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Photo of the day February 2016
- Thread starter oblomow
- Start date
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Look if @Laird Knox is using a 115 year old beast, no need for us to buy new gear! Especially for you guys that say a DSLR is too heavy!
I was waiting for the contest to end so that I could post that one. Glad you enjoyed it.
This one was layered retro.It is a piece I just made for an Alternative Process class I am taking. The assignment was cyanotypes but I did a little experimenting.
I started off a few weeks ago in Death Valley with my 8x10. It is a King model made by the Rochester Optical Corporation between 1897 and 1903.
This was my first real outing with the camera so I didn't know what to expect. Last spring I did a quick test shot but nothing since. I stopped at Mushroom Rock and setup the camera.
I tilted the lens a bit and shot wide open at f6.3 so that I could get the rock in focus and the blur the background. I was using a 12" lens which is approximately the equivalent of a 45mm lens on a full frame 35mm camera.
I shot the image in landscape but I preferred it cropped to portrait. I scanned the 8x10 negative at 2400 dpi so even though I cropped out a significant amount of of the image it would still print 40x60" at 300 dpi. You have to love an 8x10" sensor. That comes out to about 460MP when scanned at 2400 dpi.
In Photoshop I masked out the background, added a small border and colorized it to a bit of a gold tone. I printed this out at 12x18 on 13x19 inch paper. I used Epson Ultra Presentation Matte paper. Arches watercolor paper is much better for cyanotypes but I wanted to test this paper out.
I printed the image using a Canon Pixma Pro 9000 Mk II. This is a dye based printer and while pigmented inks work better the dye is still pretty good. The dye inks can bleed slightly if you aggressively brush the cyanotype fluid over the ink. For the most part I avoided the inked areas but I wasn't perfect.
I also printed a digital negative on Pictoricho Premium Transparency Film. This is simply the full image inverted and flipped horizontally. The flip is simply so that you can put the emulsion side face down on the paper. If you didn't flip it the image would be separated by the thickness of the transparency and this can introduce some blurring.
I brushed the cyanotype sensitizing fluid on with a one inch wide foam brush. After drying the negative was aligned on top of the print and sandwiched under a piece of glass. It was exposed on a UV light table for 13 minutes. After exposure the printed is washed under running water for about five minutes. This washes out the unexposed cyanotype fluid. The exposed areas become permanent.
One of the problems with using inkjet paper is that they are designed to suck up inks so they can often be stained by the cyanotype not washing out fully. About a year ago I used some Moab Entrada Rag and it left a yellowish stain on the paper.
Once the print is fully washed you dip it in a water bath that contains some hydrogen peroxide. This speeds up the oxidation of the print and it turns an intense blue. Next I bleached the print in an ammonia bath. This knocks down the density of the print so that you can tone it without blocking up the shadow detail.
After another quick wash it went into a tray of coffee for toning. A final wash and it was hung to dry. Once it was fully dry I put it in a heat press to flatten it out.
I did a second print where the inkjet part was a straight black and white print. Then after the initial wash I used the following baths: ammonia -> coffee -> ammonia -> tea. The created some interesting color casts that showed up in the print.
I also used a rolled up piece of paper towel to brush on the cyanotype fluid. I did this because I did not like the edges between the print and the background on the first print. The toning helped mask the first print and I preferred the gold tones in that one. The paper towel brush made for some interesting brush strokes.
While I like these two prints they still weren't what I was looking for. Some of the prints from the other students had some wonderful toning. The printer paper held onto the cyanotype blue too tenaciously to get a nice chocolate print.
So there you have it - retro, retro.
Buckhole Farm T-S by Hugh Russell, on Flickr
Sony NEX 6, Jupiter 8 tilt-shift conversion, 50mm @ f/2
Cheers
Hugh
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Wow, that has a nice dreamy quality to it!
Same subject as the last post, slightly different look and feel.
Vanessa by Adam Campbell, on Flickr
Vanessa by Adam Campbell, on Flickr
motion
The railway station, Carnforth...
Hi, how are you?
Cheers
Hugh
keeping busy amidst the sh*tstorm in greece
how about yourself?
keeping busy amidst the sh*tstorm in greece
how about yourself?
Good to hear from you again!
Yes, I've been reading about your plight, hope you can all rise above the past events.keeping busy amidst the sh*tstorm in greece
how about yourself?
I'm fine here, just counting down the days (2 years and a bit) to getting my freedom from work and starting to live life for me (us) and not the job.
Recent change of gear, some manual lenses, and hopefully learning a lot more.
Cheers
Hugh
Interesting combination of colors and visual movement here. I like the way the red arch pulls the eye into and down the frame while the brick brown of the tower runs it up and out of the shot. Well framed.
Dale
Cheers Dale. With a gray monotone sky I was looking to minimise the amount of sky in the shot - the bridge seemed a natural. Unfortunately I ran out of battery and only managed to get a handful of shots. Need to go back fully-charged.
Should have done a better clean up. A work in progress. Seiko SBDC007 "Shogun"
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I was intending to take this for Ken's Retro-themed competition last week but didn't get round to it. Despite being from around 1910 or so, these are not particularly rare and were made by the million, this one in Glasgow. Comments always appreciated.
Retro sewing machine by another scotsman, on Flickr
Retro sewing machine by another scotsman, on Flickr
Good spot!
I can remember my mother using something not much newer than this.I was intending to take this for Ken's Retro-themed competition last week but didn't get round to it. Despite being from around 1910 or so, these are not particularly rare and were made by the million, this one in Glasgow. Comments always appreciated.
Retro sewing machine by another scotsman, on Flickr
Yellow Footed Rock Wallaby
a velocirabbit!!
in line with what I read on 9gag earlier today
Lago di Garda, Lazise, Italy. Boats in harbor
Exposure: 1/125 sec; f/10; ISO 100; Landscape Mode
Camera: ILCE-6000
Lens: E PZ 16-50mm F3.5-5.6 OSS
Edited in pixelmator for iPad
Sometimes (see: most times) I like to sit down when I shoot. I blame getting old.
Emily by Adam Campbell, on Flickr
Emily by Adam Campbell, on Flickr