Well, you will probably notice a few changes I have made over the weekend. Kind of fast and furious, I know. But things should remain as they are for a while. Some things to make note of...
CHEMISTRY RECIPES (right sidebar)
I have decided that, as they occur to me, I will be adding some darkroom chemical recipes for reference here on the site. I have started with everyone's favorite, Rodinal (pronounced rod-in-all). After reading up on it, I may get the required ingredients and use that one myself. We shall see. However, as I said, when I decided other recipes are appropriate to be added there, it will be done.
PHOTOGRAPHIC PUBLICATIONS (right sidebar)
I will be adding photographic publications. These will primarily be dealing with traditional film photography. There will be exceptions, however. Some work just needs to be shared. And deserves to be shared. I started with a couple of oldies but goodies. First are the back issues for Creative Image Maker Magazine, founded by David Vickers of the UK and produced by yours truly for over a year. It was put on as primarily a technical journal. Portfolios were generally submitted to coincide with applicable technical content in the same issue. Sadly defunct, it had a good run and some quality stuff was shown. Second is Fraction Magazine, founded by Arizona photographer and fellow APUGer, David Bram, showcases beautiful work produced by photographers the world over and is always a joy to view.
SEARCH, TRANSLATE and FOLLOW (lower right sidebar)
More ways to keep up with and sift through CAWP here on Blogspot.
SUBSCRIBE (footer)
You can now subscribe to CAWP and receive alerts whenever new content is added to the blog.
Thank you for viewing CAWP. I hope to have more photographic content up shortly.
Sunday, February 8, 2015
Saturday, February 7, 2015
Brand New Canadian Podcast, eh? - Classic Camera Revival
Listening to the very first episode right now. I have high hopes for it. And it will be fun to hear them make fun of us southerners. No, seriously, any program that has film photography as a subject cannot be bad. Really looking forward to listening in.
CLASSIC CAMERA REVIVAL PODCAST
CLASSIC CAMERA REVIVAL PODCAST
Tuesday, February 3, 2015
Printing with Purpose
I have been reading old magazine issues during my downtime. Which is all the time as I am waiting on the arrival of some fixer and toner tomorrow. This particular read was in the Jan-Feb 2007 issue of Lenswork. The editor, Brooks Jensen, was writing about a new direction in his darkroom printing that really struck home with me. And here is why.
I have admittedly not done a huge truckload of printing. I can probably count the number of prints I have done by using both hands and adding mot much more than that in the last six years, postcards withstanding. I have mulled over theory and have made some decent prints. Well, some OK prints. Well, some really flat and poorly dodged and amateurish and hack-like prints that are of poor quality and are probably poorly enough processed tha they may, with any hope, fade away to nothing inside of ten years to remove any proof that i had anything to do with them.
Don't get me wrong. I have a wonderful vision when it comes to how I want my prints to turn out. And I really do know how to acheive this in my prints. But I have yet to accomplish it. I am close on Stones and once get my fix and toner tomorrow I will tackle this in the darkroom this weekend.
But my printing to date can be referred to as Random Printing, much like Brooks described eight years ago. I use different techniques, different papers and chemicals, different apertures, different exposure times, different formats, different orientations. And my efforts have been met with completely random results. My mother asked, the other day, where I wanted my photography to go. I said I would like to put on a show at the public library in a year or two. I look back at my work to date.
No way, Jose. Nuh uh! Forget it.
But I plan to print with a purpose. I have Stones nearly figured out. I have an aperture I like. I have a general exposure time I like to use and stay near. I have my chemistry down pat and am adding the toner for deeper blacks and permanence in my prints. I plan to finalize Stones and make four final prints. I will then try one print in one of four toners options, two different dilutions at two different bath durations. I will choose the effect I like best and that will be added to the process.
I then will select negatives that look like they would benefit from such a process. And then I will print them. It is my goal to have 20 such prints by the end of the year. It will probably be much more than that, but 20 is not an insurmountable amount. By doing this I will accomplish two things. First, I will have fine prints. Not just prints that I have worked on that I can refer to as 'Working Prints' for the sake of avoiding much due criticism. Also, I will have prints that will look like they belong together instead of a conglomeration of discumbobulated visual noise, randomness. I want to have a body of work, not just a bunch of prints I threw together because I had put in some time.
And it is not wasted time either. It has been educational. I have learned how certain things react when I do them. But now is the time to apply some direction to my printing. Time to apply some purpose. It is time to go all out with my photography. and printing is not the same as exposure of film. That gives me the basic visual information with which I can work. But it is not printing. They are two completely separate steps in the process of achieving the end result, a fine print.
I think the thing in which I have noticed the greatest change in my outlook on my photography is the attitude of my approach. No, I do not have the absolute best gear that I can have. But I do not need it. I know how to make what I have work splendidly. It is now time for it to be done. Just done.
I have admittedly not done a huge truckload of printing. I can probably count the number of prints I have done by using both hands and adding mot much more than that in the last six years, postcards withstanding. I have mulled over theory and have made some decent prints. Well, some OK prints. Well, some really flat and poorly dodged and amateurish and hack-like prints that are of poor quality and are probably poorly enough processed tha they may, with any hope, fade away to nothing inside of ten years to remove any proof that i had anything to do with them.
Don't get me wrong. I have a wonderful vision when it comes to how I want my prints to turn out. And I really do know how to acheive this in my prints. But I have yet to accomplish it. I am close on Stones and once get my fix and toner tomorrow I will tackle this in the darkroom this weekend.
But my printing to date can be referred to as Random Printing, much like Brooks described eight years ago. I use different techniques, different papers and chemicals, different apertures, different exposure times, different formats, different orientations. And my efforts have been met with completely random results. My mother asked, the other day, where I wanted my photography to go. I said I would like to put on a show at the public library in a year or two. I look back at my work to date.
No way, Jose. Nuh uh! Forget it.
But I plan to print with a purpose. I have Stones nearly figured out. I have an aperture I like. I have a general exposure time I like to use and stay near. I have my chemistry down pat and am adding the toner for deeper blacks and permanence in my prints. I plan to finalize Stones and make four final prints. I will then try one print in one of four toners options, two different dilutions at two different bath durations. I will choose the effect I like best and that will be added to the process.
I then will select negatives that look like they would benefit from such a process. And then I will print them. It is my goal to have 20 such prints by the end of the year. It will probably be much more than that, but 20 is not an insurmountable amount. By doing this I will accomplish two things. First, I will have fine prints. Not just prints that I have worked on that I can refer to as 'Working Prints' for the sake of avoiding much due criticism. Also, I will have prints that will look like they belong together instead of a conglomeration of discumbobulated visual noise, randomness. I want to have a body of work, not just a bunch of prints I threw together because I had put in some time.
And it is not wasted time either. It has been educational. I have learned how certain things react when I do them. But now is the time to apply some direction to my printing. Time to apply some purpose. It is time to go all out with my photography. and printing is not the same as exposure of film. That gives me the basic visual information with which I can work. But it is not printing. They are two completely separate steps in the process of achieving the end result, a fine print.
I think the thing in which I have noticed the greatest change in my outlook on my photography is the attitude of my approach. No, I do not have the absolute best gear that I can have. But I do not need it. I know how to make what I have work splendidly. It is now time for it to be done. Just done.
Monday, February 2, 2015
D-minus 2 and counting
Well, this is the first opportunity I have had to order some chemistry. I have been dying to do some film and make some fine prints but this no fixing agent situation has had me on the ropes. Here's why.
You need to wash the unexposed silver halides from the film and/or paper after it has been run through the developer. If you do not then there is still unexposed silver halides that cannot be exposed to any light whatsoever. Otherwise, the film or paper will continue to become exposed and darken. Without fixer there is no permanence in the film and/or paper.
So, I have ordered enough to get by until I am able to buy more, enough to get me through the year. I have ordered some Ilford Rapid Fixer. I have also ordered some Ilford Selenium Toner so that the prints I make will be hardened and will last much longer. I have not used Selenium Toner before. It is not all that involved. Just needs to be done.
See, I have not done a whole lot of printing over the years. A mess of postcards for APUG postcard exchanges. A few prints here or there, maybe ten negatives have been printed. About 30 Contact proof sheets for 35mm and 120 negatives.
But I have never been so motivated until now to dive into darkroom work, and not so much on a grand scale, rather, with such a fervor. This is something I have wanted to do for over ten years. And I finally have the place, and the skill, and the desire to do what makes me happy.
So, when the fix arrives on Wednesday, I will get past an appointment after work and either process some film on Wednesday night or on Thursday. And then this weekend I will finally bury the work on 'Stones'. And then I will go from there. I will be able to do some 4x5 photography because I can finally process the film after I shoot it and make the prints once the film is dry.
It's about time. I can hardly wait.
You need to wash the unexposed silver halides from the film and/or paper after it has been run through the developer. If you do not then there is still unexposed silver halides that cannot be exposed to any light whatsoever. Otherwise, the film or paper will continue to become exposed and darken. Without fixer there is no permanence in the film and/or paper.
So, I have ordered enough to get by until I am able to buy more, enough to get me through the year. I have ordered some Ilford Rapid Fixer. I have also ordered some Ilford Selenium Toner so that the prints I make will be hardened and will last much longer. I have not used Selenium Toner before. It is not all that involved. Just needs to be done.
See, I have not done a whole lot of printing over the years. A mess of postcards for APUG postcard exchanges. A few prints here or there, maybe ten negatives have been printed. About 30 Contact proof sheets for 35mm and 120 negatives.
But I have never been so motivated until now to dive into darkroom work, and not so much on a grand scale, rather, with such a fervor. This is something I have wanted to do for over ten years. And I finally have the place, and the skill, and the desire to do what makes me happy.
So, when the fix arrives on Wednesday, I will get past an appointment after work and either process some film on Wednesday night or on Thursday. And then this weekend I will finally bury the work on 'Stones'. And then I will go from there. I will be able to do some 4x5 photography because I can finally process the film after I shoot it and make the prints once the film is dry.
It's about time. I can hardly wait.
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