Photo Group

One way to impress your friends is to make your own camera. I shot this group photo with a 90mm fixed focus 4"x5" camera I made in 2003. It is basically a black wooden box with a variety of fittings such as a tripod socket, viewfinder and cold shoe. Since it was painted black all over I dubbed it the Neretta. Sometimes I use it for pinhole shots.

Photo Couple

Another way to impress is to use a huge and rather ancient mahogany bellows camera for 5"x7" portraits. The Houghton Triple Victo whole plate camera was made in England around 1910, and at the time was a cutting edge machine in terms of its refinements and movements. I carried out a full restoration of the wood and brasswork in 2007. It is totally impractical to use outdoors, but fun.