Night Photograph - Behind the Paramount Theatre

click above for a larger image (recommended) . . .

I made some images recently using the Rapid 100 6X7 Cm camera, a vintage item from the 1950’s. It has some wonderful features. The pressure plate, which keeps the film flat, presses down on the film immediately before the exposure. As you press the shutter button, you are also moving the pressure plate against the film. This gives one of the flattest film planes available on a film camera. The lenses (These pictures were taken with the 58mm Koni-Omegaron, equivalent roughly to a 28mm lens on a 35 millimeter camera) are still highly regarded. It’s one of my favorite cameras. It’s a range finder, which is combined with the view finder, and the focus is a very quick knob on the right side of the camera. You don’t have to reach around to the front to focus.
The photograph is of the building right behind the Paramount on the Charlottesville pedestrian mall. It had an old barber pole “light” on the right side. The old striped interior has fallen to the bottom of the tube. It is the “Jackson II Body and Soul Salon” and has been for many years. Shot on color negative (Fuji NPS 160), 90 second exposure (tripod mounted) at F-16.