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Hi everyone!
I’m not really an antique guy… unless…This is a Kodak No. 2 Folding Cartridge Premo that was produced between 1916 the mid 1920s (here’s some articles I found about it: http://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Kodak_Folding_Cartridge_Premo https://www.science.widener.edu/~schultz/oldcameras/premoreview.html)… and it’s one of my favorite things.
So I decided to break out my 2012-produced Canon 60D (another one of my favorite things) and get a cool picture before I went to bed last night.I’ve got a few critiques for myself on this one… but what do you all think?
I’ve attached a screenshot of my original and then my final edited version for comparison.
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Hey @loganlamar, that’s a really neat camera! I like the artistic approach you took, and the darkness of the photo goes well with the “old, antique” feel to the image.
Compositionally, I’m not particularly keen on the fact that the camera is facing the edge of the frame; the leading lines seem to pull the eye to the edge of the photo and there’s not really something to bring it back in.
In addition, the crop feels tight. It seems like it should either be zoomed in further to obviously focus in on the details on the front of the camera, or zoom out further and tell the story of the entire camera (the recent discussion on margin space comes to mind 🙂 ).
I like the stark contrast in the edit, though there’s just a little too much space taken up with complete blackness in the photo for my liking.
@bennett-family, yeah, those lead-in lines aren’t super great. As far as the crop is concerned, it does feel tight, but that’s about as tight as I took the photo unfortunately so I can’t really “zoom out” in post… one way I’m thinking I can “fix” that without taking this same picture again is taking more close photos of different elements of the camera (i.e. the focus guide, or the film reel ) and putting them all together as part of a series on my wall.
One thing that sticks out to me a little is the focus on the camera lens front element. If I were doing this over again, I’d like the part nearest to the camera to be a little sharper.
@loganlamar, yes, when I said “the crop” was tight, I was thinking your original framing. Sorry about that…should’ve clarified my terminology there. 🙂 If you don’t want to re-shoot it, sounds like you’re coming up with a creative way to make it work!
My Grandpa gave me a camera very similar to that! I’ve always wanted to do some study on it. I should pull it out and take some pictures of it one of these days. Where did you get yours?
The edit certainly helped draw attention to the front elements of the lens, which I think of as being your subject.
Maybe I’d like to see a little fill-light on the left so the accordion design is more noticeable? Maybe it would help “lighten up” the heavy dark area on the left?
I would agree with Lydia, it feels to me to be cropped too tightly on the right side.
Also, the camera is pointing downward ever so slightly, which gives the impression that the viewer is looking down on it (which is true), which is the normal perspective we have on most things like this, so it’s not exactly a “unique” angle. I’d perhaps try getting more level with it, if not slightly looking up at it.
And I don’t know what you can do to control the light, but perhaps in post-processing, the round, metal circular thing above the lens is reflecting light and pretty bright, so maybe toning that down so it’s not as bright?
Those are my thoughts!
@jamesstaddon, my grandma gave it to me, actually! I don’t know if there’s any family history behind it (in which case, it’d be an even better antique!).
I shot this in the dark with a single flash off camera to the right (autofocus was super painful to get right—I was using a flashlight and handholding my camera!).Maybe I’d like to see a little fill-light on the left so the accordion design is more noticeable? Maybe it would help “lighten up” the heavy dark area on the left?
I want to say I actually had a reflector on that side to bounce back my flash… or maybe I didn’t… I can’t remember. That said, post processing could help there a little.
Also, the camera is pointing downward ever so slightly, which gives the impression that the viewer is looking down on it (which is true), which is the normal perspective we have on most things like this, so it’s not exactly a “unique” angle. I’d perhaps try getting more level with it, if not slightly looking up at it.
I love this piece of advice… I’ll definitely be keeping it in mind next time. I once read someone say that the shots of professionals are of the same locations and items that everybody else photographs but from an angle that no one else thinks of…
perhaps in post-processing, the round, metal circular thing above the lens is reflecting light and pretty bright, so maybe toning that down so it’s not as bright?
Ah, yes, the round metal circular thing… I actually toned that down about a stop already in post processing. Looks like I could give it a little more…
Thanks for the critiques!
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