MorseBlog

In my recent post on printing some of my woodlands project I printed on a paper I had not used in a while, Ilford MG FB Classic. I wanted to record some of the characteristics of this paper with respect to exposure, development, and toning.  The promotional material says the following Double-weight 255g/m2 fiber base Improved maximum density (Dmax) Shorter exposure time Uniform grade separation Choice of glossy and matt surfaces Exposure With respect to exposure, I could compare it directly with the MG Art 300 paper from this printing session and found MGFB Classic to be almost exactly one stop faster than the MG Art 300 paper. Probably slightly less than one stop in some of my examples. Because the paper is multi-grade it is difficult to make a general claim as each emulsion has different relative sensitivity across the range of filtration. However this rule of thumb allows you to get close without the trouble of test strips.  Development This was a real surprise in this sess...

I set out to apply some of the sepia toning work I did to a good print rather than the test prints I was experimenting with.  Original Print Gradient Birch I started with Wood Walton Gradient Birch. It has some very subtle layers of tones. When I originally printed it I had a lighter and a darker version. I decided to use the darker exposure as most of the time if bleaching is used the image loses some of the original exposure.  I made 3 prints in this fashion with this exposure with 3 minutes Eco 4812 development, stop, and fix. I then washed for 5 minutes, hypo clear for 5 minutes and wash again for 5 minutes. A fourth print I doubled the exposure. This one was part of a my plan to try the sunlight toning I developed in a previous post. I speculated these would benefit from extra exposure due to the deep bleaching.  So I settled on the following set of prints to try.  1) Simple Sepia: Normal exposure. Tone Sepia only nudge it warmer at 2:00 minutes in 1+100 Sepia...

I decided to break out the Moersch MT 4 Sepia toning solution and give it a try. I am usually not a fan of warm tone prints or sepia toned prints. It is a just a matter of personal taste but it is always worth exploring things outside of your own creative sphere. (This is the smelly form using sulfur (or sulphur if your are from the UK.) Moersch MT 4 Sepia Toner I read through the documents on the Moersh Photochemie website .  The sulfur/sepia toning documents are here (NSFW images) . Like most of Wolfgang's documents I find them poetically confusing. Whether this is because English is a second language or just a style I find it frustrating and entrancing at the same time.  The article is really part of an overall discussion on toning and bleaching with the linked section focused on sulfur toning.  Here are some things I gathered to aid in understa...

I haven't been in the darkroom for some time. I did a brief stint (2 prints) in November on the Beast my 4x5 enlarger. This lead me to work on some missing negative holders the subject of a post back then.  So this weekend I spent several hours printing and found it enjoyable again. The process has a start, some lessons and a few pleasing results.  Getting Me Started Again (Thanks Wolfgang!)  The beginning of this session I suppose was my visit to British Columbia to see my son last December. We went out walking and he indulged me by letting me take photographs as we talked and caught up. I had decided to try some Foma Retropan 320 to see if I could make it my high speed black and white film. The results made me decide not but I still got some decent photos from the visit.  Later I 'faved' a photo from Wolfgang Moersch. Wolfgang sells his own chemistry for film and paper and I can attest to the quality of his products. I use his paper developer Eco ...

I have in the past been interested in trying out old photographic paper. Mostly out of curiosity to see what different materials were used and try and experience what others may have at different times or places. The paper being very old however probably is never quite the same as it was at the time. With things kicking off as they are in the Ukraine again I am reminded that some of my first papers from behind the Iron Curtain came from Mariupol in Ukraine which is now under threat. I told the seller at the time that I hoped for the best for them but hope now does not seem like enough. I recently bought some paper from Bulgaria from the brand Fohar (фохдр in Bulgarian). It was 2 boxes of 100 sheets 13x18cm. One box was white glossy and the other was something I hadn't encountered before called 'raster'. At first I thought this was a translation problem and it had something to do with contrast. After much searching I came across a link to some pinhole photos printed on F...