101 Uses Of A (Nearly) Dead Sheep

Morning folks - I'm not really meaning to paraphrase Simon Bond's classic book, but it was the first title that jumped into my head.
Thankfully, there's not really 101 uses of a (Nearly) Dead Sheep in this article, but it somehow fit with a sad story about a lone sheep, who is unfortunately now either a carcass on a foreshore, or has been carted off to the great vet incinerator in the sky.
You'll need hankies for later on - trust me.

Close-Planted Standing, Fife

Oh and it was nothing like this:

Or this:

I can't condone such behaviour - I am a cat lover - all the same though, they're pretty damn funny no matter which way you look at them.

Anyway, there I was, with yet another hillwalk planned and cancelled at the last minute - this Winter has been something else for that - allied with a dodgy knee,  another Plan B was wheeled into action.
It was what is becoming my default Plan B - Wormit to Balmerino, except this time I was planning on coming back via the back way from Balmerino Abbey.

So, prepped and ready to go - son and gf dropped off at work - weather not too bad, I parked up at Wormit 'beach' - in reality it's a semi-muddy shoreline with a concrete breakwater - the view is spectacular though, taking in the Carse of Gowrie, right through to Dundee itself and beyond to Barry Point by Monifieth/Carnoustie - quite something and when the light is good and quiet it has that strange air of misty change that you often find in a tidal hinterland.

If you've never been, the path to Balmerino is dead obvious (and signposted) and I set off at a pace with the added hope of maybe finding my watch (which broke free from its strap the last time I came this way).

I was toting the 150mm Sonnar and 500 C/M alone in the Think Tank bag that was detailed in this post.

It makes for a very tidy little package for such an awesome picture making machine.
I combined it with my CF Gitzo tripod - possibly the greatest thing since sliced peas - and off I went!

So here we go . .

Film # 66/54

#66/54, HP5 EI 200, 24/2/19

1./ 1/30th, f11, ZIII MLU Foreshore

2./ 1/30th, f11, ZIII MLU Foreshore

3./ 1/60th, f5.6, ZIII MLU Tree

4./ 1/30th, f11, ZIII MLU Horizon

5./ 1/8th, f8, Z? Sheep

6./ 1/8th, f22, ZII, Trees

7./ 1/30th, f5.6, ZIV, Catkins

8./ 1/30th, f5.6, ZIV, Catkins

9./ 1/60th, f8, ZIV, Shadow, Hut

10./ 1/250th, f4, ZIII, True, Pier

11./ 1/30th, f16, ZIII, True, Pier

12./ 1/4th, f22, ZIV, Shadow, True, Tay

PHD 5+5+500 22℃.

Agit 30 sec, then 4 per min, to 17 mins then stand to 21. No waterbath.

Nice results though I need to watch my readings.

All 150mm Sonnar,  and apart from 5, tripod.

And those are my notes.
Boring?
OF COURSE, but then again it isn't often one gets to look into anyone's work process is it, and well, if anyone can glean anything - like a tweak on the way they work that helps things along - then I am a HB (Happy Bunny)!
"True" by the way means I took the reading from the meter verbatim - no farting around.

Right - got your bicycle clips on?
Good . . here we go!

Wormit Foreshore, Facing West

It's a pretty scene isn't it - this is taken from a position on the bit of shoreline just before the Balmerino path takes you up into some fields - it's next to the prone wooden seal statue/seat if you need directions. The building you see is a fisherman's hut of antiquity - there's been no roof on it since me and the missus 'discovered' it back in the early 1990's.

There's another one (or rather the remnants of one) further along and probably there's more all the way to Newburgh, but I wouldn't recommend trying unless you're in a boat, as access to the shore is a tad difficult and with a tide moving around every 6 hours or so, unless you can be sure of getting back safely, I'd be very careful.

A few words of warning -  it is slippy and muddy as blazes - there's a good chance if you hit the wrong bit of shoreline, both you and your wellies will become firmly stuck!

The one possibly interesting thing I'll add is, y'see the shoreline to the right of the hut, and you see that bit of hill at the left side of the frame, well use your mind to imagine that hill climbing up to the top of the frame, and you've got a really steep incline that required yomping up by me . . . but more of that in a minute.

Right - I've had a break - here we go . . . y'see the sheep in Frame 5? 
Yeah? Good - we'll talk about her.
Well, there I was right on an inaccessible bit of shore  - I'd scrambled down off the main path as I'd seen the remnants of another 'hut'. I photographed the curiously CEMENTED INTO PLACE tree stump in Frame 3 and the bleak mudscape of Frame 4, and, I chanced across a small waterfall which I thought was beautiful. I started to clamber over a breadth of bramble and awkward vegetation and spotted the sheep.

I know sheep - stop the sniggering at the back or you'll get lines - they bolt as soon as you get near them. But despite my noise and thrashing and swearing where the brambles were tearing at everything, this one was going nowhere, nor moving. I baaa'd at it a few times and eventually it came to life - I'm good at impersonating sheep - and looked at me. I took it's (bad) picture - 50p of film I'll never see again - and moved closer towards it. It still lay. I didn't think this was looking good. Eventually it lurched to life and moved away a small distance dragging its front left shank.

Two things struck me:

The animal was in a severe state of distress - close to death actually. 

and

That's not just a farmer's profit, but an unfortunate creature needing putting down. 

I'm not a romantic with regard to farming - it is a hard business. 
I'm also not immune to the suffering of creatures. 
Given that I had no phone, my only recourse was to go somewhere and tell someone to call a vet.

I retreated back to the foreshore so as not to panic the animal any more, packed all my gear, and scrambled uphill at speed.

Fifty-odd meters doesn't sound much, but it is three quarters (approx) of 200 feet - take that over a quarter of a mile of rough scramble with no paths, at speed, and you've got a fairly intensive workout for the ol' ticker.

There was a rough grouping of farm buildings at the top of my climb, but they all seemed to have been converted into holiday lets. I found another house, rang bells, knocked on doors and eventually found a dog who led me round to an open door and a young, well-to-do woman who was hoovering her living room. She screamed and then switched off her hoover. I explained, and she said she'd let her neighbour (the farmer, who owned the whole chunk of land - presumably including her house) know.
She seemed as concerned as I was, which is a good thing, however, that was that. I'd done what I could do. If I go back and spot a sorry bag of bones and wool at the foot of the waterfall, I'll know nothing was done. 

RIP Ms. Sheep.

Anyway, utterly exhausted, I beat my way along a field edge and made it back to the path and continued on my way.

Close-Planted Standing, Fife

I'd always had it in my head to take this photograph, but it was rather hard with every lens other than a moderate telephoto - I wanted the feeling of being enveloped in trees.
Not sure whether I've achieved it or not - to be frank I was exhausted at this point - my heart wasn't in it - I kept thinking about the sheep.
The eagle-eyed might well have spotted that the original negative on the contact is severely underexposed - bad reading with a spot meter again - but fortunately I managed to rescue it for perpetuity with some printy stuff. To my mind there's a desparate bleakness about this photo - maybe the way I was feeling had wound it's way into the frame . . .
I know . . I can hear you muttering BOLLOCKS! from here . . .

Anyway, it's a Grade 4 on Ilford MGRC Pearl - actually all of these 'ere prints are that paper, but the rest are Grade 3.
The flecks on the trees are really sharp - Pyrocat has a wonderful effect on ordinary HP5 - it gives almost an etched surface - it is quite subtle, but apparent.

Catkin Lanterns, Fife

Further on, against the gloom of enclosed trees and grey sky, I spotted these catkins. They were like little fluffy beacons in the dark. I set up my tripod and camera and did some moving around and gazing at the focus screen along with checking DOF. To my eyes they looked best when shot (nearly) wide open - it looked gorgeous on the focus screen.
This being said, bad egg Bruce Robbins did say he thought the 'bokeh' looked a tad wirey.
I hadn't noticed till he mentioned it, but yeah, he's right.
I think it is a combo of f5.6 and moving twiggy stuff.
I'll bear it in mind for the future.
I still quite like it for some reason.

Fisherman's Hut, Wormit

Well, this is that 'ere 'ut, we saw from the other direction in Frame 1. Weirdly the iron doors (two of them) are both padlocked, despite the building having no roof.
As I said before me and missus 'discovered' this place back in the 1990's, on a day of extreme heat, vast clouds of black flies and the warmly pungent whiff of sewerage - it was dead romantic.
Oh yes, didn't I mention that?
The Tay has been an outfall for a lot of the shitty stuff over the years - it has improved greatly in the past decade or so but all the same, you can still catch a mighty whiff of it at times (old layers of it being exposed?) - all the more reason for wellies!

It's a shame you can't sit with a 10x8 print in your hands because it brings to life everything I like about the Sonnar - great detail, intense sharpness, not ott contrast, and living breathing (soft but detailed) out of focus areas.
I like this picture.

From there if was a distraction of taking a couple more boring pics of old pier standings and then, with one shot left to me, and the tide on the turn I thought Feck it, might as well, and I picked my way along the shore to the footings of the Tay Rail Bridges - yes, there have been two - I'll not detail them myself, but the tragedy of the original disaster it still writ large on both sides of the river.
You can read about it here.
It helped toward current thinking on safe bridge design.

If you are reading this and getting all fidgety about accessing them, I take no responsibility for your actions.
IT IS DANGEROUS GETTING TO THE FOOTINGS - there used to be a maintanance building ladder system, but it has been closed for years, so you have no recourse save the shoreline.
You can be easily lulled into thinking it is easy, but the rocks are weed and algae covered and are extremely slippery. Allied to this, the tide will come in fast, forcing you back onto said rocks and turning what might have been a slightly difficult walk into a messy, seweragy, slippy awfulness . . and that's you depositing said muck all over the interior of your nice new Audi - the Ford Cortina of the noughties 😉

In the words of our Roman friends:

Caute Procedere

So where does that leave us?
Well, after what seemed like 2 hours of rock picking and avoiding slippage, I set up my camera and took this:

Tay Rail Bridges

I deliberately left this till last as it shows the perils of the photograph making process. 

"What's wrong wiv it?"  I hear you shout.

Well, rather in the same way that some sheep farmer called out (on completion of the Moffat Ram sculpture):

"Where's his lugs?"

Then I too shouted similarly:

'It's all 'orrible an' squint innit!"

Oh yes, despite careful use of the Hasselblad spirit level (a very useful tool) and the camera being perfectly level, the weirdly sloping shoulders holding up the bridge have added an air of squinty-poo to the whole frame. 

I've left the rebates on this so you can see it is the complete thing. 

I find this very frustrating, because it gives the whole frame a distinct lean to the left.

Och well, them's the breaks - it's not a great photo anyway - I certainly won't be printing another, but I will be risking life and limb to get to the same spot again. 

That's perilous though - trust me.

I was physically and emotionally exhausted after this - the pain of the sheep kept playing on my mind - I daren't think that she might well have been with lamb too - it is the right time of year. 

Poor thing.

I packed up, got all slippy and slumped back to the car.

And that as they say is that.
There might be a bit of break before the next FB simply because I haven't taken any pictures or done any printing, but you can live without that can't you? 

Can't you?

Till the next time, try not to get crap on your trousers and remember the sheep, and The Bolde Adventures Of The Mudlark Of Olde Dundee Towne.

A Good Sesh

For the uninitiated in Dundee drinking culture, a "sesh" is basically a large amount of time spent down the pub. It's nothing like it used to be, but certainly does happen.
Maybe the same word is used elsewhere in Scotland . . . I know not. My drinking life began here - you'd need to speak to my pal Tzchic (NOT Chic, it's got a hard glottal 'k' on the end) about the niceties of what it was like back in the day. Quite something by all accounts, and maybe somewhat sadly for a balanced culture, the people he sesshed with are nearly all long gone . . . but that's another story or three (over a few pints).

Anyway, so, there I was, with a hillwalk planned, and  typically, I go on the MWIS site, and what do I find for the Angus Glens?

"White-out down to glen level".

Great.

So I called that one off - it is pointless risking things like that - the long and winding road to Glen Doll can be challenging when it is dry, so in a snowstorm, well, you're more than likely to run off the edge (there's no snow posts) or hit one of the massive ruts that are starting to appear.

(Not sure where anyone is in the country that reads this, but Tayside and Angus has some of the most shocking roads I have ever encountered, and they're only getting worse . . I think our next runabout should be a tractor or a Sherman tank actually.)

Anyway, no hillwalk, so . . .

Plan B?

Yeah, head over to Fife and do the rail bridge from the other side . . so there I was, ready to go, everything packed, and what happens, yep, just as the weather reports predicted, the sleet turned to proper big snow flakes bang on time for me leaving.

Allied to the shiteness of the conditions, the thought of operating a largish camera in freezing (or sub-zero) conditions is definitely not my idea of fun.

I got the message, turned tail, said feck it, AND HIT THE DARKROOM.

In hindsight, this was a sensible move!

A GOOD SESH

I've had a plan to do a bunch of 35mm prints for a while - I tend to stick to one format when printing simply because it's a mini-faff to change the lens and lens plates on the DeVere  - so, it was out with the Vivitar 100mm and in with the modernish 50mm f2.8 Nikkor in a recessed plate.

I gathered a bunch of negatives from my files (and their contact prints to keep me right) popped into the darkroom and off I went.

Oh and I forgot to mention - having been desperate (but time poor) to print on fibre paper for quite a while now, I thought:

Well, it's snowing - you've got the whole day you old fart . . get on with it.

So I looked out some ancient, and I mean ancient fibre-based paper.

Adox Vario-Classic.

It's so old it was discontinued in 2009 (!) and I'd had it a year or two when it was discontinued, so that makes it around 12 years old - not the most ideal of circumstances for the making of (hopefully) fine prints.

I wondered how contrast would be, so cleaned a negative, shoved it in the carrier and did a test strip on bog standard, un-filtered, nominal Grade 2..

Adox Vario Classic
Unfiltered Grade 2.
Exposure in 4 second increments.

And you know what . . well, you can see it can't you - the test strip was like looking at different gradations of a photo of a mud fish, sitting in mud, making a mud-pie . . in other words it was a tad muddy.

That's a big problem you can hit when using old papers.
Goodness knows, the way the world has gone with digital sweeping away that whole cash-cow of really, truly fine printing papers, there can't be many boxes of the old ones left any more, and those that are left well . . speak to Bruce at OD.
He has a box of Agfa MCC which is like opening a packet of grey mud inhabited by the denizens of mud city by all accounts.

I've tried the usual adding of benzotriazole to the developer and that has never worked for me - there are some workarounds on this, but to be honest, they all seem like a complete faff, when you could just go and buy a box of fresh paper.

Broadly speaking older GRADED papers, tend to survive very well if stored cool. Multigrade though can be a different matter.
Again, broadly speaking, I've found in my limited experience that old MG papers benefit from being exposed with filtration on the hard side - it just adds a tad of sparkle and lifts it above the mud.

But what about a box of paper with no instructions about filtration, and even no info at all on the web about such filtration - such was my luck with the Adox.
As far as I remember there were no such instructions when I bought it, and I seem to remember, even contacting Adox, such things weren't forthcoming, so I basically printed the majority of the box on that un-filtered Grade 2.

No wonder I never liked it!

Darkroom Life is a steep learning curve sometimes and, going on Ilford's own words, MG papers should generally be expected not to act like Graded papers . . in other words and to cut a long story short . . if you're going to use MG paper (even fresh stuff) expose hard.

As you can see from the test strip above, the natural cut of the jib of the Adox seemed to be mud - it was certainly a good deal muddier than I last remembered it and I was afraid I'd be spending a whole day producing prints that made me go 'Ugh'
So I threw caution to the wind and used the instructions for Adox MCC, dialling in an 'approximate' Grade 3 with 40 units of Magenta (in Kodak units used on the DeVere).

And . . . .

Weird Day
Nikon F, 24mm f2.9 Nikkor-N, Tri-X, Pyrocat-HD

By jingo, it worked! 

That's a pretty close Grade 3 - I was elated actually.

My 2B pencil scribbles on the back (what d'ya mean you don't do that? It keeps you right - get a good result and you have a master print to refer to should you need to make any more y'berk) read:

Adox VC, GR 3 (?) 40 M, 20 sec, f8, + 6 edges. HC 110 in developer.

Ah, the last bit - I can hear the nits jumping from your scratching.
Well, that last bit is a salient point.
I use Kodak Polymax; it's a good developer . . usually.
However, halfway through my current big bottle, I've found that solids have developed in the bottom of the bottle and any developer mixed up from it lasts around 2 sessions at the most.

In the past (and you'll laugh) when I've noticed developer/print emergement time starting to slow and not wanting to have to exit the darkroom and make up some more chemicals, I've adopted the guerilla tactic of (cue embarrassment) squirting neat developer into the tray.
What can I say.
IT WORKS, noticably upping the emergement of the image and also, to a flat image, adding a tad more contrast.
You should try it.

Anyway, there I was with the above print, and (given the high silver content of the Adox) it was taking forever, to start to cog - I think I was on near enough 4 mins - luckily I had the safelight off - but enough was enough.
I tried to squirt some Polymax into the tray and discovered the fecking solids jammed the mouth of the bottle tight!
Oh the drama, and in the dark too! 
What did squirt out, missed the tray altogether and splattered me.
And then it hit me - a thought once spotted somewhere - using Kodak's HC 110 as a paper developer.

I haven't used it as a film developer in a good few years now, but I still had some in a well-sealed air-tight bottle, and seeing as it seems to be a glycol-based developer, I thought it should still be OK, so (still in the dark) I found the bottle, whipped the top off and dumped a bit in the tray.

And it worked.
Using my wee safelight torch (Jings they're expensive these days) I saw the image proper, emerge tout suit.

I was, to say the least, chuffed.
Jabber ✔✔

Whether the HC 110 has made any difference to the tonality of the print or not, I know not, but it did bring the image to completion.

Anyway . . . extremely pleased that I'd got way more than I was expecting, I piled more meat in the mincer . . .

 . . . Next! . . .

March Of The Seed Heads
Nikon F, 24mm f2.9 Nikkor-N, FP-4, Pyrocat-HD

The eagle-eyed will have seen this one before.
It was a lovely hot day in Fife and me and t'missus were on a picnic - the seed heads looked utterly manic to me - even though they're still, there's enough movement to make them look like they're on the march.
I wish I could have got that lower bit of hedge out of the way, but that would have involved tearing my trousers on barbed wire.

I love the feeling the single-coated Nikkor has given to the scene - it is a very fine lens.

Print notes:

Adox VC, GR 3 (?) 40 M, 28 sec, f8, + 6 edges. HC 110

I was a happy bunny ✔✔ actually - spurred on, with a quick visit to the living room for a cup of java, I continued.

 . . . Next! . . .

Dreams Flow
Nikon F3, 28mm f2.8 Ai-s Nikkor, Tri-X, Pyrocat-HD

Sometimes (as seems to be my experience of 35mm) you use a whole film . . and only one image strikes you as worth printing, and such was the case with this one.

It was a heck of a windy day and me and the wee one were out for a walk in lovely Perthshire. I saw this pool coming up, dodged off the path, slipped a bit in the mud and took the photograph.

Little did I realise that the water movement, wind movement and happenstance would dress the frame in such a way as to give it a dream-like quality. 

Look at those leaves on the right bit of water . . they look like they've been carelessly strewn by a Faery Queen. 

The 28mm Nikkor has done a sterling job - pretty good levels of detail for a fast film.

Print notes:

Adox VC, GR 3 (?) 40 M, 36 sec, f8, + 6 edges. HC 110

To paraphrase Nigel Molesworth's Christmas Present list:

Happy bunny again?
Oh YUS! ✔

  . . . Next! . . .

Fay's Pool
Nikon F, 24mm f2.9 Nikkor-N, FP-4, Pyrocat-HD

Ah, the mighty Fay - I never intended to copy her, but, well what else can you do with a similar day and the same subject matter?

MY Print notes:

Adox VC, GR 3 (?) 40 M, 26 sec, f8 base, + 6 edges + 4 lower right quadrant. HC 110

And now how it should be done:

Fay Godwin, Belstane, Druidic Gathering Place, Fife

She probably wasn't using a Nikon though . . . and to be honest, her photo knocks mine into a cocked hat!

When was the last time you saw someone wearing a jaunty tifter, cocked and ready for action?
Hmmmm . . . . . thought not.

Still I wasn't going to let this put me off.

Happy ✔✔

 . . . Next! . . .

All Welcome In Europe
Nikon F3, 28mm f2.8 Ai-s Nikkor, Tri-X, Pyrocat-HD

You know, for a free standing, relatively prosperous European nation, the subject of racism isn't too far from the forefront in Belgium.
Blame it on the oldies blaming the EU for free movement; blame it on a past that saw 15 million Congolese murdered . . the sudden departure of Belgian Imperialism throwing Congo, Rwanda and Burundi into chaos . . . whatever.
The society wears its social divides on its sleeves, unless you're young, in which case you see all races mingling properly and with good nature.
It's changing slowly . . . well maybe that's stretching things a bit.

Print notes:

Adox VC, GR 3 (?) 40 M, 22 sec, f8, + 4 edges. HC 110

The poster was on a large wall behind our hotel - I quite liked the fact that all the 'blackness' had been picked away by someone with too much time and energy on their hands.
It niffed terribly of urine next to it, so maybe it was some post-beer leisure time.

Bunny ✔✔
Jabber ✔✔✔✔

 . . . Next! . . .

Does Your A-i Love You?
Nikon F3, 28mm f2.8 Ai-s Nikkor, Tri-X, Pyrocat-HD

I took this in Atomium (in Brussels - it's an extraordinary place - really, you should go - you'd have a blast!) and rather liked the fact that this mirrored surface turned everyone coming up the escalators into some strangely formed bulbous robot.
Well, you can't beat your brain for entertainment.
My poor wife stood by whilst I was doing this - I truly believe my photographic actions baffle her sometimes.

Print notes:

Adox VC, GR 3 (?) 40 M, 24 sec, f8 base, + 6 top and bottom, + 10 left and right. HC 110

Look at the contrast on that - it's got that polished stainless steel look perfectly (to my eyes).

Happy ✔

Bunny ✔✔

 . . . Next! . . .

Leaving Time? 1
Nikon F3, 28mm f2.8 Ai-s Nikkor, Tri-X, Pyrocat-HD

Ah, Train World (again in Brussels) - one of the world's most extraordinary museums.

It describes itself as a "An Opera To The Train" and it is. 

I won't even begin to describe it, save to say, GO (if you can) - it'll explain itself when you're there.

Print notes:

Adox VC, GR 3 (?) 40 M, 24 sec, f8, + 6 edges. HC 110

This is one of my favourite 35mm photographs ever - I love the light and reflections in it.

The eagle-eyed might spot some lightness at the far left of the frame - this isn't a printing mistake - it's an edge effect caused by less than usual agitation during development.  - if you look into the photo it is also apparent where light meets dark in certain parts of the photo.
(Actually, every print on here exhibits some sort of edge effect - tis on the negative, it's nothing to do with the printing.)

Whatever - it doesn't detract from the photo to my eyes, and certainly beats digital perfection.

Big ✔
Happy ✔✔
Bunny ✔✔✔✔

 . . . Next! . . .

Leaving Time? 2
Nikon F3, 28mm f2.8 Ai-s Nikkor, Tri-X, Pyrocat-HD

Again, Train World - a ticket office with some examples of ticket collector's uniforms. I deliberately printed this slightly darker because it complemented the sepulchural reflections of the windows which make the print quieter than usual. The clock just sets it off to a tee and again I am a you know what.

Adox VC, GR 3 (?) 40 M,  22 sec, f8, + 6 edges. HC 110

Great ✔

Big ✔✔✔

Happy ✔✔✔✔

Bunny ✔✔✔✔✔✔

And that as they say is that. Of course there were a couple, well 3, spoils and sadly the last of their herd.

I have 3 sheets left - and I'll try and do something decent with them.

Oh and the one thing I forgot to mention is that printing these, I used an old Joe McKenzie technique which he called "setting the print". 

You see those bits where I say "4 edges" (sic)? Well that means an extra 4 seconds exposure to each edge of the print. It's quite a tight burn margin, maybe a couple of centimetres in from where the image of the film rebate sits on the paper in the easel (I always print with the rebate showing - it is rare for me to crop anything).
Joe said that he felt it made the eye settle itself into the print rather than looking at the edges - i.e. your eye is drawn into the print and doesn't search around for something to settle on. This was especially so when anything was mounted with white card.
Where the eye goes when it's in the print is another matter - at least the eye is looking at something and the brain is trying to interpret what it is seeing. 

Of course in the corners where the two exposures meet, you'll be getting an intersection with 8 seconds exposure . . . I'll bet it is noticeable now I've pointed it out 😉

It's all terribly esoteric isn't it!

Anyway, whether you agree or not, it's not often you get handed something from a master printer (and he was) - so try it if you like and if it works to your eyes, raise a glass to the memory of Joe McKenzie.
As far as I know I've not read about this technique being used anywhere before, but it's funny you know, sometimes, when I'm printing I can sort of feel the presence of Joe goading me on and keeping me right.
He was an exceptional educator and master craftsman - and yet again, I thank fortune for having been in the right place and at the right time to have learned the small (really very small in the pantheon of printing) amount of technique I learned from him. 
Worra bloke.

Anyway, that's all folks - remember to remove your teeth from that mug - they need it for afternoon tea.

I'm In Love With My ̶C̶a̶r̶ Sonnar

OK and Good Morning/Evening.

Well this tale is like a strange love story.

It's a bit like the best Romcom ever made - When Harry Met Sally.

First the characters meet but there's indifference. Then time takes its toll, life moves on, they meet every now and again and they start to get used to each other; then there's the denouement when love is proclaimed and they sail off into a happy future together. 

Sorry to ruin it if you've never seen it, but you really should.
Oh and it has the best Mexican Wave in the history of film - I never tire of it.

Anyway, nearly 2 years past this April, I bought a reasonably priced CF 150mm Sonnar for the 500C/M. I liked it, but barely used it. It was part of my arsenal, but was bypassed in favour of the 60mm Distagon and the SWC/M.

If you read FB regularly, you'll know I had terrible trouble with underexposure recently - you can read the whole sorry story here - however, as detailed below, I am pretty sure I've discovered what I did wrong.
Huzzah!

But to rewind a little, I desparately wanted to see whether I really did need to buy another light meter (I was convinced it was duff, despite testing it against 2 other meters) so I packed the 500C/M, attached the Sonnar and went out into the freezing cold.
I dunno, the things I do for this 'ere blog . . . 

Why the Sonnar?
Well Bruce from The Online Darkroom and I had been talking about lenses and he'd said he'd love to see some of my reflection photos made with the 150mm. I thought about it for a while, because I didn't think it would work; I didn't think you could get in close enough to get that wideness you need with reflection photos. Anyway, my fears were unfounded and even though there's only a couple of those photos of slightly that ilk on here, a longer lens really does work.
Not only that, but I've discovered that at pretty much any aperture, the humble 150mm Sonnar (the cheapest lens you can buy for a Hasselblad, full stop) is sharp and beautiful.
It's a stone cold optical bargain actually.

As an optical design it is ancient - nearly as old as semi-modern photography itself - and wonderfully simple; however, with Zeiss' T* coating (and maybe a lens hood++) it is as good as it gets actually.
Well it is in my opinion.

++ If you own a Hasselblad, don't be tempted by the likes of Photodiox lens hoods or those awfully cheap ones on Ebay - they're mostly very poor - I know because I have spent the money for you and tested them myself.
The real Hasselblad ones are made from high grade plastic and are built to last.

Urban Artist, Dundee

You kind of need a hood, especially in circumstances like the above, but onwards, that's a sample print . . . strap your rubber trousers on, 'cos here's THE CONTACT!

Film #66/53

                            

Film #66/53

Anyway, as before and the new regime, here's my film notes - you know the score by now, read 'em or don't bother!

#66/53, HP5 EI 200, 10/2/19

1./ 1/15th, f8, Z? Guess Gossen/Lux comparison

2./ 1/125th, f11, ZIII, Gossen

3./ 1/125th, f11, ZIII, Gossen

4./ 1/125th, f11, ZIII, Gossen

5./ 1/125th, f11, Z?, Gossen/Shatter

6./ 1/125th, f11, Z?, Gossen/Shatter

7./ 1/250th, f11, ZIII, Refl.

8./ 1/60th, f8, C-Gul, Guess

9./ 1/60th, f16, ZIII, Wall

10./ 1/60th, f11, ZIII, Design

11./ 1/60th, f.8, ZIII, Plant

12./ 1/15th, f5.6, ZIII, Guess

All handheld

PHD 5+5+500 22℃.

Agit 30 sec, then 4 per min,to 17 mins then stand to 21. No waterbath.

Very happy with this - I double checked the Gossen with Lux on the piephone - the Gossen is fine. I read the standard reading not the spot on 66/52

It might be hard to discern from the contact above, but it was printed at Grade 0 to give me some idea of the negatives potential. It is a new way of working for me and I like it. Sadly scanning only really reveals part of the story, but if it wasn't scanned you wouldn't see it, so you'll have to carry on squinting.

Ah, but before we get into the meat and potatoes (actually neeps are probably better for the gut and can be wonderful in a casserole) here's what happened last time:

Maybe you'll remember in Rescue Job I detailed the horrors of an underexposed film, well I think I've worked out what I did wrong.
The bit below also explains why I am talking about Gossen and Piephone in the notes above.

An Old Friend

So, here's an old old friend, my Gossen Lunasix 3s, with spot attachment.

When I started again, I couldn't afford fancy-pants Sekonic or Pentax spot-meters, so I ended up with a battered but useable Gossen, from MXV for very little money - possibly about £30 - and it has been a reliable friend ever since. 

It's also one of the most sensitive light meters ever made and tbh I love it. 

I had him recalibrated (for exactly NOTHING) by Gossen about 10 years back, and have made many well metered photographs with him. The spot attachment was an option accessory and clips on the front - it reads 7.5 or 15 degrees, I use 7.5. 

The whole shebang is kept in a £5 Lowepro compact camera case on a strap, and when out and about, that is worn on my left hip, camera bag on my right, bandolero style! 

It's convenient and works for me.

Gossen Lunasix 3s

What I did wrong last time:

- I'm only huuuuman after all, I'm only huuuuman after all . . . blah blah blah -

You see the meter window at the top has the needle nearly on 11? 

Well using the spot attachment, I should have been aligning the 11 on the lower yellow disc with the green mark (just above that disc - it is to the left of the yellow triangle).

Instead I was using the spot attachment and using the 'standard' reading on the silver disc (just above the 'V'.)

Confused?

Me too, and I hope I have dissected it correctly - it really is much easier with a meter in your hand than staring at a screen. Anyway, suffice to say that I was consistently underexposing by a whole stop  - not too much trouble if you were using ZV, however I always place shadow readings on ZIII, so with the last film I was actually placing everything on Z II, hence, shite.

Lesson learned!

Be aware.

Shattered Window, Wobbly Bridge, Dundee

A picture of that shattered window from last time - it is trickier to photograph than it looks - I've probably handled the exposure a bit too heavily here, but it does get the extraordinary texture across. On the whole I like it, but I've taken better photos of it.

Inside Outside, Vision, Dundee

If you're a REALLY longtime FB reader you might recognise this scene from years back. It's in the Vision building in Dundee. The last time I photographed it, it was almost empty; nowadays, well there's a lot of it being used, hence the office chairs and tables. I just liked the fact that it wasn't at all apparent where the outside began and the inside ended.

It's scanned off a print made on Ilford MGRC Pearl and lightly toned in selenium. The print is better than the scan (but then I would say that wouldn't I!) - in fact everything on here is scanned - the prints are better.

Urban Artist, Dundee

Here's an on-the-fly portrait of a young artist.

I've photographed him before - he's a really interesting chap actually, more artist than graffitti artist, he's more inclined to cheer the place up with his crazy pictures of charachatured Seagulls, than to tag his name everywhere. I like that attitude. Anyway, he was doing this crazy Doctor Octopus Seagull on an ex-Dundee Waterfront noticeboard that someone had scrawled "Cock" all over - public service or what?!
I asked him if I could take his pic and he agreed.

It was a tricky one actually, because of the strong backlight coming from behind him, and I am glad I opted for f8 rather than f5.6, because it snagged the catchlights in his eyes.
There's something Breugel-esque about this and I can't place it.
I know, give him a brush and some sack-cloth and there y'go!
PS. the arm movement was from his spray can shaking - gotta keep it moving in cold weather . . .
It is my favourite from the whole film - maybe I am more of a people person than I thought. It was easy to go up to him and start chatting.

Wall, Dundee

This wasn't as well executed as I'd hoped - I just liked the simplicity of the shadows. It was v.hard getting the wall straight from a ground level pov.

Safety Glass, Dundee

Ah, the dread shatter again. Again not as well executed as I'd hoped, but not bad - it kind of looks like a giant Spring roll over-mounted with broken glass. I should try and do a better print of it . . maybe get Bruce in, in his Split trousers to do some adjustin' an' waftin' an' stuff . . 

Whole Safety Glass, Dundee

And the final one - this is a print too, but I'll confess that I've straightened it ever so slightly, as my verticals were off and it is better for it.
This is the back of DOJCA opposite the old plaster sheds  - I just liked the starkness of everything!

A ThinkTank Suburban Disguise 20 Just Ate My Hasselblad

Oh, yeah, I wasn't pulling a Spiderman or nuffink, but just so's nobody can spot me, here's a pic of my ThinkTank Suburban Disguise 20. A 500C/M with Sonnar, hood and back fills it completely, but it is dead convenient and very well made. 

Probably one of the better bags I've owned actually - should I need another bag for anything in the future I might well buy more from their range.

Anyway, that's it.

I've come to love the Sonnar now and look forward to using it further in the future - what a great lens.

Now, remember to tie your shoelaces, lace your bow-tie, clean your teeth, brush your hair, check your wallet and make sure you turned the toaster off.

That's you! 

Off you pop . . see you in a couple of weeks.

Rescue Job

Welcome to a tale of horror that awaits even the most experienced photographer - yes, it's that old arithmetical conundrum:

Confidence ÷ Carelessness = Total F-Up!

Oh yes, sometimes, the shit hits the paddock and all you are left with are some nice memories and a severely underexposed film which yields virtually nothing.

Look, here's a hankie, wipe your nose and get over it.

OK, technically (to my eyes) the print below is OK, because I've managed to rescue it but on the whole, for film #66/52:   
£4.70
went down the toilet.

A Smashed Window On A Dull Morning

                           

Well, what can I say? How did I get there?

A Brain Fart? (Well, to be honest, I've never understood this expression, because unless you are really unlucky and digestive gasses are exiting your nostrils, mouth and lug'oles ['cos you've been wired up wrongly] then there's no such thing as a Brain Fart)
So did I knock something off on the meter and misread every single scene?
Well, erm . . NO!
Some mystic mischievous elf fiddled with the meter reading wheel thingy whilst I wasn't looking?
Well . . .
Actually and being brutally honest, hands up . . . IT WAS ME!

Y'see, it boils down to being far too over-confident and blithely thinking that I could get away with a rough (AND wrongly interpreted . . . gargh!) shadow reading at the start, then trust in the film's latitude and be fine from there . . .

Sadly (or perhaps not sadly . . . sorry to bring the argument to the fore again Bruce) you learn from experiences.
In Scotland, if you're handholding a camera and it isn't bright sunshine, and you're rating at anything less than about EI 400, then readings around and above 1/30th at any aperture smaller than f8 really have to be taken with a pinch of salt.
This probably won't occur in your part of the world, but it does up here.
Of course you can easily go lower and slower, but it requires extreme care a steady hand and confidence in your own lack of endemic shake, and not happy snappin'!

'Endemic shake'? 

Well, yes, everyone does, whether it be a bad positioning of your legs, breathing at the wrong moment or just a lack of concentration.
Even the old Roger Hicks' tip of breathing in, composing, and as you GENTLY exhale, releasing the shutter, will sometimes fail you. Though actually that is a fantastic tip that I have put to good use more than once.
Anyway, to get back to the whole point of this, I F-D up big time!
The contact print below looks semi-OK - believe me it isn't - I've had to do some jiggery-pokery to get it to such, so any comments like:

"Oh it definitely looks better on the contact" 

won't be appreciated..

FILM #66/52

Film #66/52

Right so here's my notes for each frame - seems dull . . maybe it is, but when the going gets tough, the tough have a cup of tea:

#66/52, HP5 EI 200, 6/1/19

1./ 1/8th, f5.6, ZIII Gate
2./ 1/60th, f11, ZIII
3./ 1/125th, f8, ZIII, Ali
4./ 1/30th, f11, Z?
5./ 1/30th, f11, Z?, Bridge
6./ 1/15th, f11, ZIII, Rail
7./ 1/15th, f11, ZIII, Window
8./ 1/15th, f11, ZIII, Refl.
9./ 1/15th, f11, ZIII, Shatter
10./ 1/15th, f11, ZIII, Elec.
11./ 1/60th, f.5.6, ZIII, Ali
12./ 1/15th, f8, ZIII, Mausoleum

All handheld and u/exposed

PHD 5+5+500 21℃.
Agit 30 sec, then 4 per min,to 17 mins then stand to 21. No waterbath.
Shame  - some good stuff had they been exposed properly.



Funny, when you look at it I am sort of within my recommended times, so I'll just say that I have not a clue as to why what happened, happened,  'cept I must have made a total balls-up on my initial reading.
Anyway, faced with such a dog's dinner of thinness, what did I do?
Too right, I had a go at printing some of them!

I had to have a go - maybe it is masochism.
Anyway, old pearl finish Ilford MGRC got trawled out, a swearbox was placed next the darkroom door and away I went.

Mausoluem

There's virtually no bones on the negative - it's thinner than the top of my head. I figured that printing on even Grade 2 would render a soot and whitewash finish, so I had a wee chat with myself, and printed it on Grade 0.
Low Grade printing is something I rarely do, 'cos my negatives are always perfectly exposed 😀

But this was a different case, so Grade 0 it was, however even that proved to be too much, so what did I do?
Yep Potassium Ferricyanide.
The more I use it the more I realise that it is a dangerous thing.
Very easy to get over-confident and leave a print in till it is a shade of its former self - you'll also get a yellowing of the print if you're not careful, and such is the case here.

Allied to this, in a spirit of 'F-IT, why not?' I (frustrated at the seeming lack of bleaching that was going on) added MORE crystals whilst the print was in the solution and this has led to that streaky bit at the left side of the door that looks rather like I have captured a spirit exiting the scene.

I quite like this actually - when it happened I snatched the print out, washed it, re-fixed and then placed it in the washer.

It's a physical artefact, albeit a flawed one.

Old City Best Seen Through Glass

This was an unusual one - there was so little exposed material on the negative that I did wonder whether I could achieve anything.

The exposure even at Grade 0 was incredibly short, though I did add an extra 4 seconds at the lower section just even things out. Despite all this it was still incredibly dark, so, what did I do?

Yep, Pot Ferry.

It was fascinating to watch the sky because though initially it was really dark, in transition through the bleach, I saw a reflection of myself before I over-did everything and rendered it as you now see it.

I then washed it.

And again, in the spirit of F-IT, I did something highly unusual.

I've got a bottle of Agfa Viradon - their legendary brown sulphide toner from days of yore. It's at least 15 years old, so I thought F-IT, mixed some up and bunged it in and left it there for around 5 mins and indeed, much to my surprise, it has given the print a subtle 1970's brown flared trouser look - sort of velvety.

It seems to suit the washed out view in a morose sort of way.

After that, I took the print out, bunged it in a weak Sodium Sulphite bath, rinsed it and then chucked it into some selenium!

You'll not find this sort of work mentioned in The Print, but, so far, no stains.

Après selenium I used hypoclear - actually it was the bog standard Toop Sodium Sulphite mix again.

And then it was into the wash.

Of everything I printed in this session, this is the one I am going to revisit with proper paper and attitude. It would suit being bigger - maybe the few sheets of Agfa MCC 9.5 x 12" that I have left would be appropriate.

I like it a lot.

At the end of the day, whilst this probably doesn't hold with traditional darkroom practice, I think you do have to have a bit of a muck-about with things. And yes, you can even end up with a physical artefact that you could look at 20 years from now and say:

"Why on earth did I make this???"

A Smashed Window On A Dull Morning

Well, yes I suppose this is the poster boy of the whole session. 

The thing I would say in my defence (yes I KNOW it is poorly composed and taken) is that the bridge we were on wobbles like blancmange the moment anyone steps on it.
Look, there were people coming, lots of them, I was cold. The thought of being jiggled around like, well blancmange, whilst looking daft, holding a really unusual camera really didn't appeal to me.
I even had awareness of being a bit selfish when we were supposed to be on a walk together and there I was a snappin' away (actually my darling wife minded not a jot, but all the same) so, I initially didn't notice this, turned around, noticed it, ran back and snap.
So, it's sort of level but had I gone lower it would have been MORE level (no converging verticals). 

This one was actually a tad over-exposed too as I was shooting into the morning light and the 'shatter' was damn hard to capture.

Anyway, in the darkroom again, a short exposure on Grade 0, normal develop and fix, then Pot Ferry (which made the shatter crisper and also brought out those light marks on the glass).
It was then washed and toned in selenium and hypo'd again then washed.

There's little drama with this one, but I like it, as there is something about the way the cracks have juxtaposed light and dark (they're dark at the top and light at the bottom) that gives an air of unreality to it (to my eyes).

But then again maybe I am just talking out of my arse.

As a non-exhibiting, non-involved in clubs/'arts'/exhibitions/foundations LONE photographer, I have to do a lot of talking and convincing to myself:

Is this stuff any good?
Good?? Define good?
Well, y'know . . 'good'.
Well, I suppose it depends on your definition of the word.
Drone . . . drone . . . drone.

Maybe you recognise your own conversations in that.
It's tough isn't it.
I suppose all this blog is, is some way of getting all this stuff littering my house 'out there'!

I might have a go with it on Galerie - we'll see.

And that as they say is that. Thank you for reading. If you feel inspired to have a fart-around in your darkroom, feel free - just remember the gas mask - I'd forgotten how wonderfully awe-inspiringly, smelly Viradon was. It quite reminded me of myself.

Oh and I forgot to mention that the camera was the Hasselblad SWC/M, which made for a challenging (but fun) lightweight walkabout camera.

I'll maybe have to revisit this bunch of negatives again and print frames 1 and 4 too - that first one is damn tantalising.

That's all - TTFN, be good, have fun and remember to keep eating your peas . . . yes even those ones that have rolled away over there.