I have revised this since publishing as I got a nice woodland shot back from the lab this week!
2019 turned out not to be a terribly productive for actual photographs taken. I only took 52 photographs it seems. I spent some extra time in the darkroom and I may have to include that work even though some of those photos were not taken in 2019. It is not quite the end of the year and I might do something before now and then to supercede this list but here it is now.
As I did last year I try to limit the list down to 6 photos. There are 9 images here but two shown in different forms. I rank these in reverse order with what I think it is the best last.
Dead Cedar at Arches National Park
This is a photo I took in 2013 at Arches National Park in Utah in the USA. I really liked this photo and printed it right away. I have come to not like how dark the print was as it hung in my bathroom in the intervening years. (Many of my older prints suffer from this. In part due to the fact my dark room down-lighting is brighter than when the prints are mounted on the wall. I now print probably a half stop lighter and check the print in more subdued light.) This year I worked to improve my darkroom skills and this photo was one I used to exhibit these improvements. Hence one of my ‘best of 2019’.
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| Reprint of Dead Cedar Ilford MG 300 ART paper 12x16” |
Along with reprinting this photo I wanted to hand color the same print which is shown below.
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| Hand Colored version of Dead Cedar Print. |
Lake Pend Oreille Sky
This was a photo I took last year while visiting my dad in Idaho. I liked the sky in this one. This is another photo I printed with my improved darkroom techniques this year hence the inclusion of the print in this year’s ‘best photos’.
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| Lake Pend Oreille Sky on Ilford MG ART 300 12x16” paper |
Fen Drayton Foggy Morning
I took a series of photos one morning on my way to work. The photo below is an oak tree emerging from the fog.
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| Fen Drayton Fog Fuji GSW 690 Ilford FP4+ |
Holywell Pond 6x17
I took my Fuji G617 panoramic camera to Fen Drayton RSPB and got this nice photo of Holywell pond.
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| Holywell Pond Fuji G617 Fuji Acros 100 film |
Lake Pend Oreille Sunset
I took this photo during my annual holiday to visit my dad in Idaho this year. I had to duck out after dinner to find the good light. This was looking west across the lake towards Sandpoint. I took a number of exposures using the Fuji G617 on Fuji Velvia 50. It has the lovely Velvia palette. I was really happy with the exposure. I used my spot meter to good effect.
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| Lake Pend Oreille Sunset Fuji G617 on Fuji Velvia 50 |
We Are So Small in the Eye of God
This is definitely the best photo of the year. I am so happy how I was able to capture the mood of that day on the bleak wintery Fens. I used my Fuji G617 6x17 camera and got the exposure just right.
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| We Are So Small in the Eye of God Fuji G617 on Ilford FP4+ |
One challenge of this negative format is that it will not fit in either of my enlargers. I decided to create a quadriptych from four prints. I outline the process
here. The result is below. It hangs in my living room and the best complement so far is that my wife wants it moved as she finds it dark and depressing. Perfect I say, as this means I captured the mood perfectly. This photo also made me aware that I could express my own style in this way. I have a dark turn of mind normally and I can find some self-expression in this way.
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| We Are So Small in the Eye of God as printed and framed. |
Monk’s Wood Mushrooms
This was taken as part of a
visit I made in December 2019 to Monk’s Wood near my home. I stumbled onto this colorful scene in the path I was walking on. I used my Intrepid 4x5 large format camera loaded with Velvia 50 reversal film. The exposure was perfect giving rich the saturated colors you expect from Velvia.
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| Monk’s Wood Mushrooms |
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