On The B(l)each

Morning folks, and a very Happy New Year to you - jings, one wonders where things are going though, eh!

Anyway, those of you of a certain age will possibly remember the cold war film 'On The Beach' in which, despite mankind's last desperate hopes, the entire population of the world is annihilated by nuclear war. 

It was grim, but honest (for the time) film making, as well as being a staple of my younger watching days, but I wonder why it is no longer shown on TV? 

Oh wait a minute, that's right, everybody dies. 

Much like Graham Briggs' 'When The Wind Blows', I think the truth is just too much for people to bear; maybe it's because there's no living kittens and puppies or celebs with nuclear-white teeth in either of them . . 

Ho hum, or maybe it's just because the latter has music by Roger Waters . . .

On the other hand, who can forget Sir Cliff Richard's stonking, post-holocaust toe-tapper 'On The Beach' - a rip-snortin' song of love, fun and dancing! 

Oh yes, none of that pesky eyeball-melting stuff there, oh no.

Who could even forget young Sheephouse's accident with a bottle of Sun-In. A WHOLE bottle too.

Well, those were the metal days and I probably out-bleached the Crüe by a year or so!

Anyway, this wouldn't be FB with some discourse on the Art and Craft of Photography, so here goes.

The late Barry Thornton published two books as far as I know - 'Elements' and 'Edge Of Darkness' - the former is relatively findeable - I've seen it quite a number of times in s/h bookshops and charity places, to the extent that I now have two copies! 

The latter though is more of a rockinghorse jobbie - never seen any other copy than mine in any shops. Last time I looked online it was a small fortune. 

It's a good read, though be careful with his home-brew, two-bath developer (good though it is) is all I can say . . you have been warned.

Anyway, here's an interesting snippet from the latter; it has been given a précis by me, because I couldn't be arsed typing it out in full. 

Basically he takes a selenium-toned print and immerses it in a semi-weak Potassium Ferrycyanide solution. 

He uses Potasium Bromide (as a restrainer/anti-fog) too, but I had none, so it was chuck some Pot Ferry in a dish, let it dissolve, then chuck a washed selenium-toned print in for a couple of minutes, watch it change colour, whip it out, thoroughly wash, refix and then do your hypo-clear and main wash. 

It gives the prints almost a goldy-chocolate colour which I find quite appealing. 

He calls it Drag Bleaching for some reason - I've never found that term used by anyone else (as far as I can remember).

I've tried it before, but it was never as dramatic as this - I think that is partly down to using a stronger solution of PF. Can you afford to wait around for the recommended 4 or 5 minutes bleaching time when you have 10 prints to deal with? Hmmm? Eh? Sweety??

The reason I did it is another matter - it is a bit complex. 

Basically the paper I am using is Ilford MG - not 'fresh' though, it is probably at least 10 years old (you could buy a box of 9.5 x 12" for £24.99, I know because that's what the price sticker says!) and was a gift from a friend having a clear-out - I have to say it has been wonderful using it, because it has allowed me to print without a thought to the burgeoning cost per print.

It has also taught me, that Graded paper lasts better than MG - as seems to be the way with ancient MG paper it loses speed and contrast at a rate of knots, so I am having to print at roughly Grade 4 (albeit a bit either side depending on the negative). 

A box of Grade 2 Ilfospeed from the same era is absolutely fine.

With the MG, I am still getting a bit of sparkle in the print, but obviously printing at a harder Grade does have its impact on shadow areas. 

As such, the prints were a bit iffy so I thought, why not.

Anyway, post-Christmas I was desperate to get out and photograph, however two things came together at once:

One - shite weather (grey, dreich, shite, whichever term you fancy).

Two - I ran out of light! Twilight was coming on at about 3PM with the cloud cover.

Allied to this I decided I needed to get out and do something, so chose to use Berggrrrrrs Panchro 400 Super-Curl . . . not really ideal. 

But the object of the exercise wasn't to create jaw-dropping photographic snippets from the table of the Gods - no, it was to use my brain and listen to a shutter in the open. 

Which is exactly what happened.

I think I've nailed the best way to develop BrGGGrrrrrr for me too - rate it at EI200 and overdevelop in Kodak HC110 - Dilution B. It helps it along in the shadows, which generally with this film, no matter how properly you've metered them, are often erring on the side of ghostly. 

I would also emphasise again, despite having a 'anti-curl layer' this is the curliest film I have ever encountered - when chopped it forms 3 tight spirals of four frames a piece, which, when sleeved and weighted, do not ever really straighten. 

It's a shame as it has quite a nice look to it.

Anyway, here's the results:

Lovely Eh!

Bike Shed With Mouse

Lonely Planet's 'Good Guano' Award.

Toning Wise, The Best One

Always Liked These Trees

And that's it really - camera was the 500 C/M with the 40mm CF FLE Distagon - it's  great lens - maybe not as epic as the 38mm Biogon, but certainly easier to use and compose with.

As I said, they'll not win any awards, but as an exercise, they're fine; at the end of the day I often think that half of the photographic process is being able to get out somewhere and have some concentration time, which I think is always FUN, and goodness knows we need some of that these days.

So without further ado I shall bid you adieu! 

And remember, the aliens are the ones wearing suits.

H xx