The Long Silence: Part 2

  A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post about exploring a local abandoned mental asylum and said I would follow up with more pictures.  Well, after hours of scanning, rescanning, stitching, rescanning, stitching, colour balancing, rescanning, stitching and re colour balancing (I hate Photoshop) I have finally managed to scan my prints and get the scans to look (almost) like the prints.  I really should learn not to print bigger than 8 x 10 because my scanner can’t fit the print in and my computer struggles to run photoshop (I really need to get round to wiping it and reinstalling everything).

  First things first though, a little bit of history (Wikipedia based of course).  Construction on the asylum began in 1869 as the three Lancashire asylums in Prestwich, Rainhill and Lancaster were deemed to be full.  It was designed by Henry Littler, Architect to the Lancashire Asylums Board.  It officially opened in April 1873 and had an initial capacity of 1000 inmates.  Within the grounds were a church, a chapel, a large recreation hall and a farm estate.  In 1878 a new annexe was started to the north of the hospital and this was completed in 1880.  This allowed a further 115 patients to be housed and a dedicated Post Office to be created onsite.  Shortly thereafter in 1884 a sanatorium was established in the hospital grounds to cater for patients with infectious diseases.

  In 1892 works began to provide electric lamps throughout the grounds and another new annexe was started, followed by another in 1912.  By 1915 the hospital housed 2820 inmates, more than double the original capacity.  The Whittingham Hospital Railway which was used to transport coal, goods and staff between the hospital and Grimsargh was closed in June 1957.

  When the First World War struck a new annexe was commissioned to cater for war casualties.  Patients who died were buried on a private cemetery within the hospital grounds.  When the war ceased the hospital returned to private use.

  In 1923 the decision was made to change the name ‘Whittingham Asylum’ to ‘Whittingham Mental Hospital’, presumably to make it sound a little less imposing.  When the Second World War struck the hospital was again used in treating victims of the war.  In 1948 the hospital was renamed to ‘Whittingham Hospital’ after it became a part of the newly formed National Health service.

  In the late 60’s meetings were held with senior staff to discuss complaints of cruelty, ill-treatment and fraud within the hospital.  Those who held the meetings were then threatened with actions for libel and slander.  Eventually the Hospital Management Committee intervened and began inquiries into the allegations of corruption and abuse.

  The hospital eventually closed in 1995 and the hospital still sits there, fenced off.  Plans have been in progress for a number of years to build new homes on the site, but as yet have not been finalised.

  That’s the history, now let’s take a look inside.  I have included the 2 pictures from my previous post just for the sake of completeness.  As previously stated I decided to use the lith process on these prints as the high contrast and graininess would really complement the textures within the decaying buildings.  I used Agfa Brovira paper as it retains highlight detail really well when lathing and you can get a wide variety of print tones depending on developer dilution and life.  I hope you enjoy:

Sometimes a Joy, Sometimes a Trial

  I printed this at the weekend and it was a huge pain in the bum to do!

  I went through at least 20 sheets of paper trying to get the contrast and exposure right.  I had to keep swapping frames on my negative due to dust and hair that were in the emulsion - the whole printing process was just a pain.  Sometimes printing is a joy, sometimes a trial.

  Even the toning didn't go as planned.  I wanted to try something i read in the Tim Rudman toning book that i recently acquired.  You blue tone the print to completion, rinse then put it into selenium toner.  The selenium replaces the blue in the highlights which turn a putty colour.  If you rinse again and put the print back into blue toner then the blue will shift to a bright azure blue.  Guess what...it didn't work.  The selenium stripped all the blue back off the print (apart from a slight hint of purple in the shadows).  It seems only some blue toners work well for this.

  In the end i split toned in sepia and blue to get the above final image.  I really don't know if i like it or not.  But i guess each session in the darkroom is a lesson, sometimes a hard one.

Rides, Reserves and Rodinal

  What better activity to do on a sunny Sunday afternoon than go on a lovely bike ride?  It was our first wedding anniversary earlier in May and one of the gifts i got my wife was an old Raleigh bike.  I stripped it down, sprayed it up, stuck a wicker basket on the front and re-assembled it.  I wasn’t sure how well it would go down with her as she had a nasty accident on a bike when she was younger and has feared riding ever since.  All credit to her she got out and now she loves it!  

  As part of the ongoing Guild celebrations in Preston the council have decided to create the Guild Wheel which connects new and old cycle paths around Preston to create a 21 mile ring of green and pleasant roadway.  Fortunately this wheel passes right outside our house so we decided to check some of it out.  

  We were having such a pleasant time that we went 4 miles and ended up at Brockholes Nature Reserve.  If you’re ever in the area it’s well worth a visit as there are lots of hides to watch wildlife and a lovely floating visitor centre and restaurant.  We parked the bikes up and had a little wander around – fortunately jess had brought one of her other anniversary presents, a Holga 120 CFN.  We had great fun pottering about and shooting a roll of Tri-X 400.  We had a drink and some Chorley cakes and then set off on the ride home.  After riding 8 miles we were pretty wrecked (due to general unfitness) and spent the rest of the evening working our way through the Lost dvd boxset (what the heck is going on on that island?!?!).

  Monday night after work i developed the film in Rodinal (i had to give a little push in development as i thought the film may be a little underexposed) for about 13 minutes and left it hanging to dry.  A couple of hours later we were in the darkroom getting ready to print.  We decided to work on 2 shots from the roll which make a nice little mini-set together.  After making some test strips we had figured out what exposure we wanted to work on and what dodging and burning was required.  An hour or so later and we had 2 prints that we were very happy with.  Jess loves to print and i must confess that there is something rather exciting about placing some paper in a tray and watching an image slowly develop.

  Were planning on going out again this weekend (weather permitting) so hopefully we will take some more shots and have a pleasant ride.

(The scans dont really do the prints justice i'm afraid)

How To: Home Develop C41 Negatives

  Yes, its another post about developing.  Im in a very darkroom frame of mind at the minute as im currently in the middle of getting an enlarger setup in my spare room (going to look and probably buy tomorrow, yay).  Im thinking back to when i first started getting setup developing my own film and how i got lots of help from various forums but it still took me a long time to get all the information in required and to find a process that works for me.  So i thought that i would use my blog to pass on some knowledge to others, as well as my usual phototrip posts.

  So - this post is about my C41 process.  Unlike most others i started off doing C41 processing before i did black and white.  Most people start on black and white as its done (generally) at room temperature and there is more rom for error (yes, i know hardcore b&w enthusiasts will disagree, but lets just keep going).  However, many that get used to black and white seem to be under the impression that C41 is very complex and near impossible to do at home - but that just isnt the case.

  There are a few ways to do it.  Poeple get good results just getting a tub full of water and heating it up and if you fancy that route (lets face it, its cheaper) then go for it.  Personally i use a rotary processer - a Jobo CPE-2 to be precise.

  These are readily available on Ebay and all they are is a water bath with temperature control and a rotary motor which agitates your tank for you.  Some better (i.e. more expensive) models also have a lift which let you add and remove chemicals to the film tank without having to lift it off the rotary.  I find though that the CPE-2 easily meets my needs.

  As for chemicals i am a huge fan of the Rollei Digibase C41 kits.  I tend to buy from AG Photographic who are based in the UK as i have always had excellent servcie from them and they tend to be a little cheaper than everywhere else.  These kits come in a variety of sizes but i tend to go for the 1L kit which lets me do 4 batches of 250ml - around 20 films altogether.  These kits also have a long shelf life (when unmixed) which i find very handy as i often have a month or 2 where i dont have any films to process.  The only drawback is that the instructions that come with these kits arent the best.  There are washes missing and personally i think some of the times are off for processing which is why it took me so long to get my procedure nailed.

  So, what is my procedure?  Well, the Jobo tank i use allows for 1 x 120 film (or 2 x 35mm) to be processed (well, technically 2 x 120 films can go onto one reel but i dont like to do that).  I prefer to do my films one at a time simply for quality control - if something goes wrong during developing then i havent ruined multiple films.  I fill my Jobo with water (preferably warm as it means that you dont waste time and electricity heating cold water) and leave it to heat up to around 38C (C41 should be processed at 37.8 +/-5C).  I like to leave it to heat up for about an hour to make sure the temperature has stabilised.  Whilst the water bath is heating up i mix my chemicals following the instrucitons included with the kit.  The instructions say that they solutions must be mixed with water at 49C, and i am fortunate in that i can hit that temperature with the hot water from my taps.  If you cant then boil a kettle, pour the water into a jug and wait for it to cool down to around 49C.  The kit comes with multiple syringes - you need to make sure that you use one for fixer, one for stabiliser, one for bleach etc.  Use permanent marker to label them otherwise you will end up cross contaminating your chemicals.  Unfortunately there arent enough syringes included in the kit for 1 per chemical so i use the same syringe for parts A,B and C of the developer.  Some people may be renounce this but it works ok for me so i do it.

  So, you have measured out your chemicals and mixed them with water.  Pour them into their bottles, stir them well and put them into your water bath.  Whilst you wait for your chemicals to settle to 37.8C load your film onto your reels (if you dont know how to do this or even what im on about check youtube, theres lots of videos there that will help you out).  You're all set now and ready to develop (once your chemicals have heated up).  After about an hour dip a thermometer into your developer and check the temperature is stable at around 38C.  You will also need some jugs of water at around 38C too for washing yourn film later.  I like to fill a jug with a anrrow bottom and stand it in the spare space in my Jobo bath so the temperature keeps up.

  Once you're all heated up put your developing tank onto the rotary and set it going at full speed for 5 minutes.  This brings the tank and film up to a similar temperature to your chemicals which will stop your film being 'shocked' when you suddenly pour in some hot fluids.  Some people like to prewash their film.  They heat up the tank and then fill it with water for 3 minutes or so.  I used to do it but have personally gotten far better results by not doing so so i am dropping this step from my developing procedure.  If you google it you'll see a tremendous amount of debate covering this topic with everyone having a differing opinion about what effects prewashing/soaking has on the film.  If you do choose to prewash dont be worried when the water comes out a vivid colour like purple or green, this is the the anti-halation layer and dye being washed off your film.

  After 5 minutes it is time to start pouring in your chemicals.  Start your stopwatch and pour in your developer.  Put the lid on the tank and rotate the tank by hand 3 times so as to get coverage of the developer over the film, give the tank a solid tap on the floor/work surface to disoldge any air bubbles (remember this - it will make your film easier to scan later) then put the tank onto the rotary.

  My developing procedure is as follows:

Preheat 5:00
Developer 3:15
Bleach 6:30
Wash 1 3:00 (6 washes of 30s)
Fixer 6:30
Wash 2 6:00 (6 washes of 1m)
Stabiliser 1:30 (to be done at room temperature)
Dry

  With each step allow 7 seconds or so to pour out the first chemical and pour in the next eg pour the developer out at 3:08 and pour the bleach in at 3:15.  The washes are important steps but they are not included on the Rollei instructions.  The first wash should come after the bleach and consist of 6 changes of water every 30 seconds.  This makes sure that the tank is fully removed of bleach before you pour in your fixer.  The second wash comes after fixing and consists of 6 changes of water every 1 minute.  Again, this stops the stabiliser being contaminated by fixer.  Some people wash between developer and bleach but you really shouldnt do that as it can be detrimental to the process.

  Stabilising should be done at room temperature.  When you come to stabilise just pour it into your tank and rotate it by hand for the required amount of time.  I used to stabilise at 37.8C but i was advised by a fellow processor to do it at room temperature; to be honest though i cant see much of a difference in my negatives.

  The above steps should take you around half an hour to complete.  Once you're done you can take the lid off your tank and remove your film.  The film should be covered in foam from the stabiliser - dont wash this off.  Just hang your film up to dry naturally (in as dust-free an environment as possible).  Once its dry take it to your scanner or your enlarger and see how it looks.

  This tutorial is by no means definitive.  This is just how i currently develop my C41 negatives/cross processed slide films at home.  Im sure as time goes on i will home my skills in processing and change my process as i see fit.  If you have any quesitons feel free to post on this blog and ill be sure to answer them.

How To: Home Develop Black and White Film

  I thought i would do a tutorial on home developing black and white film as when i was starting out just over a year ago it took me a long time to get all the info together that i needed and its nice to give something back.  Hope you find this helpful.

Equipment

Stopwatch/timer
Film changing bag (the biggest you can afford)
3 x 50/100ml meausring cylinders
2 x plastic water bottles
2x plastic jugs (just some cheap supermarket ones will do)
Developer (i like to use Rodinal as it lasts forever and you only use small quantities).
Stop bath  (i use Ilford Ilfostop)
Fixer (i use Ilford Rapid Fix)
Wetting agent (i use Kodak Photo-Flo)
Developing tank and at least 1 reel (i use a Paterson system 4 tank)
Accurate thermometer (needs to be able to read 20oC)
Film clips

Background

  Im not going to discuss loading your film onto a reel, there a plenty of videos no youtube for this kind of thing.  Basically your film goes onto your reel inside your changin bag and then gets loaded into your tank.  Once this is done you're now ready to start developing.

  First you'll need to mix up your developer.  Now, Rodinal is very versatile as you can mix it in different concentrations which will produce different results on your negative.  The most used ratios are 1:25, 1:50 and 1:100, sometimes 1:200 is used.  The smaller the ratio the bigger the contrast that will be produced eg 1:25 will produce more contrast than 1:50.  The ratio means that for every 25/50/100ml of water you have you add 1ml of Rodinal.  So if your tank takes 500ml of solution and you want a 1:50 ratio you will mix 10ml of Rodinal with 490ml of Water .

  So, measure out your Rodinal using one of your measuring cyclinders and pour it into one of your jugs.  Measure out the water (you can use the same cylinder) and add that to the jug and then mix it (you can use your thermometer to do this).  Once you have mixed your developer you repeat with your stop bath and your fixer.  There is a fixed ratio for these and this will be printed on the bottle of each chemical.

  Once you have completed this step you should have 3 jugs, one with developer, one with stop bath and one with fixer.

  Next you will need to find out how long you must develop your film for using the ratio of developer you have chosen.  The best source for this information can be found on the massive dev chart here: http://www.digitaltruth.com/devchart.php  Basically you tell it what developer youre using with what film and it will tell you the times to develop for certain ratios.  For instance if i want to develop some Ilford HP5+ shot at 400iso in a 1:25 mix of rodinal the chart tells me that for 120 film i should develop for 6 minutes.  You will need to keep an eye on temperature.  20oC is ideal so you may need to warm your chemicals a little if you're developing in a cold room  If you're a few degrees off then follow this link http://www.ilfordphoto.com/aboutus/page.asp?n=87&t=Developing+Black+and+white+film and at the bottom of the page you will see a link to a temperature compensation chart.  Use this to determine developing times at alternative temperatures.

Procedure 

  Ok, our chemicals are all mixed and we have got all our times together.  Now to begin.  I like to start with a prewash of my film.  Some people do it, some dont; both get good results so its really up to you.  I shoot 120 film so i prewash for 5 minutes.  Get 500ml of water at around 20oC and pour it into your tank (holding your tank at about a 45 degree angle to reduce air bubbles).   Once its all in put the lid on and shake your tank.  Rotate it, shake it, spin it.  Really work it hard to make sure that the water covers every part of the film.  Do this for 1 minute then pour out the water.  It willprobably come ou a greenish blue colour.  Pour in another 500ml of clean water and shake again.  Do this for 5 minutes.

  After 5 minutes has passed and you have poured out the last of the water you are ready to pour in your developer.  Agin, angle the tank as this reduces air bubbles.  Put the lid on and rotate the tank vertically 3 times whilst turning it horizontally (this makes sure the whole of the film gets a quick covering of developer).  Tap the tank firmly on the floor to release any trapped air bubbles and then stand the tank on the floor.  When 1 minute has passed give it 3 more rotations and a little tap.  Reapeat this for the length of time you have been told to develop for.  I should tell you here that the more you agitate, the more grain you get.

  After your developing is done you can pour the liquid from the tank down the sink and pour in your stop bath.  Ilfostop only needs to be in the tank 10 seconds so once youve got the lid on agitate the tank for 10 sec and then pour the liquid out back into your jug, DO NOT DISCARD IT because you can reuse it.

  Now its time to add your fixer.  Pour it into the tank in the usual way and you need to constantly agitate for 3 minutes (note, 3 minutes is for Ilford Rapid Fix - if you buy anotherfixer follow the guidelines provided by the manufacturer).  After 3 minutes pour your fixer back into your jug.  Again, this can be reused so DO NOT DISCARD.

  Now it is time to wash the film again so add 500ml of clean water and agitate constantly.  After 1 minute pour out the water and some more fresh and repeat agitation.  Do this for 5 minutes.  On your last wash you will need to add a tiny amount of wetting agent.  Kodak Photo-Flo is highly recommended.  Add 2ml of it to your final rinse and agitate for about 20-30 seconds.  Pour the liquid away and open up your tank.  You should have a fully developed negative.  Remove the film from the reel and hang it up to dry using your clips.  Pour your stop bath and fixer into your plastic bottles and store them away ready for your next development.

  So to put it in a more bulletpoint form:

1) Prewash (constant agitation) - 5 minutes

2) Developer (Agitate for around 15s - 3 inversions at each minute of development) times from massive dev chart

3) Stop Bath - 10 seconds

4) Fixer - 3 minutes (constant agitation)
5) Wash - 5 minutes (constant agitation)
6) Wetting Agent - 20s
7) Hang to dry

  And thats it.  Any questions then feel free to comment on this page and ill get back to you.  All the black and white shots on this blog have been developed with this method so i can assure you it works.  I will be doing another blog soon about push/pull processing and also one about stand developing which is another method of development that takes longer but is simpler.  Hope this has helped.

A Holiday from Holiday

  For the first time since i left work last Friday i managed to get away from the family days out to do a quick hour of shooting.  I met up with one of my shooting pals Paul and we headed to Lytham/St Annes beach.  It was windy.  Extremely windy.  Tripod use was out of the question.  We headed down onto the beach hoping to head for the remains of the old pier but alas the tide was further in than i have ever seen it so we had to shoot from afar.  After spending some time messing with assembling my Bronica i finally got some shots in.  The tide was coming in at a ridiculously rapid pace and by the time i had setup my gear and eyed the shot in on my waist level finder i was stood in water.  Metering was a nightmare so i just used my instincts and shot.  I was a bit worried as the strong wind was battering our cameras with sand particles and blowing our gear bags all over the place.  We persevered regardless and shortly moved further up the coast where a flock of birds was sat on the water quite close to shore.  The local dogs chasing them proved to create some nice photo opportunities.

  Shortly thereafter i spotted a partially filled plastic bottle dumped on the sand which caught my eye so i snapped it.  It turned out to be one of the best shots on the negative.

  Our final stop was a little further up the coast where the waves were now smashing against the sea defences.  I sacrificed dryness to snap a few quick shots of the spray coming over the wall.

  The results were a bit hit-and-miss on the developed negative and some shots took a bit of work to get a decent image of but all in all i think they came out ok.  It was nice to be out in some extreme weather shooting on instinct rather than taking my time over each shot and meticulously recording every detail.

SQ-A First Roll - Derwent Water

  Although i have posted shots from my Bronica already the shots below are from my first roll with my SQ-A.  The only reason they haven't been posted earlier is that i have only just got the chemicals in to develop them.

  My wife and i decided to head up to Maryport in the Lake District very last minute one Friday evening a month or two ago.  We had friends up there who said we could stay over and the plan was to get to Derwent Water near Keswick before dawn to catch some sunrise shots over the water.  Sure enough after 4 hours sleep there we were on the lakeside waiting for the sky to brighten.  It was a joy to use my SQ-A for the first time and i cant wait to get back up that way again for some more shots.  Tiring but fulfilling.

Large Small Things

  After much 'um'ing and 'ah'ing i decided not to get a macro lens but fork out the vast sum of £11 for a set of close-up filters for my Bronica SQ-A.  While i can focus up to half a metre with my lenses i have always been keen to get that little bit closer.  I wasn't sure how sharp these filters (lenses to picky people) would be so i thought id run a test roll of black and white through the camera to see.  Armed with my £3 Ikea lamp and a huge reflector from ebay i setup my tripod.

  And i was rather pleasantly surprised.  Whilst a little blurry in places due to my own focusing error i really like how the shots came out.  It was fun to play with such a narrow depth of field, and the depth of field preview switch on my lenses was invaluable to say the least.  Im hoping to use the filters lots, especially for close ups in portraits.

And the Streets Run Red...

  Last Sunday saw some of the heaviest rain we have had in a long time.  I woke up unintentionally early and couldn't get back to sleep.  My wife was still soundly asleep beside me, undisturbed by the heavy patting of the rain against the partially open window by our bed.  After playing around on my phone for a while i decided to just get up and walk into town to take some street shots of people in the rain.  I grabbed my Lubitel and decided to opt for a roll of the Lomography redscale xr 50-200 film.  I have attempted to use this film twice before; the first time the photos came out a kind of sickly yellow colour, the second time i developed it myself and it came out blank, but i decided to give it another try anyway and hope for the best.

  My walk into the town centre is via a rather nice park.  In one part of it there is a long tree-lined path which is very photogenic.  Two elderly men were out having a run together down this path.  SNAP.  I carried on into town pondering where to head to and eventually ended up in a large open flagged area outside the museum.  A family rushed by fervently grasping their brollies, trying to shield themselves from this unprecedented shower.  SNAP.  An elderly couple saunter by unperturbed by the downpour.  SNAP.  I decide to head towards the market.  Two strangers pass each other by, brollies held firmly above their heads.  SNAP.

  I carry on like this for an hour or so before decided to head home.  Just before i reach the entrance to the park i catch the reflection of the tall buildings across the road in a roadside puddle.  I crouch down just as a car passes.  SNAP.  My roll finished i hurry home and push through the door, removing my soaking jacket and hanging it on the coatstand.  I decide to be gentlemanly and wake my wife up with breakfast in bed.  We sit and chat for a while then i decide to get my developing gear heated up.  A few hours later and my negative is hanging from the shower rail waiting to dry.  Upon holding it up to the light i can see the development has been patchy and some of the shots arent going to look very good.  Something has gone wrong with my developing.  But never mind, we live and learn i guess.  Still, it gets frustrating when this happens, but at least i should have some salvageable shots from the roll.

  One day ill get some redscale that comes out perfectly.  But for now the streets run red, and i've got work to do.

Portraits of Jessica

  I mostly shoot objects and things, its very rare that the portrait mood strikes.  Although saying that, one of my best shots is a portait!  A few nights ago my wife and i decided to use the spare room as temporary studio and try some portraiture using my recently acquired Lubitel 166B.  I decided black and white would work best and due to lighting conditions i loaded my Lubitel with some 3200 iso Ilford Delta Pro (rated at 6400 iso).  I also decided to use a red filter to maximise contrast.  And then it was just a case of moving the lamp and making Jess change outfit every so often.

  As you can see they came out a little funny.  I developed in Rodinal with a 1:25 mix but i think the problem was with the reel i had loaded my film onto.  Its seems as though parts of the film were touching so the developer couldnt penetrate all areas it.  But i dont know, i quite like how some of them came out. 

  I want to shoot some more photos like this, using this film.  I like the large grain, contrast and 'old-look' of these shots.  Hopefully next time i will get a better development.