Recent content by Ian Leake

I, like many English speakers, suffer from hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia

Half the stuff we were taught in school was wrong – either because our teacher didn't know what they were talking about, or because it was a necessary simplification. However, even though it was wrong, it was still sufficient to get us to the next level. Today's AI tools are similar: if you want...

It would take a lifetime to find, verify and catalogue any non-trivial body of knowledge. AI can do this for you in seconds. It's not perfect, by any means, but it's better than doing it manually. At the moment, AI cannot beat a human expert in any field. I don't ask ChatGPT for advice on...

I use AI tools every day in my corporate job. The frontier models from OpenAI and Anthropic are incredibly powerful. The older versions, free versions and many of the derivative tools are generally less so. Keep in mind the following: Tools like ChatGPT don't really know anything and their...

Make lots and lots of photos. Print them. Experiment with cropping them in different ways so you can see how they balance. Ask yourself tough questions and give yourself honest answers. If you think a different composition may have worked better, then reshoot to see if you were right. Repeat...

Dilute hydrochloric acid is a good clearing agent, but has fallen out of favour because: (1) there are less toxic alternatives; and (2) it can damage the paper fibres. If you're happy using it then there's no need to stop. I use a red LED light for platinum/palladium. Some people say it's OK to...

I misread your post, sorry. You are correct – an excess of oxalic acid won't affect the print. It may actually be beneficial because platinum likes an acidic paper. However, there may be other by-products from the acidification that should be washed out. Full disclosure: I know there are...

Papers with alkali buffers need acidification before use. Ferric oxalate is not sufficient. A bath of oxalic acid works, as does a bath of sulphamic acid. I use the latter. It's better to rinse the paper after acidification to remove reaction by-products.

1. Palladium has a very different look than platinum – much warmer/browner. And it's generally more forgiving and easier to use – e.g. with room temperature developer. 2. I've found it better to rinse acidified paper before drying it. This gets rid of any reaction by-products. 3. It depends what...

Very nice! That must be some print to see in the real world!

I use Whatman #1 filter paper (11 µm) for rough filtering, #6 paper (3µm) for fine filtering, and 0.45µm autovial filters for extreme filtering.

I think the answer depends on who is buying your prints, and where. Who: if your buyers are used to buying from galleries then they will expect a certificate of authenticity, so you'd better provide one. Where: my understanding is that certificates of authenticity are required by law in certain...

Depending on how you enjoy working, you could either do formal film testing (e.g. BTZS) or an empirical testing (a.k.a. trial and error). Personally I prefer the latter – find a friendly subject, expose a sheet of film, develop it, and print the negative. Repeat adjusting exposure and...

Ah, I get it (I think)... Thank you.

I saw this video on Instagram: In the captions he writes: "The lens diameter is noticeably larger than the shutter, but this has no effect on the aperture. it only reduces the image circle..." That statement seems wrong to me. Surely placing a smaller opening behind the lens will also reduce...