It is my occasional habit to ditch eating lunch and go for a walk with a camera. I use this time to both test some new ideas, techniques, developers, etc. while at the same time trying to make real pictures. Of late, a fallen dead tree in a nearby forest preserve has captured my repeated attentions. The light at high noon on the dead branches against the darkness of the forest behind it is something I am still trying to conquer.
Anyway, today's exercise had to be quick since I had meetings all afternoon. I set up, shot 2 exposures each of 2x3 Tri-X and HP5+, and got back with plenty of time for the afternoon jawboning.
It was not until I processed the film after work that I realized I had just participated in an exercise where everything in the process except the chemistry was ... old.
I shot on a 2x3 "Baby" Speed Graphic with the aftermarket Graflok back upgrade I installed some years ago. I don't know when mine was made, but they went completely out of production by 1970.
The lens was a 180mm f/5.5 Tele-Arton - again I don't know the age of mine, which is pristine - but these were done in production in the late 1960s.
The best part was the film. The HP5+ expired in 2018 but that 2x3 Tri-X has an expiry date of Nov. 1969 (and I have multiple boxes stashed away too).
All old, all working quite nicely, thank you very much. The negs are hanging as I write this and they look just fine, though there may be just the slightest hint of fog on the Tri-X, but certainly nothing to worry about.
While the developer was fresh (D-23 1+9 + 0.5g NaOH/l), the formula is forever years ago old.
In a world in which everything seems to have a 10 minute half-life, it is somehow satisfying to realize that it is possible to do creative things using tools from a very old toolbox.
P.S. I guess it's time to start using the 1940s "Reporter" typewriter I bought for 75 cents at a garage sale 30 years ago. It is in perfect condition. They wanted $1 but I talked them down ...
Anyway, today's exercise had to be quick since I had meetings all afternoon. I set up, shot 2 exposures each of 2x3 Tri-X and HP5+, and got back with plenty of time for the afternoon jawboning.
It was not until I processed the film after work that I realized I had just participated in an exercise where everything in the process except the chemistry was ... old.
I shot on a 2x3 "Baby" Speed Graphic with the aftermarket Graflok back upgrade I installed some years ago. I don't know when mine was made, but they went completely out of production by 1970.
The lens was a 180mm f/5.5 Tele-Arton - again I don't know the age of mine, which is pristine - but these were done in production in the late 1960s.
The best part was the film. The HP5+ expired in 2018 but that 2x3 Tri-X has an expiry date of Nov. 1969 (and I have multiple boxes stashed away too).
All old, all working quite nicely, thank you very much. The negs are hanging as I write this and they look just fine, though there may be just the slightest hint of fog on the Tri-X, but certainly nothing to worry about.
While the developer was fresh (D-23 1+9 + 0.5g NaOH/l), the formula is forever years ago old.
In a world in which everything seems to have a 10 minute half-life, it is somehow satisfying to realize that it is possible to do creative things using tools from a very old toolbox.
P.S. I guess it's time to start using the 1940s "Reporter" typewriter I bought for 75 cents at a garage sale 30 years ago. It is in perfect condition. They wanted $1 but I talked them down ...
Last edited: