Faux Cliché

Morning!

Today we've a Q & A session going on . . so if you could just wait til Ms. DeMick arrives . . 

Ah, she's here now!

What's that Pam? You're feeling a bit dicky?

Well, maybe you should go home then.

OK (cough) so that's her gone (cough, cough, cough).

Well, like I said a Q & A session, but actually it's only one question; it sounds more impressive if we call it A Session though eh?

And the question is:

What do you do, when you have a roll of Infrared film (or even a faux infrared like Ilford's SFX) a nice new filter and some time on your hands?

And the answer is:

You go to a graveyard!

Oh yus, it has been the photographer's lot since time immemorial to proudly fit said new filter, load IR film in near darkness, and wander off to their local Necropolis! 

And why not?

All them luverly monuments and stones and angels and crosses and stuff - oh yes. 

There's nothing quite like a roll of IR film to make one start thinking about the afterlife.

I would have started this thread earlier on in the year when I purchased 20 rolls (!!!) of expired SFX for approximately 3 squid a roll. And indeed I did, detailing it here, however some ill-informed purchases down the line . . .

Lee Infrared filters will only work with true IR film - check your Nms

and

Hasselblad Proshades are brilliant, but the slot will only take 75mm sq. filters

 . . led me to a sorry state of affairs where I was desperate to use the SW with SFX, but couldn't unless I entirely invested in the Lee system (or indeed Cokin P), which I kind of didn't want to, for the following reasons:

I like the simplicity of Hasselblad solid plastic shades.

And

When I am out in the wilds I want things to be simple and as un-faffy as possible. Less to remember, to me, means better concentration on image making. 

Can you imagine being in an ancient Pine wood in Winter, with snow falling and freezing hands and your breath crusting on your beard and thinking:

Ooooo! 

Do I extend that shade a bit more? 

Oh blimey, the snow is landing on the filter now . . where's my microfibre cloth? 

Oh shite it's smeared it. 

OK, breath on it and wipe again. 

Oh shite it's not clearing!

Coooo, it ain't half cold!

That's the beauty of a bayonet (or indeed screw) mount filter. 

Fix it. 

Lens hood over the top and Fuggedabout it . . right! 

If you use hyperfocal focusing you can even get away without having to look through the camera.

The Hasselblad hoods are super tough ABS-type plastic - if you feel inspired to buy one, please get a real one and not one of these 'For Hasselblad' types you see on Ebay etc - they're poorly constructed and the plastic is third grade - how would I know? Cough cough, erm, cough . . .

Anyway, enough of that, though curiously for this session I did use the Proshade - hah!

Oh and the filter - well again,  not a cheap business. 

Have a look at Bayonet 60 filters, if you can find them, and see if you can find a red one. 

They are often priced at more than £100, which is ridiculous really for a bit of metal and glass. However I spotted one, which was a B&W but had a slight imperfection on the front surface - it almost looked like part of it had been missed in the coating process - more of a matte section to one side. 

I contacted the vendor and took a punt. 

The colour of the filter is perfect from edge to edge, and I can say that the missed coating hasn't so-far made any difference and given I'll probably be using it with a lens hood. Well, £40 well spent!

It's the Wratten equivalent 29, or Deep Red. I love the Wratten system!

So, onwards!

I don't know what it has been like where you live, but up here in t'North, the weather has been pretty awful. October was almost a month of inexorable grey, with little sunshine to chirp things up.

Consequently, the following photos were taken in the dullest imaginable light - it really was dreich, but I was so desperate to get out and do something, that needs must. What is remarkable, given the gloom, is that a mild IR effect has emerged - just goes to show, you can't predict anything.

I used a speed of EI 12 as opposed to the box speed of EI 200. 

If I had been a bit cannier, I'd have maybe tried EI 6 and thus given the highlights a right-good smashing. 

Maybe if the dreichness continues it might be the way to go.

I used a tripod for all shots - you're approaching quite long exposure times at EI 12 and when you factor in reciprocity, well, uncork your flask and have a cup of tea. 

Maybe a shooting stick would be a good idea!

Monkey River

Given that it is the most un-IR shot on the whole roll, the above is my favourite and I think that is for the lovely way the wind has caused a current of movement from right to left.

Anyway, as has been par-for-the-course recently, I'll wash my, er, washing in public, so here's the contact print from the film.

Film # 66/79

ILFORD SFX - EI 12

1. 4 to 7 seconds f22 Z III - Mills Obs.

2. 8 to 19 seconds f16 ZIII - Bridge

3. 1 second f11 ZIII - Wm. Cleghorn

4. 8 to 19 seconds f16 ZIII - Grove

5. 4 to 7 seconds f16 ZIII - Puddle

6. 1/8th second f8 ZIII - Broken - Measured 5.5 Metres

7. 1 second f5.6 ZIII - Stone - Measured 2 Metres - Out of focus

8. 4 to 10 seconds f11 ZIII - Kane, Love

9. 9 to accidental 22 seconds f16 ZIII - Heart

10. 10 seconds - f11 Z??? - Monkey Puzzle

11. 2 to 5 seconds f16 ZIII - Thy Will . . Forgot About Parallax

12. 15 to 1 Minute f8 ZIII - Bridge

Used new B&W filter - works fine.

VERY overcast conditions indeed - came out OK - imagine in sunlight. Filter fine.

PHD 5+5+500 22℃.

14 to 18 mins - usual agitation - nice results.

SWC/M + Tripod + Proshade which worked like a charm.

Yes, I know they're as dull as ditchwater - sort of sorry about that, and if you give up now I don't really mind.

OK?

Good. 

Some of them look quite underexposed, but it's hard to balance a contact sheet, and anyway, I only usually use them as a visual reference really. 

The contact is Grade 2, but inevitably I'll use Grade 3 for printing - just gives a wee sparkle to things.

Anyhow, here go the prints - these were all made on the semi-long-defunct Tetenal VCRC - a nice paper, very fast, quite contrasty (even on Grade 2). 

Print size was 5x7"

Why so small?

Well, it has sort of become my new default work print size.

For a start it is vastly cheaper than burning through 10x8". It is also easier and quicker to handle. Exposure times are pretty minimal (especially with a really fast paper like Tetenal or Kentmere) and in RC, you can bang out a bunch of prints that will give you a tonal idea of a bigger project in a very short space of time indeed. 

It is win, win as far as I am concerned.

Probably explains why I have printed all this lot - sorry about that!

Balgay Bridge

Dull? Oh yeah, and also weirdly, even though the camera was completely levelled, the bridge looks squint. 

Never mind - there's a full explanation of the bridge's construction on Canmore here.

The bridge is apparently haunted by the way.

Autumnal Graves

Well, this is nearly full IR in effect. Nothing special, just testing it out. What surprised me (given the pea-souper of cloud cover) is how well the infrared radiation has picked up the leaves.

Wm.Cleghorn Esq.

This is the grave maker of a Mr.William Cleghorn. 

It is an isolated grave with its own (now mostly kicked in - thanks YLF) fence surrounding it. It is large as in about 14 feet high.  I was very close to the grave and backed up into a rhododendron.

Given its prominence, I am assuming it could well be this chap

He was a well-known manufacturer and has a street named after him.

The light was incredibly awful at this point.

Monkey River

My missus loves Monkey Puzzle trees, so this is for her. 

I could hardly see what I was doing at this point because of the PVD and the light, so I tilted, adjusted and hung around for 10 seconds.

Ah, A Puddle!

You'll always get something from a puddle. 

What didn't strike me at the time was how heart-shaped this one was

Modern Respect For The Dead

This is one of the numerous war graves that litter Dundee's graveyards.

Someone has left an inflatable heart out of respect. 

Interestingly, modern ephemera is quite a feature of Balgay. I don't mind it at all. At least people are thinking about ancestors and their own ends.

Messages Of Love

I have photographed the Kane family grave before, simply because it is beautifully carved in marble and must have cost an absolute fortune when it was made. The carving is superb too.

I was taken by the juxtaposition of the grave and the hearts and love messages carved into the tree.

That's a lovely reflection on the left side of Jesus don't you think?

Gosh!

 

What do you do when you have a spare minute? That's right, go and lurk like a troll under a bridge.

I'm a Troll, fol-de-rol.

I was waiting for Billy Goat Gruff, but he was too busy on his X-Box.

Back in the 80's this place would have been crammed full of brick-wielding skinheads.

There's a hazy, rosey glow about Dundee's gang culture from the 60's, 70's and 80's, but it was nothing to be proud of. They were a viscious bunch who ruled the roost in their various territories.

Interesting book (though out of print) here and some snazzy gear (and the best way to learn about this City) here

Gosh! is very recent graffitti.

Nice IR effect on this though.

And that folks is it - not too great, but them's the breaks and if I didn't write this shite this month, you'd all think I was dead or something.

Well, not yet.

Till the next time - Whip It! Whip It Good!

Infradig Daddio - Hepcats and Hacked Filters

Well, there I was, time on me hands and wondering what on earth possessed me to buy 20 rolls of expired Ilford SFX (albeit at the equivalent of £4 a roll).
I remembered that 17-odd years back, I'd gone through a phase of shooting it when it was around £3 a roll or given away with boxes of paper, but it's metetoric price rise (currently cresting approximately £12 a roll!) had put paid to me using it . . until now.

Allied to that, could I find my old Ilford gel filter material? 

Could I 'eck.

Well, all I can say is determination and much digging through boxes of stuff paid off. I found it! The only problem was, was that years back, in a thrift frame of mind, I'd decided to make my own IR filter using said Ilford gel, and a nifty Bayonet I Skylight Filter, so what I was left with was a 75mm square gel, with uneven roundals cut out of it . . . . but did I let it phase me? 

Did I 'eck!

After some careful unscrewing, trimming, re-screwing and cleaning - basically undoing the filter glass holding ring thingy, taking out the glass, putting a trimmed round of gel in, adding the glass and screwing up the ring holder again, I was ready to rumble! 

By the way, if you've never used it, I can highly recommend V-Vax Products ROR (Residual Oil Remover) - it does a great job of cleaning all that nasty greasy stuff you deposit all over everything, all day, every day.

By 'eck!!

It was a lovely sunny afternoon and I made my way to a sort of semi-secret spot I know . . . I say secret, but it's been a home to rough-sleepers in recent years, though sadly they always seem to be rumbled and their campsites trashed - I've discovered three trashed sites in recent months. 

Kids? 

Mental problems? 

Who knows, but the desperation of such actions certainly lends an air of melancholy to the places.

Bloomin' 'eck!!!

Camera was the old redoubtable mid-60's Rollei T; tripod my old Gitzo Reporter 224; meter the Lunasix 3S.

Stupidly, I forgot my Ilford reciprocity tables and I don't use a phone these days (too much faff) so the majority of exposures were based on total guesswork.

I was in deep shade all the time - the area is like entering a vast and deep glade with trees towering around you, banked on one side by cliff edge (yes . . in Dundee!). 

It is quite a place. 

Because of the heat of the day, the air was really humid and accumulating in Hot Steams. 

I didn't come up with that phrase - Harper Lee did in 'To Kill A Mockingbird'. 

Basically these hot patches of air (you surely must know exactly what I mean) signify the presence of restless spirits.

Believe what you wish, but they certainly leant an air to the place.

Flippin' 'eck !v

As usual, I'll detail the exposures after the contact.

Film 66/71 Ilford SFX ISO 12

Before I start - when using a Rollei for infrared, because there's no mark for it, always put the focus point (on the focus knob) forward to the f5.6 mark - it works. 

Oh and for all SFX - box ISO is 200, adjust to ISO 12

1. 1 second, f11 - MISTAKE!

2. 55 seconds, f11  - Guessed - bloke started chatting!

3. 1 minute, f11 (40 seconds f8)

4. 1 minute 30 seconds, f11

5. 7 seconds, f8

6. 8 seconds reading - took to 35 seconds, f11

7. 1 second, f5.6

8. 1 second, f 11 MISTAKE!

9. 1 minute reading - took to 3 mins, f11

10. 15 seconds - took to 25 seconds, f5.6

11. 120 seconds, f11

12. 1 minute reading - took to 3 mins, f11

Pyrocat-HD, 5+5+500ml, 21℃; Gentle agitation (with Paterson agitation rod) to 14 minutes, stand to 18 minutes.

Good results considering the reciprocity was all guesswork.

Use ISO 12 all the time.

You're reading the exposures from the bottom left up and then bottom middle up, then bottom right up.

As you can see, the exposures were wildly long in a lot of cases, and this gave me my other worry - the Rollei T is totally prone to internal flare especially with anything less than half a second. Fortunately I'd remembered the hood, but all the same, I thought that with times like these the whole film would be a mess . . . well, I guess the deep glade helped a great deal, and the filter too obviously.

The filter gel by the way is no longer manufactured by Ilford, but you can get similar IR gels from the likes of Lee and if you have a Rollei and don't fancy paying a thousand pounds for a Rollei Rot, then using an old UV the way I have and cutting your own is the way to go - there's no detriment to image quality. The gel is safely held in the filter holder, protected at the front by glass and at the back by the lens cavity . . 

No doubt someone will chime in about using a UV combined with a IR, but the results speak, so without getting super-technical . . .
Oh, and there's a lot of f11 isn't there - optimum setting for a Rollei T's Tessar!

Also, on the advice of Darkroom Dave's website, I changed the box speed of ISO 200 to ISO 12 - the combination of all this and developed in Pyrocat-HD has given me some wonderfully easy to print negatives.
Jammy 'eck!

Dream Sequence 1

Dream Sequence 2

Dream Sequence 3

Dream Sequence 4

Dream Sequence 5

Dream Over

David M, regular commenter and welcome reader of FB, said I take a lot of pictures of gates and windows and things because I am (sort of) channelling my own (self-made) barriers (sort of). 

Here's his quote:

But there's another series embedded and it's about barriers. The expanded metal gates, the fences, even the hanging banners. Even the dark shadow across the path in the distant view of the V&A. All some kind of barrier or obstruction between the camera and the objects or path behind. 

It's hard to say for me really - I think he could be right and it is the sort of philosophical debate I'd welcome over a pint or two in front of a cosy fire (it the pubs ever survive this torpor)

Anyway, at the end of the day the whole exposure guessing worked so well for me, that I've just purchased a proshade for the Hasselblad and a Lee IR filter . . . can't wait to use it on the SWCM (and I'll take my reciprocity tables next time!)

Oh and the prints were a piece of cake to print - no faffin' all Grade 3 with Ilford MGRC. 

I love it when a plan comes together!

Till next time, Sheephouse to Earth . . . over and oot!

Infamy, Infamy . . They've All Got It In For Me

A-har me beauties. The teapot of life is overflowing and there's fresh scones on the gridle.

This weekend's tickling of the trout of memory be such a wide-reaching article that it could well change your life, or maybe even your point of view.

Come and join us and get some folk down by the docks as the Goode Shippe FB wends its way into port! 

Hang up some bunting. 

Dress up yer babes in their Sunday best, because when this comes into town, you don't want to be seen to be wanting!
And as for your Your Majesty . . if you fancy comin' and havin' a chat with the Cap'n then feel free, though in truth, the lack of an invitation to the Goode Shippe FogBlog for the flotilla on Sunday was a bit of a let-down.
Never mind . . I've got rigging to mend anyway.

***

A few months ago, I discovered something very interesting about myself.

It was something I genuinely didn't know and it took me by surprise because the thing I discovered was quite big.

Well it seemed quite big to my mind.

Apparently, I was part of a movement.

And it wasn't just any movement like 'moaning old gits vs. society in general', no, I was part of a movement that was named with a rather important word:

Culture.

Not only that, but it was preceded by a weighty word from the 1960's and also hyphenated:

Counter -.

Not only that (as if it wasn't enough) but that world-weary and heavy word was preceded by something even weightier from a far earlier time. A word smelling of cloth and sweat and the adoption of violence for the simple reason that your livelihood was being threatened by change:

Luddite.

But just to make sure that I (and the likes of me) weren't going to smash the servers and chain ourselves to the ping-pong tables at Google, they preceded that with a hyphenated disclaimer:

Neo -.

So there you have it, I, to my surprise, was a member of a 'Neo-Luddite Counter-Culture'!

http://www.blogger.com/goog_1127232314

http://nymag.com/shopping/features/analog-2011-7/

By this I am being defined as a person who eschews modern gadgetalia in favour of good old fashioned methods. And to an extent this is true, but to an extent (and just because I hate being pigeonholed) I'll beg to differ.

This hankering after a golden age of LED's, and Selenium Light Meters and Gramaphones and Valve [Tube] (and Transistor) driven technology can, as far as I can tell, be traced back to a certain musical movement, that for all its down-at-the-heel appeal and dark thoughts of a future devoid of joy (ok . . nihilism . . . to an extent) still has echoes ringing down towards us - namely: grunge.

If you've never heard of it, then fine - here's a potted history:

Checky shirts; making music for the sake of it rather than for chart powerplays; old and often cheap guitars because that was what you could afford; a feeling for melody and the power of a guitar amplifier; turning your back on the traditional music industry (a bit of anathema that one, because it became an enormous multi-billion dollar behemoth); Seattle.

There, a potted history for you.

The most famous band being Nirvana who you will probably have heard of, but prior to, and alongside them, there were a ton of bands. Here's one of the earlier ones - Mudhoney. Their 'Touch Me, I'm Sick' single predated Nirvana's first SubPop singles club release (Love Buzz) by a number of months.

(You've got to love the look. They could be anyone, and that was the beauty of grunge!)

If I remember rightly from my reading of Guitar Player magazine at the time, there was a word that started to appear like an infestation of fleas. It was quoted with regard to guitar design, and these days  has become so far reaching it is now a by-word for anything that looks or feels old (and by old I mean 1960's and nowdays that has transgressed into the 1970's too) . . careful though, it's dangerous and over-used . . . so dangerous and over-used that I am not sure I should tell you about it . . . oh go on then:

 . . . RETRO.

The savvy guitar companies of the time (ever the drivers of taste believe it or not) were so incredibly sussed that they realised quite quickly that all these kids with dollars to spend, were actively turning their backs on the generic Floyd Rose Tremolo equipped guitar with pointy bouts and spangly colours and were buying instead the likes of Naguahyde covered 1960's surf specials!

It really was something else.

A world packed to the gunnels with cheap and ugly, (sometimes) awful playing and sounding instruments had opened up, and more importantly was being actively sought. Guitars that had languished in the back of pawn shops and cupboards were suddenly dusted down because they harkened back to a golden age of finger-clicking, goatee-ridden, Chelsea-boot-wearing hipster, Way to go Daddio!

Ever wonder why the key films that slopped a massive splurge of homogenised 60's 'cool (Austen Powers) into society at large were made? I can't prove it, but I have to draw a conclusion somewhere . . . it has to be down to guitar design and the search for all things older than the 1980's.

So, thank you Mr.Cobain*, for Kurt's far-seeing use of a Fender Jaguars and Mustangs and old-ish effects pedals started the fairly large moss-covered boulder (that had been sitting at the top of a mountainside) rolling, and checky shirted youths everywhere went in search of something 'retro' to prove how cool they were.

Well-read and intelligent older guitar collectors realised that there was a pretty penny to be made from this yearning for something from rock and roll's golden ages . . . and thus a grasping, lucrative sub-section of guitar collecting was born.**

Actually, you have to admire the guitar makers, because they managed to turn around designs pretty damn quickly, and before you knew it, designers worldwide were using it - 'retro' was being applied to everything from toasters to TVs, haircuts to watches. 

Here's some de-evolution . . .

                   
                       





(To the left a Hamer Scepter from the late 1980's (actually a very well made instrument and typical of the sort of instrument yer average pre-grunge player lusted after) and to the right a collection of Vintage Silvertone guitars from the 1960's . . .David and Goliath anyone?)

But all this is rather drawing aside from my main theme, which is me being a member of a counter-culture. Well, in the same way that the back-turning, and head shaking happened in the field of guitars, slowly, it is happening in photography.

For the general everyday photographer digital and all that that involves rules the day.

Camera manufacturers are selling incredibly high powered computers with bits of glass on the front and whilst that is fine, you only have to look at the rise of 'Lomography' as a by-word for anything made with film to realise that there is a pretty serious depth of feeling in the world for all things of a pre-digital age.

And having  poked away at old and crumby cameras for quite a while now, I kind of feel like one of a semi-elite group of elder statesmen of Neo-Luddite Counter-Culturalists.

I love that actually - it makes me feel important (which I am not in the slightest).

It makes me feel that in using film and old cameras I am somehow bracing up the old world (where people did things with the help of machines) against the new world (where machines seem to do everything for you)!

I can wear my cloth cap with pride Mother.

But tell me lad, is there Trouble at t'Mill? You betcha. Trouble down t'Pit too? Och Aye.

You see, we . . that is you and I dear reader, if you like using film, are dinosaurs.

We are perceived as eccentric.

Pursuers of art in an old-fashioned way.

Upholders of the faith.

Defenders of the realm.

And despite our obvious (ahem) charms, we are now being priced way beyond any sense of reason out of our passionate vocation. It is quickly coming to the point where every roll of film is a definite consideration, and where every frame is a financial burden.

I could happily shoot 2 rolls of 120 film of a weekend . . and that'll be £10 please (unless you hunt around) plus the processing costs. It's a lot of money. 35mm is approx a fiver a roll on average; 5x4" sheet film can vary wildly between 60p a sheet and an eye-watering £1.40-odd for Black and White film . . colour is even more expensive in sheet film. At those prices you are being driven into the arms of the digital behemoths. A point of fact of this is that in 2008 a box of 25 sheets of Ilford Delta 100 5x4" sheet film was £15-£18 on average .  . that self same product in 2012 is now roughly £30-£35 on average. 100% in 4 years is pretty shocking. Certainly my wages haven't risen 100%

Ilford started the ball rolling a couple of years back with claims about the rising price of silver (which it did do, however as everyone who studies the markets knows, commodities prices have a habit of rising and falling faster than a bride's nightie) and what with Kodak's financial troubles and now Fuji following suite, your average Neo-Luddite Counter-Cultural-ist (NLCC-ist for short) is finding the ability to keep the golden age going a real pain in the wallet.

It makes sense doesn't it really.

As a manufacturer, your users of film have dropped to a point where they don't make any money, so what do you do? You increase prices to the point where those that are still left stop using your products altogether!

So why do us NLCC-ists keep going?

It is hard to say really, but could it be (to paraphrase a quote from 'Moonstruck') because we are afraid of death and want to leave a legacy of permanence to the world?

Possibly.

Certainly a few years ago it was realised that there was no guarantee that your digital files of today would become nothing more than tomorrow's anachronism.

At least with a photograph and a negative, you have something tangible which can get chucked in a skip when you have popped your clogs.

It is hard this art stuff.

In my case, a self-financed struggle to make sure you can leave a massive pile of creativity that can get dumped in the landfill of life.
I suppose what I am trying to say is, film manufacturers, please, in the name of all that is good, think of the people who actually use your film. Don't price us out of what we love doing.

I like this photograph. It reminds me of childhood.

A very young Alec Turnips was chucking something in the Kyme Eau on a Summer's day in 2003, and I just happened to catch it at the right moment.

This was made in the days when you could get Ilford SFX for next to nothing.

These days it is nearly £7 a roll and I would never use it again even if I had the money. Sorry Ilford - your films are wonderful and I have used them for years, but they have now entered the realm of ridiculous pricing and I can afford to use them no more.

The camera was an Agfa Synchro-Box *** made between 1949 and 1958 - it has two apertures (one landscape, one portrait) and I like its simplicity. The film was developed in Rodinal.

It has all the attributes of retro which will delight the NLCC-ist:

It is a 6x9cm negative.

The really gnarly lens flare is like Sauron's Eye from the dreaded Lord Of The Rings films

The rollers have imparted heavy scratches to the emulsion.

There is a gradation of tones in the foliage which is nothing short of beautiful.

There.

You feel better for this little tootle into art and culture don't you!

If you are about to head out with an ancient piece of technology, good luck to you and make every image count  -I don't know how long they will let us continue.

I hope the light is with you.

God bless you.

* I have to add to this a that a certain columnist for Guitar Player magazine, a Mr. Tiesco Del Ray was also responsible, but of course not many people will know that, as he didn't have the looks, though he did have the skills, the knowledge and the collection.

** These days it has gone beyond any sense of normalacy as your younger guitar buyer who was but a gleam in a parent's eye when a lot of these monstrosities were created, generally doesn't realise what a bucket of dingo's kidneys they are buying at a massively inflated price when they get enthused about a '1978 Hondo Les Paul - MIJ Retro Cool!' guitar.

*** http://mattsclassiccameras.com/agfa_synchrobox.html