Picture taken in the redwoods

An infrared image taken last week with some old expired Kodak infrared film. The grain is predominant in this image.

I received an e-mail yesterday about a juried show happening in November. You are limited to submitting 3 images taken in the last year but other then that no restrictions on content and no theme. This is the first time the jurors are people who are familiar with my pictures and know that I am serious about what I do. I like to take advantage of at least one opportunity per year to submit a new batch of pictures and since this kind of dropped out of the sky I'll take advantage of it.

I have about three weeks left to come up with my selections. I think I will pick something that I have taken in the last few months rather then culling work from years ago. Three pictures are a small sample and so I want to reduce the field. I'd like though to select three distinctly different pictures. The bottom one is not a picture I would have considered but the two people I showed it to liked it. It's one of those accidental images that you don't set out to take but end up being taken so maybe I should just go with it. It looks better as a scan though so I need to work on a print that meets my standards. The other two are much better prints but typical of what I always make and small so perhaps I could try to boost the size outside of my 5x7 on 8x10 matte comfort zone.

While on our trip I used a canon digital camera, Powershot A530 and was impressed with the way it worked during a visit to the Newport Aquarium. I could use it on manual mode and brace the camera on a sturdy ledge and take available light pictures that I couldn't have taken as easily with film. In this case I was photographing a very dark aquarium but fortunate that the inhabitants just sat very still . The top one is a typical auto setting flash image, the bottom one though I placed the camera on a sturdy surface turned the auto flash off and took a picture of about a 1 second exposure that I could later adjust the color on with photo-editing software. I wouldn't think of giving up the darkroom but when it comes to the "snapshot" the digital camera is very flexible and convenient. I can see why a lot of "photographers" embrace the technology it has a very short learning curve and requires no skill, talent or commitment.

Visiting with old friends. On our trip we passed a road side attraction I had visited a long time ago and decided to take a picture of us together to see how we have changed.

Another picture from Yachats using infrared film.

One of the few times I was free to work alone with the camera was an afternoon after arriving early in Yachats. I shot a full roll of Konica Infrared film with my Mamiya C220 on the beach in front of our hotel. Infrared film in 120 format is difficult to find, the only rolls I have are expired film stock I have found on e-bay. I used a Monopod and shot most of these at f2.8 at around 125th of a second. Using a red filter I find I have to set my light meter for an ASA film rating of 10 to get consistent results in natural light. I could have developed the film for an extra minute or so but I had to pretty much guess. I developed the film for 5 1/2 minutes in D-76, and then instead of using stop bath I immerse the film in distilled water for a few minutes allowing some development to continue before I fix.

Two prints from the first roll of film I developed. I took these last Wednesday as we were driving down California Hwy 1 near Mendocino. It was clear and sunny and just as I was getting ready to take the picture this fog came in very quickly. I took several shots with different cameras and film. These were taken with the Nikon, using a 24mm lens with an orange filter using Agfa 100 film. As the fog rolled in I shot the same scene using infrared film to see if the fog would still be visible in film designed to absorb light more towards the red end of the spectrum.

The family and I took a trip down to the Redwoods going along 101 all the way. Didn't shoot near as much film as I brought with me but time was an issue, and I work best alone which was hard to do on a family trip. These are pictures I took with an old Canon digital camera that my son let me have after he got a nicer Nikon coolpix. I worked today on developing the roll of 35mm film I did complete on the trip, and making a contact sheet and printing one negative. I'll do some more printing from that roll tomorrow as well as develop a roll of 120 infrared film I shot at Yachats. It was hard to take pictures in the Redwoods, I brought along a monopod but not my tripod. I had to come up with some creative ways to brace the camera for the 1 second exposures that were required in the shade of the Redwoods using Agfa 100. Next time I'll come prepared with Tri-X pan and a good sturdy tripod.

"I am a deeply superficial person." Happy Birthday Andy Warhol.

My only darkroom work this weekend consisted of trying to make 11"x11" enlargements of this image from a 6cmx6cm negative. Working with 11x14 trays in my darkroom is difficult because of the lack of space. I managed to make around 12 prints of which 1 might be worth matting after a little retouching. Each time you blow a picture up you reveal a new level of flaws in the negatives, the tiny scratches, chips in emulsion, that you won't see on a 7x7 print on 8x10 paper.