photographic

My newest goal is to print something every week. I created these digital negatives on the new transparency film I’m trying out, InkPress’ Transparent Film:

Book Press, 2007
Nikon D70, taken 2004
InkPress Transparency Film + Epson 7800 K3 + Photo Black
Traditional Cyanotype (+ hydrogen peroxide bath)
Crane’s Cover, 610 LU (April 2007)

Ruby in the Hospital
Nikon FM10, Ilford HP5, Gamma Plus (zonal pro) Dev inversion, taken 2003
Scanned negative, Creo iQsmart2
InkPress Transparency Film + Epson 7800 K3 + Photo Black
Traditional Cyanotype (+ hydrogen peroxide bath)
Crane’s Cover, 610 LU (April 2007)

My children are a source of entertainment and wonder for me. They are also used somewhat mercilessly as test subjects (for alt-photo processes) and models, although most images I take of them are candids:

Porter, Easter 2006
Digital Negative: Pictorico OHP, Epson 2200 + piezography NK7 inks + spray fixative
Camera: Nikon D70 + kit lens
Van Dyke Brownprint + hypo, paper: Crane’s Cover

In the summer of 2005, my friend Jacinda and I dedicated ourselves to learning a smattering of alt photo processes in preparation for teaching an alt photo course at the university. One of the more tedious ones was Plain Salted Silver P.O.P. (recipe from Jan Arnow’s Handbook of Alternative Photographic Processes, p 61), which we then toned in gold chloride solution. The two circles in the print are from holes punched in the digital negative, an experiment I was running in registration for multiple exposures (such as gum bichromate). Obviously it was not the most desirable outcome, but, as Stan from South Park would say, I learned something that day.

Ruby at the County Fair, 2003
Digital Negative: Westjet film, Epson 7600 + Photo Dye set
Camera: Nikon D70 + kit lens
Plain Salted Silver P.O.P., paper: Arches Cover
Toned in gold chloride toner, 120 LU

In 2004 I went to Poland and stayed with my Dad’s cousin Zosia. Every morning we were greeted by this beautifully laid table, where we had the famous “first breakfast” meal: coffee or tea, fruit, whole grain breads, meats (for others) and cheeses:

Zosia’s Table, 2004
Digital Negative: Westjet Film, Epson 7600 + Photo Dye Set
Canon Powershot G3
Traditional Cyanotype, paper: Arches Cover, LU unknown

In February 2007 I took a workshop with Ray Bidegain and Patrick Kolb of the Contact Printers Guild. As I mentioned a few posts ago, I was inspired by Ann Quinn’s small flower prints, and pulled out a stack of found negatives.

There’s something about bicycles for me, so I chose the negative of the couple on the tandem. As you can see, it had some inconsistency with the density on one side (it was also backward, oops — I’ve reconciled that here):

Enter the Digital Negative. A lot of people tend to look down their nose at this relatively recent phenomenon. Whatever. Before I had access to a large format camera, this was my only option for any sort of contact printing, so I went to the school of hard knocks and figured it out, with some help from Dan Burkholder’s book in 2003. I thought the above negative was too good to waste, so I scanned it and did some quick repair, enlarged it and printed it at 8×10:

Study for Tandem, 2006
Digital Negative: Pictorico OHP, Epson 7800 K3 + Photo Black
Paper: Bergger (very nice paper)
(18)1:1.5% 100LU

I’ve called it a “study” because I was in a hurry and didn’t correct some things, like the fingerprint which has now grown to global proportions on the window in front of the man’s chest. There is also damage to the emulsion over the man’s hand. I don’t plan on enhancing any part of the photo, simply fixing damage that occurred after exposure of the original film.

My first platinum prints were done in June 2006, under the watchful eye of Ray Bidegain:

Baby Joe - Passport photo 1973
Found 4×5 negative
Platinum, Crane’s Cover
(4)1:5%

Ruby 2006
Film: Arista.EDU Ultra 4×5 100 iso
Camera: Gowland
(4)1:5% 610 LU

I’ve been experimenting with smallish prints after taking Ray Bidegain and Patrick Kolb’s Platinum Printing workshop this past February. I renewed my acquaintance with painter and photographer Ann Quinn, whose small prints of flowers turned out so lovely in platinum that I dragged out some old negatives I’d acquired at a photo swap meet a few years ago.

After the workshop I moved on to cyanotype and made some small cards with the images

Found negatives, 1900-1930s (?)
Crane’s Cover 90lb, cyanotype recipe from Jan Arnow’s Handbook of Alternative Photographic Processes
Nikon D70 50 mm lens