Painting tables white...

I'm painting almost every table in my house white for an idea to a project that I've come up with for an installation. It is quite nice to do something practical between all the writing I'm doing at the moment.

Large format 8x10 inches used for the portraits

This is the 8x10 inches (20x25 cm) camera used for the portraits.

Large format and paper negative

Today I have used a modern version of Fox Talbot’s 1841 “Calotype” process. I used a photographic paper and exposed it directly in a large format camera. The paper was then processed to a negative paper and by doing a contact print get a positive image. This means that the image is as big as the negative which gives an outstanding result.

I used a Sinar P camera (Large format) with a 10x8 back. I'm absolute amazed what you can do with this camera when it comes to depth and field and also to get this large paper negative. I didn't use film as it is far too expensive to play around with. Instead I was using B&W photo paper that I just placed were the film should be. Hopefully I will be able to use film later. I found it quick and easy to just take a few photographs and then just go into the darkroom and develop the negative paper. I used ILFORD MULTIGRADE IV RC DeLuxe paper as that should be the best to use regarding to some research on Internet.

Todays outcome

This portrait of Ewa was taken in a studio. I only used a small soft box and a large reflector.

It was made positive by making a contact print through placing the negative paper above a photo paper and an enlarger was used for the exposure. 

With this image the negative paper was scanned and then inverted in Photoshop. Note that a more cold tone appeared. Of course this could be sorted in Photoshop with a warming filter.

This photograph was also made positive by scanning the negative paper. However I have put a warming filter on in Photoshop. 

This is a photograph of Richard which is a scanned paper negative. I'm very impressed with the narrow depth and field that can be achieved with the camera. 

Images from Manchester Museum

Today I've been visiting Manchester museum to get some ideas. My plan is not to photograph inside the museum or at least it hasn't been so far. I was walking around taking photographs for a good couple of hours in the museum and i must admit that I really enjoyed it.... After some
persuasion I manage to get the permission to use the tripod which was essential due to the  poor light condition. 

I like this images of the woman who is bending over the 

information to find out more about the skeleton of Stan 

the Tyrannosaurus rex (T.rex) and the man who is leaning 

his head backwards to be able to see the beast. More info...

This image is from part of the gallery used to be Animal Life 1

but is now closed to be transformed into a Living Planet.

More info...  

Blue glaze bead network from a mummy. This was placed 

over the bandage of the chest and abdomen (c.332-30 B.C.)

These two girls were very enthusiastic when 

making a drawing of the two mummies

Brainstorming at the Recycle for Cheshire

I've been visiting the Recycle for Cheshire place to get some ideas for the project. I just took my little Canon G10 jumped on the motorbike and set off to Bollington. Of course I was stopped when  walking about dressed in motorbike gear (not the helmet... ;) and with a camera. However, the guy was very nice and told me all about the progress they are making  such as recycling 75% of the waste nowadays. I will visit the place again for more shots and to ask about the possibility of borrowing objects for the project. 


Some images from the day:

All these old tellies and screens... hmm interesting

I like these rusty colours that can be find in these kind of places.

Today photograms

Another creative day in the darkroom. I tried out a few different objects to put on the photo paper (Ilford Multigrade RC Pearl).

The pinhole camera captured by the kettle...

I began the morning with taking some shots with the pinhole camera.

This time I was placing the camera in front of the kettle. The sun came in through the window and hit both the kettle and the hole in the camera. I left the camera for 5 minutes before putting it in the developer for about 2 minutes (the water was rather cold). Not sure what the "flare" comes from but probably from the sun.

This time it was exposed for 6 minutes

Using a Pinhole Camera in the studio

This image was captured in a studio with the same pinhole camera.

I used two redhead lights and asked Marshal the tutor to sit very still for three minutes and the result was this. I knew before I started that the image would be blurred due to the long exposure but I must admit that I'm quite pleased with that. It makes it more interesting. Marshal, the person in the image doesn't have a moustache in real life. Again you can never be sure what the result will be.

So far the images have been inverted with help of an enlarger and then scanned. No amendments have been done.

The First Images from my Pinhole Camera

This image shows my part of my house and part of my garden…  I'm fascinated about the quality you actually can receive from using only a box, a whole and paper.  One thing that I find difficult when using pinhole is the composition. This is of course due to the lack of viewfinder but on the other hand the image can be unpredictably interesting too.

The exposure time was 9 minutes, which I thought was quite long for a shoot at daytime outdoor. 

Pinhole Camera

At last I have taken myself time to explore the world of Pinhole cameras.  I’m very excited about this.

How the Pinhole camera was made

A foam board that had a matt black side was used to make this pinhole camera.  Black tape was used to stick the edges together. The black tape also prevented light to come into the box.  I used tinfoil to make the hole.

The drawing of the pinhole camera

This is how the pinhole camera look.