4 July 2013

This is the fourth year I’ve attempted to capture Seattle’s 4th of July fireworks display. I have a perfect spot for shooting them, provided by a good friend. Every previous attempt has had its problems. In 2010 the triggers I used worked in my basement but not in the field. So I came down off the roof disappointed and my friend Jim, an inventor, asked me to describe the problem. Some months later he presented me with a box containing some solenoid triggers.

2011 worked better but I was trying to do too many things at once. The triggers worked pretty well but in the end I only had a couple of usable shots. When I say usable I mean awesome. The Hasselblads were spaced about 20 feet apart, based on a formula I got from Don Lopp.

When Don saw the photos he said, “You know, since you don’t have infinity in the shot you could double the distance between the cameras.” I was shooting the fireworks against a dark sky (which presents a problem in aiming the cameras) but I resolved to shoot with greater separation.

In 2012 I had 40 foot separation but my aim was not good and I didn’t get anything I could use.

Fast forward to 2013. I asked my friend to make the triggers more powerful as there were times when it seemed the signal wasn’t strong enough to go over long distances. James did beef up the triggers such that he thinks I could trigger from several miles without that problem! This year the triggers were good, the aim was near perfect, and a I got some really nice shots. 40 foot separation between cameras. I’m currently too protective of the best ones to send them out on tour but even the “also-rans” are quite good! And I hope I can get to share some of these with you in person!

And I can’t wait ’til next year!

Luminous Wheel Fun n Games

by Bob Venezia

The Giant Wheel at the Evergreen State Fair is illuminated behind the Fun n Games concession.

This is the one shot of the Giant Wheel and Fun n Games that worked for me this year. †his image does have some retinal rivalry but I think it serves to give the image a bit of action and adds to the image.

Reflection Lake Star Trails #2

by Bob Venezia

Reflection Lake Star Trails #2I know what you’re thinking — the thing missing from this folio is some photos of Mt. Rainier.

For at least a couple years now Don Lopp has been bugging me to get down to Reflection Lake and capture this shot under a full moon. The idea is to take an exposure long enough to let the moon light the scene like day and still get star trails.

I shot some other film that night and processed it first. It came out much too dark and in the end I pushed this roll 2 stops. This was a 90 minute exposure. With the push it’s the equivalent of a 6 hour exposure (and star trails could have been 4x as long)! I am baffled by how true the colors look. I see no reciprocity failure.

Shot with 2 Hasselblad 500Cs on a twin bar. Provia 100F at f16.