Project update: I'm very far behind on the project postings because of workload at my day job and a string of bad weather weekends but I am getting caught up. I traded some medium format gear (extra lens and some backs) for a 1950's era Busch Pressman model D 4x5 press camera that will allow me to be a little more portable with my 4x5 shooting. It fits nicely into a backpack and is extremely rugged in its construction. It doesn't have any back standard movements and lacks swing as a front standard movement but it is still highly capable in the field for most of the type of subjects I end up shooting. Coupled with my monorail 4x5s and 4x5 pinholes it will be an excellent addition to my 4x5 tool chest.
This is "Hunter's Cabin", located on park land next to the Bogert's Covered Bridge in Lehigh County. It is a Germanic log cabin built in the 1739-1741 time frame by Abraham Kirper (or Carper) on land that that was bought in 1738. Later the cabin and 294 acres were acquired by Peter Bogert whose family owned the property for five generations. In the 1930s, Robert A. Young owned the land and had some restoration done to the clapboard-sided log cabin, and in 1938 additional restoration was completed by the Allentown Parks Department with the assistance of Allentown architects John K. Heyl and William D. Miller.
The cabin is a story-and-a-half “bank” house moved to its current location from a hilltop across 24th Street. It is believed the current compass orientation of the building is rotated 180 degrees from the original orientation—perhaps to provide a view of nearby Bogert’s Covered Bridge Bridge from the cabin’s front porch. It is one of three log structures preserved in the City of Allentown’s park system (there are four within the City of Allentown). It rests in a lovely setting beside the 1841 Bogert’s Bridge† (one of the oldest remaining covered bridges in Lehigh County), in part of Allentown’s extensive park system, after being moved to its current location from a nearby hillside. Hunters Cabin contains two rooms, plus an overhead loft, and a basement.
Camera: Busch Pressman Model D 4x5 large format press camera.
Lens: Rodenstock Geronar 150mm F6.3 lens in a Copal 0 shutter. Yellow filter.
Film: Kodak Ektascan BR/A single-sided X-Ray film. Purchased from zzmedical.com as 8x10" sheets and cut down to 4x5". Film rated at 80 ISO.
Exposure: 1/30 @ F45.
Development: Self Developed film in Rodinal (Adox Adonol) 1:100 in three reel Paterson Universal Tank using Mod54 six sheet 4x5 insert. Semi-Stand for 15 minutes with initial minute of inversions then 10 seconds of inversion on minutes one and two then let it sit until minute 14 when I do a final ten seconds of inversions. Kodak indicator stop bath. Ilford Rapid Fixer. Photo-Flo. Hung to dry.
Scanning: Negative scanned with Epson V600 in two scans and merged back together in PhotoShop since the V600 doesn't natively support 4x5 scans in one pass.