Lithing Glen Coe

  As I STILL haven’t replaced my broken Bronica SQ-A body I am stuck without a camera.  That being the case I have hardly been in the darkroom at all lately.  I managed to get an evening a few nights ago though and decided to dig through my negative file and see if there was something I missed.  I ended up looking at some rolls I had shot on holiday in Scotland earlier this year.  I had printed most of the good frames from it but there was one frame in particular I just couldn’t get a print I liked from.  It was of some mountains in Glen Coe close to dusk and the shadows were all blocked up.  I was in a rush at the time of exposure so it’s not really the best negative I could have got from the scene, and what’s more there are spots, marks and scratches all over it (bad processing on my part)!  

  I decided that maybe it was time to give it another try.  I went through a few sheets of paper but couldn’t really get anything close to what I liked, and those spots and marks were an annoyance.  I decided to try and lith it and settled on Agfa Brovira as my paper of choice.  With Brovira I can get a good range of tones and it still retains great highlight detail so was ideal for this situation.  Plus with lith marks and spots annoy me much less for some reason, maybe it's because of the gritty nature of hte final print.  

 I mixed up the developer, exposed the paper and slid it into the tray.  It took about 25 minutes to get to an appropriate snatch point, but unlike most of my other prints I pulled it just before the shadows became too dark.  There is shadow detail in this negative that would be lost if I let the blacks fully develop – a road and the texture of the mountainside – and I wanted them to still be discernible in the final print.   

  I’m pleased with the final print, there are patches of a golden yellowy tone that appeared upon drying.  I’m not sure if that’s to do with the lith process or just down to the age of the paper, I like it anyway.  I’m starting to run low on Brovira so I need to start saving it for the most important negatives, or find someone with a huge stash for sale!

  It just goes to show how important it is to keep going back to old negatives as well as printing new ones as your printing skills improve with time and you may be able to get more from your negative than you could when you first tried.

PPPP (or, In a Preston Park Photographing with Paul)

  As many regular readers of this blog will know i live very close to one of Preston’s largest parks.  This park is brilliant as i can walk straight through it to work, cutting my daily commute by half.  Last Wednesday was a truly beautiful morning, the sun was low in the sky, the dew was still hanging on the cobwebs and the mist was rising from the river.  I promised myself that the next day we had weather like this i would be in the park with my camera

  Well Thursday was a horrible day, the clouds had rolled in and the rain was coming down at every conceivable angle.  Friday followed suit and all the rain was causing the river to rise a bit too high for my liking.  As i was coming to out of my slumber on Saturday morning though i noticed a strange warmth to the room accompanied by an orange glow from behind my curtains.  Sun? Surely not! YES!!  After seeking permission from my loving wife (sometimes she reads this blog – i must dish out the flattery) i leapt from bed, grabbed my bag, stocked up on film and hit the pavement running. 

  Just like the previous Wednesday the morning was clear and warm with rising mist and hanging dew.  I couldn’t wait to get into the park and start shooting, especially as i had a few new bits of gear to try out.  I had won a 150mm S lens for my Bronica SQ-A a few weeks earlier on EBay for an absolute steal and today would be a great time to try it out.  Also i had managed to grab hold of a Pentax Spotmeter V which i was dying to try out.  For those of you that don’t know a spotmeter basically lets you take a meter reading of a tiny part of your frame.  Do a few of these across your shot and you can see how best to judge your exposure.  Armed with my new and old kit i power-walked into the park and got shooting.  I called a friend who lives nearby (even though he is an evil digital shooter) and got him to meet me inside as sometimes it’s just nice to have a bit of company.

  We had a great time, there were plenty of nice shots to be taken, especially with the dew evaporating in the sun.  I tried to focus very carefully on my use of filters and on my metering.  I have always struggled with metering.  It should be very simple but for the longest time i have never been able to get exposures i am happy with using my incident/reflected meter.  My new spotmeter was a joy to use though.  Having done a fair bit of reading up on the zone system i was prepared on how to use my new meter to its full potential.  It was so easy to use and get accurate readings from.  For those of you unfamiliar with the zone system ill probably be writing a post on it at some point soon in the future.

  Anyway, on with the narrative.  We walked up the river taking some photos of the spiders webs hanging between the undergrowth and then headed over the footbridge to take some photos of the mist rising over a farmers field.  One handy thing about the spotmeter here was that i could see how much more exposed the sky would be compared to the foreground and then apply the appropriate grad filter.  A simple thing but a joy to do.  We then carried on up the river towards Waitrose where we stopped for supplies before heading back into the park to shoot the trees and leaves as the sun had risen higher in the sky.

  All in all we spent about 3 hours wandering the park, up and down the slopes and through the muddy puddles.  Then we headed home for food and a sit down.  We ended up spending the rest of the day playing risk, watching dvds, developing film and doing some printing.  Im pretty happy with how my prints came out.  The one of the triangle shaped web was a pain to make and i wasted so much paper but i got it how i wanted it in the end.

   Its really nice to look back over the roll you have shot, developed and printed and know that at every single step you were making something for yourself .  I really love the feeling that you have made something with your own hands that is unique to you, even if no one else gets to see the finished product.  Im thinking i may print some of these photos on bigger paper and maybe even try some subtle toning but thats another post for another time...

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)

Fleetwood Marsh Wrecks

  Don’t ever go to a marsh when the tide is in.  And if you do go don’t take your wife who, although lovely, has no balance whatsoever.  Such was my lesson learnt after a few hours at Fleetwod Marsh Nature Reserve one sunny Saturday afternoon a week or so ago.  The marsh is located on the west coast of the UK, just north of Blackpool and aside from housing a variety of wildlife contains multiple wrecked and rotting boats which i had seen online and was rather keen on shooting.  When I, my wife Jess and our friend Paul went the tide was in and the water had filled the metre or so deep channels that ran from the coastline inland towards the footpath full of very cold water.  These are what Jess kept falling in up to her waist.  I really felt sorry for her as she isn’t warm at the best of times and this water must have tipped her over the edge.  She braved the outside for a further hour or so after her final fall though – all credit to her!  It was a bit of a rushed shoot as i wanted jess to get somewhere warm so i shot a quick roll and we piled back into the car with the heaters on full blast on the journey home.  When i developed the film at home i discovered my developer had expired so my negatives were covered in streaky blues.  Useless.  Jess on the other hand had had taken a beautiful shot of one of the wrecks - the colours were fantastic and the composition spot on.  She really does have a superb eye for photography and you can see her shot here http://www.flickr.com/photos/mindymooface/6782584991/in/photostream

  Following my C41 failure I decided to take a Friday off work and head back to shoot in black and white.  I checked the weather and i was promised sun so when Friday came i packed my bag and headed out.  The weather was just as good as my first visit and i had timed it so that the tide was fully out.  Having been there before i had a good idea of some of the shots i wanted to take and what gear i would need.  I love shooting with other people but sometimes its nice to be alone to really take your time and get the exposures and compositions right.  With the water back out to sea the land was mostly very soft mud which prevented me from getting right up to the shoreline so i stayed a little inland.  Getting up to the wrecks took a little manoeuvring but it was so much easier with the channels empty.  It was nice to have the time to picture the finished shot in my mind and compose/expose accordingly. 

  I developed the film as soon as i got home and im really happy with the results.  I’ll probably head back at some point soon-im wondering how the shots will turn out with the infra red film i have in my freezer... 

Loughrigg

  Dont go hiking in a blizzard.  I booked a Friday off work to go for a hike in the Lake District mountains with a friend i hadnt seen for ages.  Unfortunately Friday was the day the snow decided to hit hard.  We decided to risk it and head out anyway which turned out to be a good decision as once we got past Lancaster the snow eased and the skies cleared.

  We decided to head to Loughrigg as it is a relatively low fell and an easier walk.  We had only walked a quarter of a mile or so before the path opened up onto a lake with a distant mountain reflected perfectly in its glassy water.  This was definitely a shot to be taken.  We then kept following the path as it began to descend towards the summit.  Whilst the valleys were clear the peaks were snow capped and just as we got to the summit the sun started evaporating the snow creating a glorious mist.  The views were astounding.  We took a break and had some food  whilst we stood and took in the horizon.  Landscape spread out for miles, rolling hills and blue waters surrounding us.  I took as many shots as i could before we began our descent down some icy steps to the car park.

  The walk only took us a few hours and was around 5 miles in total but it was thoroughly enjoyable.  It is so satisfying to be in a beautiful country with a great friend.

Roddlesworth

  Although the afternoon had turned a bit grey and dreary (after a gloriously sunny morning) i headed out to do some shooting.  I had last minute booked the afternoon off work and wanted to head to my newly found favourite shooting location of Roddlesworth in Tockholes, Lancashire.  Roddlesworth is an area of beautiful woodland with paths leading throughout and even venturing by reservoirs and a small stream with numerous waterfalls of various sizes.This makes for a photographic utopia!  I only had an hour or so to shoot before sunset by the time i got there but it was nice to wander round the many trails and be among the beauty, taking my time shooting.

  I developed the film immediately when i got home.  the negative didn't turn out the best but i'm getting better at measuring my exposures and shooting accordingly.  I have every intention of returning to Roddlesworth as soon as i can, hopefully with some sun this time!

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.

Lazy Day

  After a hectic Saturday the unexpected weather on Sunday made it clear that a relaxing trip to the park was in order.  My wife and i packed up a few bits of photography gear and headed off to our favourite park.  It covers a huge area and has a small forest with a lovely stream adjoining it.  There is also a miniature train that offers rides at certain times of the year, an arts centre, a mini golf course and a playground.. We only had a short wander as we were tired and had to get some shopping done before Tesco closed.  I decided to shoot some polaroids as, to be honest, i couldnt really be bothered with anything more technical.  My wife got a bit excited using our new cokin polarising filter and was snapping away at some reeds in a pond.  I found it was nice just to be out in the gorgeous weather with her, enjoying the surrounding nature and lazily shooting my Polaroid.