In Loving Memory Of...

  I very recently lost my Grandma.  Over the past few years she had been falling a lot (she still lived at home without help) and was in and out of hospital.  She went in again shortly before the Christmas holidays and things kept going wrong and unfortunately we lost her.  It's always a difficult time when you lose a loved one and i was especially close to my Grandma.  At 94 years of age she had many a story to tell!  She swore by a diet of cream cakes and whiskey and could pack away a carvery platter in ten minutes flat.

  We had the funeral on Monday and each family member decided to take a flower from the bouquets we had brought to remember her by.  I decided to set up a simple tabletop studio to photograph the flower so i could have something permanent to remember her by.

  I used close up filters on my Bronica SQ-A and shot on Kodak Tri-X 400 film.  The film got developed in Rodinal 1:50 for 16.5 minutes (most data says to develop for 13 minutes but i've always find my negatives come out a little to thin).  I decided to lith print them for a grainier/older look.  I used Fotospeed LD20 mixed 15ml A, 15ml B, 30ml old brown, 640ml water and printed onto some old Orwo BN118 paper.

  I printed the teacup one first and it took 26 minutes before i pulled the print, the second print (the flower in the pot) took almost an hour!  Good job i had my Ipod plugged into my dock in my darkroom!  From this we learn that the more low values there are in a print the quicker your developer will exhaust!  I think i may try these prints in second pass lith at some point too, i think the greys and pinks you get with this paper could work well.  For now though i'm really happy that i took these photos; it's a nice reminder of all the good times i've had with my Grandma and everything she meant to all of the family.