MorseBlog

Recently I have been focused on getting back into the darkroom and making prints again. I have also been improving my darkroom printing process by reviewing the process and adopting more techniques used by master printers. As a part of this I have made a series of three prints from a trip to Whernside in the Yorkshire Dales last October. Whernside is the tallest point in Yorkshire and part of the Three Peaks. It is a good strenuous walk to the top with wonderful views. When I visited I came away with 3 printable photos taken with my Fuji GSW 690 medium format camera. I used Ilford FP4+ which is my go-to black and white film. The three images featured are... Ribblehead Distant Whernside Greensell Tarn Force Gill The day was cold, blustery and spitting snow at the top. Challenging conditions to be sure. The light was shifting with the clouds and this lead to some of the drama present in the photos. The process of printing these photos has been detailed in previous blog posts. ...

Gosh I am having a great time again in the darkroom. After a long hiatus and seemingly unable to get motivated in that direction the last week has been close to continuous activity as evidenced by the last 4 blog posts. Part of it was clearing out the shared space of the darkroom which I share with the laundry room. It is also realizing that my basic skills don't fail. That is not to say I am terribly talented here but I believe I am competent and consistent in practice as well as results. That makes a huge difference. I have been learning this since 2013 when I bought my first enlarger.  For those new to it keep up the work. Once the habits and learnings are in place then the ease enhances the joy. I can attribute some of this joy to my automated setup for split grade printing. It eases some of the monotony and reduces errors. That being said the time alone can also be contemplative. My first day back this week, I discovered that my Fomabrom Variant 123 pack of 12x16 paper w...