MorseBlog

The inspiration for this session in the darkroom came to me while I was sitting on the toilet early one morning before I was to take Mollie out on a walk. The house was otherwise asleep and quiet.  As I have shown previously my bathroom (toilet in the UK) is also my gallery for many of my smaller prints. There is one print I call ‘ Ode to Wolfgang ’* that was taken after the first lockdown in the Wye Valley on the border between England and Wales. It was nice to get out on a walk after lockdown on a moody foggy afternoon.  With the hall light on and the door closed to just a slit it cast an interesting light on the print on the wall and made me think there might be an alternative interpretation of the scene.  The Inspiration... I proceeded to make some Lith prints. I thought about making a normally developed print, but I have been enjoying the Lith printing process lately and have gotten some nice results, thus I decided to pursue this vein of creative energy. All of the...

It is the morning with a cloudless sky, one that you would probably not photograph. The sun hasn't risen yet, there is frost on the grass, and mist rising in the sky to the east shows where the sun would shine in a peach and salmon pink gradually fading in that way that the sky can in the morning or evening in such a clear day, in a gradient imperceptibly fading between the orange-peach of the east and the cornflower blue of the west.  Higher up in the east is Mercury, an unwavering pinprick of light shining through the sky. Like a hole pierced in our reality and showing beyond it the sublime of this life or perhaps another. The trees on the horizon, dark straggled broken crooked fingers into the sky of the last of the cold winter mornings. And on the horizon rise the ravens out of their overnight roost. I watch them rise like a mote of smoke and then shatter as if some silent explosion and they all head in different directions to whatever it is they will do that day.  I and t...

From my last experiments at using iron blue toning to the moon series I produced some unsatisfying versions of the prints. The blue was overpowering and went across the entire image in an unaesthetic fashion. One advantage of iron toning, however, is that it is reversable with the application of a base such as ammonia. ( Note on Safety : I use household ammonia which is 30% concentration. I also use concentrated acetic acid. Undiluted they are each very powerful and can cause eye and other damage, as well as having strong fumes which are not healthy to breathe in. Not much is used, perhaps 5-10 ml but the area should be well ventilated to avoid getting overwhelmed by the fumes. Please take the necessary precautions.) Example Blue Toned Print I considered restoring the prints to their original selves with an ammonia bath but struck on another idea. I have done fine woodworking over the years and there is an old technique for adding a patina to some wood called ammonia fuming. It wo...

First of all, pardon the poor reference to Gaugin and Somerset Maugham. In my last post I mentioned the idea of creating an artificial moon (or sun) in the image and so today I thought I would try it. These things violate my sense of artistic integrity about which I have confessed some violations and written up some of my thoughts . Without going too deeply, the lith process brings out an image of a type that wasn't present at the time of its taking. In general, these lith images were much brighter, whiter, and more upbeat in mood in their conventional interpretation. Lith brings another mood and often adds artifacts that imply tonal variation that wasn't present. By this logic further manipulation doesn't seem that far off if it fits the subject and presentation of the subject even though it doesn't follow the 'law of serendipity' that lith printing follows.  I decided to use a ten pence piece to make my 'moon'. It is the smallest currency I have. I tri...

I must admit I started this session with more enthusiasm than the results would suggest in the end. Still there are some good things to be gleaned from it.  I set out with a number of objectives. Of late, I have been enjoying lith printing and more recently exploring toning of the lith prints. I have by no means become an expert or even well practiced. Still there have been some pleasing results. I think that what is important to learn is that while toning can add a small range of colors it is not like painting or coloring. The process is chemical, and the process is dictated by those rules which are blind to form, subject, or intent. This makes it frustrating but also can lead serendipitously into wonderful images resplendent with subtle tones and invented detail. This session was no different.  As I said, I started out with a few modest objectives. First to try sepia and gold toning in combination. Second, some compositional exploration of a single subject. The subject is a ...