adding needed light for action shots
Toronto. In today’s world of smart phone ‘auto everything’ cameras, it is hard to imagine sensors so slow that sharp outdoor action shots are a no-no. But in the late 1940s, colour film was just that. Its sensitivity was abysmally slow.
Portraits and landscapes were great outdoors in full sunlight. But, for action shots, even in full sunlight, colour film sensitivity was just too low. Even a decade later, I found Kodachrome, at a crummy ASA 10, left the outdoor shadows in darkness if the highlights were correctly exposed (using a 35mm camera lens at f/2 and a shutter speed of 1/25 second or so).
So what could be done to take an action shot (especially using a press camera)? One could follow the subject and let the rest of the scene go blurry. One could use a strong flash. But what if the flash was too weak? Well, a more powerful bulb might have worked. No room for a larger bulb? Then multi flash guns could be used like shown here.
The article shows how one New York photographer (Oscar ‘Ozzie’ Sweet) solved things by concocting a support holding an array of flash guns, all set to fire when the shutter was released. As shown, the array was used with a press camera. Lenses for such cameras were a bit slow, even when used ‘wide open’.
The article is in Popular Mechanics (the March 1948 edition) and is presented here thanks to my good friend and fellow PHSC member, George Dunbar. George found it while seeking historical material in magazine ads and articles.
