Category: Alternative Processing

Train of Thought

· Leave a comment ·

Today’s image is from another bleached/reclaimed Fuij FC-100C instant print, taken at the Broadview subway station in Toronto. I posted it on flickr as I was going out the door this morning, and didn’t have time to add any description. It quickly got a couple of nice comments, but I think one person made the assumption the look was all done in post. Given the plethora of apps and plug-ins available today to make digital images look like grungy lo-fi analog images, it was not an unreasonable assumption; most viewers would have done the same. I just can’t help but notice the irony of the situation.

Train of Thought

Whatever Doesn’t Kill You . . .

· Leave a comment ·

I have to confess there are times when the thought of just sticking a memory card in a DSLR is appealing; the odds are higher that the camera will “just work.” Recently, the idea of something “just working” in traditional film photography for me seems unrealistic. In the last week, I’ve had to deal with the following:

  • a Polaroid SX-70 camera that only grudgingly spits out images
  • a Rolleicord III Twin Lens Reflex (TLR) camera that won’t stop at frame 1
  • A Yashica TLR whose shutter/film winder mechanism often takes a lot of begging and pleading to function
  • a Polaroid pack camera deciding to jam in the middle of a shoot
  • a Polaroid self-timer not working
  • Polaroid shoots where negatives (and indeed sometimes even the prints!) get smeared, or dry strangely because of the recent heat. Today’s image is an example of that particular issue.

Kensington Polaroids

I still love film cameras, but there are times where it seems like unrequited love (something I’ve experienced more than once, over the course of my life).

I’m not whining, mind you; just the blog equivalent of sighing. I’m fully aware that this is the price I have to pay.

Hacking the Process, Part 2

· Leave a comment ·

In a recent post, I showed an example of what could be done with the negative from Fuji’s instant black and white film (FP-3000C), once allowed to dry and then scanned. Today, another example of hacking the process: it is possible to take the negative from Fuji’s colour instant film (FPC-100) and carefully wash the black backing off with bleach, and then wash the developer off with plain water. You are left with a transparent negative that can be scanned as a colour negative (albeit requiring a lot of colour correct in the post work). I love the results, and the messy borders add to the character of the image, in my opinion. I am also struck by the sharpness of this approach, compared to the scan of the original print, which seems soft to me. Expect to see more bleached negatives in the very near future!

My first attempt at bleaching/cleaning a Fuji FP-100c negative

(Classic car in Kensington Market, taken with Polaroid Land Camera model 100)

Kensington Market, Toronto

· Leave a comment ·

Kensington Market in Toronto is one of my favourite places in Toronto: colourful, eclectic, but a bit gritty and rough around the edges. It is certainly not a pretentious or snooty part of town! This past Saturday I went down with three cameras, including a Nikon SLR with a 17mm super wide-angle lens, loaded with slide film (Fuji Velvia 100). The slide film was cross processed (developed as a color negative), resulting in interesting colour shifts and high contrast. I was quite happy with how the set turned out.

Kensington Market, Toronto

Cleveland

· Leave a comment ·

“Cleveland??” The U.S. border guard looked at me with a mixture of suspicion and surprise, as if there were no good reason to go to Cleveland. Thankfully that is not the case, and last weekend I had a lot of fun attending Analog Pulse, a film photography event in Cleveland, Ohio, put on by the Aperture Photo and Variety store. (The photo today is Fuji slide film, cross-processed as C-41, taken during the “Cross Process Walk” part of the event.) It was a really fun day, and it was great meeting a number of people in person that I only had met online up until then. As for Cleveland, the downtown is lovely and very photogenic!

Cleveland Cross-Processed Photo Walk

Homage to Man Ray

· 1 Comment ·

One of my favourite photographers of  the twentieth century is Man Ray, a surrealist famous for (among other things) his photographs of nudes using the technique of solarization. I remember as a teenager in the 1970’s that this effect was very popular, almost to the point of overuse (sort of like HDR images today!). I think any effect is OK, as long as it serves the intent of the image, and in this case I like how it turned out. I had mentioned to the model that I liked Man Ray, and so I thought why not do a solarized image (although in this case the effect was applied digitally over a scanned film negative).  This one’s for you, Man Ray.

 

Tattoo

One of a Kind: Hand Tinting

· Leave a comment ·

This is my first crack at hand tinting a photograph, using special transparent oil paints made for the purpose. I made a conventional black and white print on matte paper in the darkroom, then applied the oils. This process was popular in the 19th and early 20th centuries, before colour photography was widespread and practical. It’s amazing that the materials are still available. What I like about hand tinting (in addition to the look) is that each print is unique, like a painting. I gave the original to the model Emily today, so all I have left is the scan. I can (and likely will) make another, but it won’t be the same, and I like that.

My first hand-tinted photograph

A Reminder . . .

· 2 Comments ·

The next couple of days will be very busy as I do my final preparations for my first photography display/sale ever:

Beginning on January 3rd (and continuing through the month of January), selections from my 2011 Photography project “Women and Cameras” will on display/sale at the Wild Oat Bakery and Cafe, 817 Bank Street in Ottawa.

This project features images captured using traditional film cameras, and printed on hand coated paper using two antique printing processes” Cyanotype and Van Dyke Brown. The subject of each image is a portrait of a woman, with an antique/classic film camera, like in the example below:
Cyanotype of Kathleen With Voigtlander
On Wednesday, January 4th at 7 pm at the Wild Oat I will be giving a presentation on my project, and the two processes I used to create these images.

If you are in the Ottawa area I’d love to see you there!