portsmouth NH

VDB?

Van Dyke ?

Nice.

(sorry, know that's lame for a 'critique'.)


Is the tone faithful to the print? I ask, because I have no experience with alternative process printing.

Are the edges like that due to.. .what?

I instinctively feel tension because of the cut off bridge towers; is this a tension you planned or is it just me?

What was the feeling you were going for?

Frank

hi frank.

yes it is vandyke. the edges are that way because i prefer not to coat the paper all the way to the edge of the neg. i like the effect. a friend of mine hates it! the right hand side of the paper is like that because after i had the paper coated it did not fit inside of my printing frame so i tore some off. again, i kind of like that effect, but next time i will do it before i coat it so it has a bit of color on it.

i cut off the top of the bridge because i forgot my wide angle lens. i tried getting the top of the bridge in but that cut off the foreground. i thought the foreground was more important to hold the viewers attention. if i got the top of the bridge in i was plagued with a featureless less sky. had there been big puff "simpson" style clouds i may have shot it.

eddie

i'm really glad you posted this, because i am interested in this 'vanishing' effect you've created by not coating all the way to the edges -- i've recently been thinking about trying out this idea (not the tearing part, but the disappearing edges part) on a series i'm just starting on --..... the trick, it seems to me, is to be able to coat near to, but not touch, the film edge, so the image can 'float' in space -- i see you've let your brush come up over the edges at the top and bottom, creating a straight edge -- was this on purpose? would it be more effective if all edges looked like your right edge, with the image disappearing or fading out on all sides?

rich
ps -- what reason does your friend give for 'hating it'? is it too much artifice for him/her?

hi rich,

my friend hates it cause it has to be "perfect" for him. he considers this technique not perfect. that applies to everything about him.....he is also a head shrink doctor if that helps!

the reason the top and bottom are covered is because generally i brush back and forth right to left. sometime i do vary up and down if i feel it is not coating well (read a pool of solution in one spot) and i am trying to even it out. i could very easily keep back from the top and bottom and then add brush strokes as i do the other direction. next session i will try to be consistent all the way around. please stay tuned.

thanks