MorseBlog

A few days ago I posted on using Les McClean's printmaking tutorial. At the end I reconsidered post flashing vs pre-flashing. Here I pick up the same print but apply the post-flashing technique Mr McClean uses in order to more faithfully follow his methodology. Along the way I ran out of the Ilford Warm-tone RC paper I used and was forced to move to Ilford Warm-tone FB paper that I had a full box of that I too was worried would get old. This paper is very similar but enough different that I had to readjust my exposures a little. I opted not to start over again. Original Negative Post-Flashing (Ilford Warmtone RC) Here is my first test strip starting with the base exposure but before any burning. This is to see where the tone starts to form. I marked the 1 second intervals from right to left increasing flash time. Test6 f8 #5 19 sec #0 19 sec Flash test 1 sec interval This I judged at about 4 seconds. This flash however was done directly under the lamp I use for flash

I decided to to try again some of the darkroom printing techniques I outlined in my previous post . In that post I was looking at a couple of different monographs on making fine art prints. In this entry I will look at another print that is somewhat more challenging and show the progress again as I work through the method outlined by Les McClean . Again I start with a 6x9 negative (Ilford FP4+) which I chuck into my 6x6 Meopta 6 enlarger. I select a crop from the left side of the 6x9 negative. This was taken again on a hike up Whernside in the Yorkshire Dales. This is part way up the mountain on a very cold and windy day. A lake lies at the base of the mountains and there are scattered clouds. Original Negative I deviated slightly from Les McClean's method in that I made a couple short test strips in the hard and soft filters to see where the basic exposure lay. I did this at f11 as a guess. This crop is not so tight as the one in my previous post and so the enlarger head is

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