The Wide View in Western Washington (Hasselblad XPan 01)

Panoramic Cameras

For years I experimented with panoramas. In the past, I took a series of photographs (usually horizontal) with a normal camera and included about 25 percent overlap on each frame. Then I mounted prints on a long board and made a physical panorama. This worked best with 50mm or longer lenses because they did not suffer from distortion or light fall-off at the edges. 

More recently, I have scanned the negatives and merged them electronically using Adobe Photoshop. The software is amazingly effective, and often you barely see the junctions where the negatives overlap at all. The quality of the merge depends on whether the lens displays darkening or unsharp areas at the edge of each frame. Regular readers may remember panoramas from Lower Manhattan and Logan Airport in Boston (click the links).

For a century, camera makers invented various types of cameras that  exposed a wide piece of film. That way, you did not need to combine separate pieces of film or glue prints on a board.

There are three main types of panoramic cameras:

1. Stationary lens wide body. The camera body holds a wide piece of film and mounts a lens with sufficient coverage to expose the entire frame. Some examples include Former and Schwing's 7×17 and even 12×20 inch banquet cameras. Can you imagine the size of the latter monster? Mid-century, it was more common to use 6×12 and 6×17 bodies that held 120 film. Some of the best are the gorgeous Linhof models. The disadvantage of these wide bodies is that objects at the sides of the frames become elongated. Think of a round ball that becomes stretched along the axis of the film. That is why most photographers do not use wide angle lenses for group portraits - people at the edge look wide. 
2. Rotating or swing lens cameras. These are ingenious machines. The lens is on a motorized pivot. The film back is curved, and as the lens moves, it paints the image on the film. With this design, objects at the edge do not become elongated. 
3. 360º rotation camera. The entire camera rotates through a circle while the film moves at the same speed past the lens. One example is the famous Swiss Roundshot. These provide amazing panoramas from mountain tops or cityscapes from towers. 

An excellent introduction to this type of photography is: Meechem, Joseph,1990. Panoramic Photography, Amphoto, New York, 144p. 

Hasselblad XPan camera with 45mm ƒ/4 lens and center filter

Lens Options

Two other methods let you create panoramas with an ordinary camera.

1. An anamorphic lens compresses the image in one direction while leaving the other unchanged. These were developed for cinematography when wide-screen movies became popular (think of Cinemascope). The film remained the normal size. At the cinema, an opposite (or anti-) anamorphic projection lens recreated the wide view that had been filmed on the set or in nature. These lenses were originally spectacularly expensive, but some Chinese companies are selling new version. 
2. A shift lens can be mounted on any 35mm camera. Take one picture with the lens shifted full to the left, then a second frame full to the right, and merge the frames with Photoshop. I still have an Olympus OM 35mm ƒ/2.8 shift lens. I need to buy an inexpensive body and put the lens back into use.

The Hasselblad XPan

Between 1998 and 2006, Fujifilm made a spectacular camera, the TX-1 (and updated it with TX-2). Hasselblad marketed them in the USA and Canada as the XPan and XPan-2. This camera looks like a modern rangefinder body but it is wider. The film opening is 24×65 mm, in contrast to the normal 35mm camera. which exposes only 24×36 mm. Fuji made three superb lenses, 30mm, 45mm, and 90mm. The 30mm and 45mm lenses had optional center filters to even the exposure across the frame.With the recent revival in film photography, TX-1s and XPans are highly coveted and seriously expensive (a 3-lens kit complete with the center filters is a third or half the price of a new car).

Willapa Bay and Grays Harbor, Washington

The coast of Washington has two large estuaries or rias facing the Pacific Ocean. The southern one is Willapa Bay. Grays Harbor (no apostrophe in the name) is a few miles to the north. 

In 2004, I spent a few months working in Seattle on an erosion study of Willapa Bay. A friend offered to fly me to the coast, and I rented an XPan from Glazers Camera. He had a perfect airplane for the trip because the window opened (or maybe it had no window, I can't remember).

Mouth of Willapa Bay, view west to the Pacific Ocean

Willapa Bay faces the Pacific Ocean. Most of the bay is protected from the open ocean by the Long Beach Peninsula, a long sand spit composed of sediment brought down to the ocean by the Colombia River. The mouth of Willapa Bay has been very dynamic and has migrated north more than a kilometer in a century. This northward migration threatened the formerly-protected shellfish grounds used by the Shoalwater Bay Tribe and threatened their homes. 

In 1866, President Andrew Johnson created the 334-acre Shoalwater Reserve for the Willapa Bay Chinook people under the Treaty of Olympia. During the 1990s and 2000s, the village occupied by the tribe (lower right in the photograph above) suffered wave action and threat of severe erosion. The US Army Corps of Engineers conducted a study of hydrodynamics, sediment movement, and geology to evaluate if they could protect the village. If you are interested, Appendix 1, Engineering Analysis and Design of the 2009 study titled, "Shoalwater Bay Shoreline Erosion, Washington, FLOOD AND COASTAL STORM DAMAGE REDUCTION, Shoalwater Bay Indian Reservation" describes the data and analyses used in the study. 

Heading north, Grays Harbor is another large estuary with a dangerous Pacific Ocean mouth. This bay was historically important for the fur trade, fishing, and the timber industry. 

Timber yard, Aberdeen

Grays Harbor's largest city is Aberdeen, located at the east end of the bay at the mouth of the Chehalis River. During the early 20th century, Aberdeen was the world's largest timber port. Much of the timber today is shipped to Asia.

Olympia

Washington State capitol, Olympia

Olympia, in Thurston County, is the capitol of Washington State. The marble dome of Capitol building is said to be the fifth highest masonry dome in the world. This a nice mid-size city, without the congestion and frenetic pace of Seattle, which is about two hours to the northeast. Olympia has a famous Farmers' Market, where you can indulge your wishes for a gastronomic overload of locally-sourced healthy vegetables and fruits. 

Tacoma

Tacoma is an industrial city at the south end of Puget Sound, about an hour south of Seattle. In the 1970s, Tacoma had major steel and paper mills. When the wind blew from the south, we smelled it in Seattle and called it "Aroma of Tacoma." Today, Tacoma has gentrified but remains a major port handling timber, bulk cargoes, petroleum products, and automobiles.   

Tacoma harbor, view west

Fisherman cottage, Tacoma (look out for the tsunami)

What a nice place for a cottage: view of the sea, clang on the buoys, swish of the waves, salty/briny smell of the intertidal flats. But when the Cascadia subduction zone finally has a big slip, the tsunami will rush into Puget Sound and wash away this little cottage. 

Browns Point, NE Tacoma

Browns Point has some nice residences on the bluff top and along the base. I do not know about geotechnical issues for the residents at the top with a view. Still, it would be nice.

Port of Tacoma

Want a car? Take you pick, all the finest from Japan and Germany.

Stand by for panoramas from Seattle in a future article. Please click any photograph to expand it. 

The Colonial Heritage Byway, north central North Carolina (Abandoned films 08d)

Colonial Heritage Byway

In the previous article, I wrote about historic byways in North Carolina. This the second byway that I explored in October of 2021. 

From the North Carolina Department of Transportation:

Colonial Heritage Byway

This byway provides an impressive tour of 18th and 19th-century history in North Carolina. While traveling on NC 62, look for many older houses and barns dating back to the 1800s, especially in the town of Milton. The NC 86 portion of the byway provides a glimpse of the Piedmont’s dairy farms and rural life.

My goal was to photographic tobacco barns. I read that they were a traditional architectural feature of the Carolinas that were disappearing because tobacco is a less important agricultural commodity than in the past. I started my journey in Carrboro and headed northwest towards Hillsborough (a very nice town with an excellent coffee shop, Cup-a-Joe, on West King Street) and proceeded north on NC 86 towards Cedar Grove.  It was a cheerful sunny day but with rather harsh lighting.

Garage with residence above, 8906 Old NC 86

Fixer-upper, 7403 NC 86, Cedar Grove

Vine explosion, 7403 NC 86, Cedat Grove

Heading out of Hillsborough, I did not see many old barns but was pleased to see some of my favorite topics, country stores.

Shed behind 8318 NC 86

Ahah, the first tobacco shed. I stopped at a workshop on NC 86, and when I told the proprietor what I was looking for, he directed me to an overgrown path behind his shop. At one time, these sheds had gaps in the logs, but afterwards, farmers added concrete chinking to seal the interiors.

McDade Store, McDade Store Road

Finally, between Prospect Hill and Hightowers, old-fashioned tobacco barns became more common.

Restored historic barn, Prospect Hill

I spoke to a farmer who owned the barn and land. This one had been restored by the state. He said that if a historic barn was standing, the structure could not be demolished. But, some farmers let the barns deteriorate to the extent that they collapsed, and then they could sell the land to developers who built McMansions. This farmer and several others I met were bitter that some landowners were willing to sell out. I saw signs protesting proposed gravel pit somewhere in the county.

Barn, NC 86, Hightowers, North Carolina

Sheds, NC 86, Hightowers

Asphalt siding house, Hightowers

Asphalt siding, similar to roofing shingles, were popular in the mid-20th century because they were durable, repelled bugs, and did not need paint. Notice how in the siding on this house was made to look like bricks.

Barn on Hwy 119, Hightowers

Shed on Hwy 119, Hightowers

By 5:00 pm, the light was fading and it was time return to Chapel Hill. I could have easily spent more hours driving on rural roads and looking for old barns and sheds.

No gas here, US 158, Leasburg

Slightly closed store, New Hope Church Road, Leasburg

This ends our short tour of part of the Colonial Heritage Byway. Thank you for riding along.

I took these photographs on Kodak BW400CN film using my 1949 Leica IIIC camera and its 5cm ƒ/2 Summitar lens. This roll of film was grainy, and dark areas looked sooty. This was one of my last rolls of BW400CN, and I will not buy any more.

The Football Scenic Road, central North Carolina (Abandoned films 08c)

North  Carolina Scenic Byways (from NC Department of Transportation)

Introduction

The State of North Carolina has a network of scenic byways that cover many of the historic and scenic parts of the state. If you go to the Department of Transport web page, you can download a book of the byways and look at an interactive map. You can also request a printed copy of the book.

The screen capture above is the online map on the NC-DOT web page. The blue line in the west is the Blue Ridge Parkway. Long-term readers may remember that I have driven much of the Parkway in 2017 and 2018. I have also driven the Nantahala and Fontana (Rte. 28) Byways. It is beautiful terrain in the west. 

For the urban decay photographer, the state is a treasure trove of old farmhouses, mills, factories, and quiet little towns that look like time passed by. 

The Football Road (west of Chapel Hill)

The DOT calls the route between Chapel Hill and the outskirts of Greensboro the Football Road. I do not know why it has this name. But it goes through nice farm country and avoids the boring Interstate 40. Part of it is Old Greensboro Road and then becomes the Old Greensboro-Chapel Hill Road.

Barn on Old Greensboro Road, near Chapel Hill

Farm house, Dawson Road near Chapel Hill

Farm, Old Greensboro Road near Chapel Hill

Barn, Greensboro-Chapel Hill Road near Snow Camp

Farm, Greensboro-Chapel Hill Road near Snow Camp (Jupiter-8 lens, yellow filter)

Happy cows, Greensboro-Chapel Hill Road near Eli Whitney

The Greensboro-Chapel Hill Road winds its way past farms and woods. An occasional car or tractor passes by. I was surprised that many of the silos consist of concrete tubes reinforced with exterior steel bands. It is a cylindrical version of a barrel. 

Fixer-upper house, Greensboro-Chapel Hill Road, near Snow Camp

Snow Camp

Historic school, Snow Camp Outdoor Theatre, Snow Camp

Restaurant next to Snow Camp Outdoor Theatre

The Snow Camp Outdoor Theatre is at 301 Drama Rd. (great name!) in Snow Camp. The site was empty when I visited in October, but in-season, the semi-professional company has been presenting plays for over 40 years. The restaurant next door will not be providing any meals for a long time..... 

Unoccupied farm, Holman Mill Road, Snow Camp

This ends our short excursion on the Football Road in central North Carolina. The time was late and I had to return to Chapel Hill.

These photographs are all on Kodak BW400CN film from my little Leica IIIC camera. I used my 5cm ƒ/2 Summitar and 50mm ƒ/2 Jupiter-8 lenses, often with a yellow filter to enhance clouds.

Cheap Hack for Leica: 30mm ƒ/10 Kodak Disposable Camera Lens

Some clever entrepreneurs in China have introduced an inexpensive lens for Leica thread mount cameras: a plastic housing containing a Kodak 30mm ƒ/10 lens from a disposable (i.e., one-use) camera. They must have removed the lens units from the Kodak KB32 camera (or sourced brand new ones) and remounted them in 39mm, Leica M, and several other plastic mounts. The lens has no aperture control and it is fixed focus. In other words, you must use it at ƒ/10 and hope that depth of field will cover the focus of anything in your scene. 

Some of these little lenses for disposable cameras are rather sophisticated and consist of aspherical units molded out of some plastic. Up through the 1990s, aspherical glass surfaces were very expensive to make because of the super-precise grinding that was necessary. But modern molding machines made cheap one-use cameras with reasonably good optical output possible. They were not discarded. After the lab processed the customer's film, the factory (or a contractor) loaded the body with fresh film for a new customer. 

Here are some examples from my Leica IIIC camera on Fuji Acros 100. On film, it is optically fair. Mine is uneven left to right. But it makes interesting B&W shots of the type of grubby stuff that I photograph. Best focus may be about 2 - 3m from the camera. It works best to crop a couple of mm from the edges of each frame. Oops item: finger in some frames. When using this 30mm hack lens, I will need to hold my Leica IIIC without wrapping my hand around the front. 

Iron window frames from former Federal Courthouse and Post Office, 820 Crawford St., Vicksburg

Loading dock of former Post Office

Magnolia School, Bowman Street, Vicksburg

Magnolia School, Bowman Street, Vicksburg

Mounted on my digital Fuji X-E1 camera, the Kodak lens has rather poor contrast and does not handle flare well. In the example below, I added contrast and sharpened significantly.  

Pecan tree, Drummond Street, Vicksburg

Summary. Not too good optically, but compact and well worth packing in the camera bag. Works well with gritty topics.

Huge architecture: Mills of New Bedford, Massachusetts (Abandoned films 08b)

Introduction

New Bedford is a historic seaport, whaling town, and industrial city facing Buzzards Bay on the south coast of Massachusetts. 

According to Wikipedia, New Bedford was once known as "The Whaling City" because it was one of the world's most important whaling ports in the late-eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Whaling declined after the 1860s when petroleum was discovered in Pennsylvania and as overfishing almost eradicated whale populations around the world's oceans. 

Textile manufacturing replaced the whale trade (from Wikipedia):

In the midst of this decline, greater New Bedford's economy became more dependent on the textile industry, which began to eclipse the whaling industry in the late 19th century. The mills grew and expanded constantly, eventually comprising multiple sites along the Acushnet River. In 1875 alone, the Wamsutta Mills processed 19,000 bales of cotton into 20 million yards of cloth, which had a wholesale value comparable to that of the entire whaling catch, and continued to produce over 20 million yards of cloth yearly after 1883. The Wamsutta Mills remained the world's largest weaving plant until 1892.

My wife and I briefly visited New Bedford in late 2021 and looked at some of the monumental mill buildings. Many are empty now, but some have new uses, including residential. The New Bedford Economic Development Council prepared a City of New Bedford Historic Mill Inventory in 2008. You need to walk around some of the structures to see what huge businesses these must have once housed and image how many thousands of workers once toiled inside. We have seen similar huge brick mill buildings in Lewiston, Maine, in 2003 and Łódź, Poland, in 2016 (in a pre-Covid life).

New Bedford Harbor

Harbor Street, New Bedford. Note mill worker houses in the distance

Former power plant, Harbor Street (5cm ƒ/2 Summitar lens, orange filter)

Mill view from Gifford Street (taken from US Army Corps of Engineers hurricane surge barrier)

Clarks Cove

Clark's Cove is on the west side of the city, with Rodney French Boulevard running along the shore. We stopped at a driveway leading into a mill complex at 89 Rodney French. The gate was open and no one was around. I could not find a name of the complex or the name of the former milling company. The 2008 inventory does not list the original companies that operated these mills.

The Globe Furniture Company occupies part of the ground floor facing Rodney French. But most of the hulking complex appeared to be empty. The doors were secured and I could not go inside, but did not have enough time to look everywhere. 

The patterns of light and shadow were especially interesting in the harsh sunlight. I hope I can return with a 4×5" camera some day.

Details, patters, shapes, textures - no end to interesting photographic topics.

Workers' homes, Thatcher Street (digital image)

Another topic for a future visit is the worker housing that the cotton companies erected near the factories. The morning steam whistle would blow, and the factory workers walked to work.

I took the 2021 photographs on Kodak BW400CN film with my Leica IIIC rangefinder camera and the 5cm ƒ/2 Summitar lens.