Large Format Photography Australia

Connie
Gelatin-silver photograph on Ultrafine Silver Eagle VC FB photographic paper, image size 21.5cm X 16.3cm, from a 4x5 Kodak Tmax 400 negative exposed in a Tachihara 45GF field view camera fitted with a Voigtlander Heliar 21cm f4.5 lens.

"Look fierce and scowl at the lens", and she did, and she did it wonderfully.

Quite an arresting portrait, you certainly had my attention from the get go.

Looks like you were quite close and used a fairly wide aperture, something like f/8 maybe?

Mick.

Aaaah, those ads in camera magazines back in the day:
Voigtländer ....... because the lens is so good.

My first proper camera when I was leaving school was a Mamiyaflex C2 with a Mamiya-Sekor 105mm 1:3.5 lens which was an absolute cracker and, I believe it was a Heliar design.

The 'directing' is to be applauded in the way it cohesively fits with the no frills lighting and pseudo-forensic probing with the Heliar-clad camera.

Thanks Mick and Walter.
The Voigtlander Heliar 21cm f4.5 is a bit of a cult lens but I was fortunate to get mine for free from Eric Owen the famous camera repair guru. Seems a customer came to Eric to get the lens fixed but blanched at the $450 quote (re-build shutter, re-cement lens elements) and officially abandoned it. Eric passed it to me and I got the shutter working, sort of. The Connie as "feral sauvage" portrait was shot at f5.6 with a careless extra stop added via the shutter. Big film is so forgiving of added exposure especially for a portrait in the shade.