National Arboretum- Old Column Ruins

[SirMike1983]

One of the odd parts of the National Arboretum here in DC is that they put the old columns of the US Capitol right in the middle of a hill in a meadow. The Columns stood from 1828 to 1958 at the US Capitol's East Entrance. In 1958 they were taken down and replaced and dumped in NE DC. Later some locals with a charity brought them to the Arboretum and set them up on hill in the formation they had at the Capitol. The picture you see is a scan of the actual photo from the '30s Exakta.

[Photo-John]

An interesting, almost surreal scene. I like it. Unfortunately, I think it's suffering a bit from the scan quality. There's no real white and the shadows on the left side are very blocked up. I also think it could maybe be framed a little better. I think I'd crop a bit off the top and some from the right side. The main elements for me are the tree, the lawn, and the columns. Looking at it that way, there's way too much sky and a bit of empty lawn space on the right. Try cropping it and see if it doesn't get a bit stronger.

What size film does that Exacta use?

[SirMike1983]

This is the cropped version. It does seem framed a bit better. It's always a little tough to frame pictures with the Exakta because it uses a waist-level hood finder and magnifying glass rather than a prism eye-level finder.

The Exakta uses standard 35mm film rolls (one of the first slr cameras to do it). I've been pleased with the results the film rolls give, especially the black and whites.

[Photo-John]

The Exakta uses standard 35mm film rolls (one of the first slr cameras to do it). I've been pleased with the results the film rolls give, especially the black and whites.

I think this looks much better. Some people think composing with ground glass is actualyl easier. I don't really have an opinion. I was curious about the camera because my dad used to have a 35mm Exacta. And it sounds like yours is similar to what he had. His had the pop-up, ground-glass finder, too. I think he bought his in the fifties, though. I don't know if he bought it new or used, though. He did buy it in Germany.

[SirMike1983]

Thanks for the suggestion there on the photo- I like the second version better too. The ground glass is nice because you get the whole negative to look at. The problem is you get outside and the glare makes looking into it somewhat of a pain. I think once I get to use it more it will be easier to use. I've also got a period tripod on the way so that might help me out some as well. I will say getting the Zeiss lens for it back on improves the pictures it takes. The images seem much sharper than the Fujitar the last owner had on it. Did you ever get a chance to use the camera? I'm always interested in tricks other users have because they think of many things that help make life easier.