A/NZ PX Round #4 - Comments and Feedback

[munz6869]

Prints HAND DELIVERED this arvo - now that's service! Thanks so much Andy!!! I've had a quick peek, and there's some great work. I will post detailed comments shortly!

Marc!

 

[Oxleyroad]

Marc beat me to the punch in there was really great work sent in. I want to say it is a pleasure organising this as it means I am fortunate to see the work from everyone.

As the groups finished up a little smaller than anticipated all of us will have had at least one print returned, and those of you that received two prints back it is because you had included a print for the organiser (for which I am truly grateful) but I ended up participating in both groups after offering help out Bob Walberg.

I will comment after the prints have had time to make their way back to everyone.

Group One: Each have 5 different prints
1. Barrie B.
2. munz6869
3. SMBooth
4. Oxleyroad
5. SteveR
6. Hoffy

Group Two: Each have 4 different prints
1. Oxleyroad
2. Kevin Caulfield
3. Michael W
4. tomalophicon
5. Andrew K

Let the comments flow on.

 

[tomalophicon]

Andy,
Thanks again for organising this thing.

 

[Yamaotoko]

Thanks Andrew, got mine in the post today, I've had a quick flick through and have to say, standard and quality are fantastic! I'll give a proper report when I've had a good look through them.

 

[hoffy]

Mine arrived today as well. Awesome set!

 

[SMBooth]

Got mine too, thanks all.
What with all the stamps everybody is using on their prints. A bit flash....

 

[Oxleyroad]

Has everyone rec'd their parcels of prints yet?

I can see 4 plus mine that have been rec'd.

 

[tomalophicon]

Andy, just picked them up 5 minutes ago.
Can I say that I'm particularly impressed with Michael W's lith print.

I'll do a bit of a write up this afternoon.

 

[Michael W]

I received mine on Wednesday. It's always a bit odd receiving a parcel that is addressed to me in my own handwriting. I am pleased with the range of images and will report back later after a closer look. I do like that there has been a lot of experimentation.

 

[Michael W]

Can I say that I'm particularly impressed with Michael W's lith print.

Yes, you can say that.

 

[Andrew K]

Sorry - I got mine earlier this week, but haven't had a chance to look at them yet... I'll have a good look at them and post some comments over the weekend......

 

[Oxleyroad]

In no order of the members in each group, but group one first followed by two.

Hoffy- 'Searchingfor trolls...'. Ashley you have really managed to capture every detail of the underside of the bridge. I have never been out after dark on that side of the river so have never caught the scene that you have. Great workmon the split grading and dodging. Glad you did not tell us all where the flaws were this time, and I can't find any. Depth of field is brilliant, and to me this was "the" print of all of them.

SteveR - 'Untitled'. Or will be. I look forward to reading some of the detail of this image. It looks like it was taken where there is a tide?

SMBooth - 'Ketch'. Great image and the toning works well. You say you have converted an old Agfa Billy to a pin hole 35, but a square crop 6x6? I am a little confused what is the 35 refering to? I have not used the RC Foma, but like the weight and feel of it compared to the Ilford MGIV Deluxe.

BarrieB - Private Slipway. Barry I feel like I am sitting there looking at the scene myself. Another picture with amazing depth of field. This picture would be great enlarged to cover a wall. You mentioned your own toning brew... Would you share your secrets on this as I like the rich golden brown colour.

Munz6869 - 'Bridge, somewhere near Mallacoota!'. Nicely balanced image with the full spectrum of rich whites and deep blacks. Was this image taken with your original Fuji GW680 or the replacement?

Kevin Caulfield - 'Karon Beach, Phuket, Thailand. Looks like the party is over and everyone has gone home due to storm brewing. Was this the case or was it just because it was morning. Everything looks so calm but for the waves in the distance.

Tomalophicon - Feathers in a tankard. Taken with an RB 150mm and soft focus. I like this image and need to dig a little deeper as I hope to expand on my RB gear as it is onl one 65mm lens and several B&W filters. Can't decide what to look for next. What was the significance of this image to you?

Michael W - Rooftop. My wife likes this image a lot. The subtle colour toning and grain from pushing the TX. Great to see lithe prints and lith on Foma as this is what I use a bit of but have not gotten around to using with the lith process. Only last week started soiling my own lith chemistry but did not get around to printing on the Foma paper just Ilford MG. I know what I want to expect now. Thanks for this image Michael a real beauty.

Andrew K - 'Photographers little helper'. I look forward to what you send out Andrew as much as the stories behind the prints. I thought lugging a RB67 around was a chore, god what it would have been like to carry this Graflex about to gather the news images. It must be fun to take out and use. And a Bonus print as well from your Holga - 'In a Spin'. That is a piece of work getting that with the 4 second exposure hand held at arms length. How many were attempted?

Thanks everyone for the prints. Another round where there is big spread of formats, films and processes. I will look forward to future rounds with enthusiasm.

 

[SMBooth]

Andy, thanks for comments, image was cropped from 6x9 to 6x6 as I think it looked better. the 35mm refers to the 'focal length' of the pinhole camera. I use the pinhole Afga billy folded up. Yes its a nice RC paper the Foma, I get it from Blanco Negro in NSW.

 

[Kevin Caulfield]

Thanks for your comments, Andy. My photo was taken fairly early in the morning, so the beach was very quiet. More dogs than people. Yes, the waves were fairly huge. We stayed there for a week and our boys didn't even want to go the beach as the hotel pool was too much fun, but the waves would have been too intense for them anyway.

 

[tomalophicon]

Andrew K.
Nice portraits. I really like the originality of in a spin and the inclusion of boobs made it a GREAT shot. Keep it up.
I like the toned version of the Photographer's little helper best.

Andy,
I like the way the caffenol has stained the paper. Seeing this as part of a series would make the subject matter more 'complete'. How'd you make the funky stamp?

Michael W.
Perfect photo. I love the symmetry, the shapes, the texture and the colours. It's excellent.

Kevin Caulfield.
Good shot and it has a serene feel to it. I'd like to be there instead of where I am. How the hell did you get it so sharp. I can never get my prints that sharp.

Thanks guys, I wish we had bigger groups and look forward to the next one.

 

[tomalophicon]

Andy, there is nothing significant about my photo. I just found the jar full of feathers when I was visiting my dad.

 

[Oxleyroad]

Andy, there is nothing significant about my photo. I just found the jar full of feathers when I was visiting my dad.

Ah there is significance, you found/saw the feathers and wanted to photograph it. Brilliant.

I like the way the caffenol has stained the paper. Seeing this as part of a series would make the subject matter more 'complete'. How'd you make the funky stamp?

I often leave out the coffee when doing printing as I prefer the cleaner, warm picture look. These prints though I didn't think anyone would believe they were developed in washing soda and vitamin C...

The series of pictures ended up in a leather bound notebook I made for my wife. They were all close ups of things about the back garden which had some meaning to her. I could post a collection of the images time permitting. None of these negs have been scanned as yet.

The stamp was designed with my father inlaw who makes embosing stamps and engraves glasses etc. I was impressed by some stamps I had seen from past exchanges and thought that is a nice touch. I now see there are several of us using an embosed stamp of some sort now.

 

[tomalophicon]

Ah there is significance, you found/saw the feathers and wanted to photograph it. Brilliant.



I often leave out the coffee when doing printing as I prefer the cleaner, warm picture look. These prints though I didn't think anyone would believe they were developed in washing soda and vitamin C...

The series of pictures ended up in a leather bound notebook I made for my wife. They were all close ups of things about the back garden which had some meaning to her. I could post a collection of the images time permitting. None of these negs have been scanned as yet.

The stamp was designed with my father inlaw who makes embosing stamps and engraves glasses etc. I was impressed by some stamps I had seen from past exchanges and thought that is a nice touch. I now see there are several of us using an embosed stamp of some sort now.

Andy, I really like the processing and yes I'm amazed it's washing soda and vit C. So what does the coffee do to the print?
I'd like to see more in the series.

 

[Oxleyroad]

Andy, I really like the processing and yes I'm amazed it's washing soda and vit C. So what does the coffee do to the print?
I'd like to see more in the series.

What does the coffee do... Well as far as I have been able to work out, stains the paper. Not much science to my experiments. Mix caffenol and print, leave out ingredients and print. If it works note what the differences are if it does not work note what not to do next time.

As for the rest of the series I will have sit in front of the computer and scan them. I say it like this as I spend too much time in front of a screen doing my 9 to 5 job, that spending more time at home becomes a real chore, hence having a wet darkroom. Gets me out of the house into my own little world. Will give my self til the end of the week to scan and post.

 

[SMBooth]

Ive just read this, your saying your print was developed in Vit C and Washing Soda only. What mix and have you try film?

 

[Oxleyroad]

Ive just read this, your saying your print was developed in Vit C and Washing Soda only. What mix and have you try film?

Yes. With film I use a smidge of KBr as that is what was recommeded. Oh yes that means in the case of these prints there was also KBr present as I used old film developer. But otherwise I don't bother with the KBr. Got all my info on Caffenol from APUG.

As for the mixes see this site it is brilliant

Dead Link Removed. Search for the recipes on the site. This site is all film, but I use the same for film.

 

[Michael W]

The other week we mixed up a couple of liters or Caffenol CCM in the darkroom. One guy processed a roll of film using 600ml & another guy decided to use the rest to process some paper. He was using Ilford MGIV fibre base & it developed nicely. He was doing comparison prints in Dektol and there wasn't much difference in appearance. I'm not sure if he had to alter the print times but I'm pretty sure dev times were longer in the caffenol. There was a paper stain but I think it washed out with a long wash. Will check next time I speak to him.

 

[Barrie B.]

Opened my prints last night .

Greetings all ;
I have been away with our caravan for the past 5 weeks in South Australia ,Just caught up with my mail that was collected by next door neighbour.

Hope to find some time to look at the images in the next few days .
................................ Cheers Barrie B.

 

[Michael W]

I keep forgetting to comment on these - have been distracted with tax and car stuff. Overall I'm pleased with the selection and plan to take part in the next one. I agree with AndrewK that these print exchanges are a good opportunity to try new things and give others a glimpse at what we are working on. Interesting that some of the prints I received are working along similar lines to some of my current interests, e.g.
Tomalophicon - with the soft focus lens. I love diffusion and recently bought a meniscus lens in shutter to use on 4x5. The effect works well with glowing highlights as seen in this print of feathers and a pewter mug.
Oxleyroad - I've done a bit of caffenol processing and just ordered 1 kilo of Ascorbic acid via the German ebay seller mentioned at the caffenol blog. Will be about 1/3 of the best price I can get in Australia. I have only processed film in it but as mentioned previously I watched a guy printing in some left over caffenol a few weeks back. That was fresh stuff so it is interesting to see that old previously used stuff still works. The print looks great, deep blacks and a nice tonal range.
AndrewK - I'm also into pinhole photography and own a Holga WPC although I haven't used it for awhile.
I love the Graflex camera and photo. Shame about the paper dev - I can see it was exhausted and didn't give you good blacks. You could have tried some caffenol! I'm a bit confused about the film - are you cutting 5x7 down to 4.75x6.5?
Kevin C - nothing experimental about this one, just a good straight photograph. I like the incongruity of the palm trees and the human clutter - chairs and small temple. It's well printed.

 

[Kevin Caulfield]

Sorry, I've been meaning to comment on the photos I received, and will do so now. (I think I neglected to comment last round) -

Tomalophicon - Feathers in a tankard. I like the composition and the minimal depth of field. The out-of-focus areas suit the subject of the feathers very well. I also like the the way the material under the tankard catches the light and the hint of slight detail in the background. Nice work.

Oxleyroad - Lizard. The slight sidelighting captures the texture of the lizard nicely whilst also providing a shadow which gives the lizard depth and enhances the composition. A great blend of textures and light. I must try some caffenol, not just with my breakfast.

Michael W - untitled lith print. Great work. I know how difficult it is to get the developer to the right point where it has the necessary mix of fresh and old, and then to snatch the print at the ideal time, and you have nailed it here. You have got it to the point where it gives that lovely grainy look.

AndrewK - Photographers little helper, and In A Spin. Wow, not one but three prints and a detailed description. That beautiful old Graflex Press camera certainly has imparted a special look to the photo. The second version does look better, with a bit harder contrast. And thanks for the second photo, In a Spin. Pretty original idea and a very different perspective, not to mention great hand-holding by the model/photographer.

Kevin Caulfield - Karon Beach, Phuket, Thailand. Apologies to all for the bit of fluff in the bottom left. I was walking along the beach and spotted this little temple. I took two versions, one closer and then this wider view which gave the temple better context in its beach setting.

Thanks to all for participating and special thanks again to Oxleyroad for continuing to coordinate this.