Some
Technical Information
My photographic techniques have varied over the years. I've tried many products and found a few that worked for me. Some of my favorite traditional materials were discontinued, which led me to find suitable alternatives. Recently a number of manufacturers are making inkjet papers that mimic the surfaces of traditional silver prints. This has led me to make the switch to digital printing.
 photo by Bob Popp, 1988 |
Cameras and
Lenses My first cameras were my mother's Kodak Brownie (twin lens, 126 film size) and a plastic Argus with a flash attachment (127 film). When I took my first photo course in high school, I started with my father's 35mm Kodak Retina rangefinder from the 50s. A birthday present of a 35mm SLR in 1974 finally brought me up to date with modern technology. |
Since then I've owned two other SLRs (the first two were stolen), a Hasselblad (also stolen), and used various 4x5s while in school. In 2001, I finally bought my own 4x5 press camera. Recently I bought a 6x7 camera. Its negative quality is close to that of a 4x5.
I like wide angle lenses because, to me, they approximate human vision. They are great for the distant, expansive view (so midwestern) or close detail, which gets me more involved with a subject. I only use telephotos (mostly short) when I can't get close enough to a distant subject or require a specific angle of view.
I always try
to compose an image so it can be printed full frame with as little extraneous
information as possible.
Film
and Developers
I shoot almost all Black & White and use Tri-X. I develop 35mm and
120 in D-76 1:1 in reel tanks no larger that 32 ounces (this may change
soon). For 4x5 I recently switched to a 1:64 dilution of HC-110 in trays,
processing up to four sheets at a time. I try to utilize the Zone System.
From the late 70s up until the early 90s, I would sometimes use Kodak Recording Film 2475 (also known as surveillance film) for its low light capabilities. This film is no longer made. I used Ethol UFG for a developer. This film / developer combination had a very large and interesting grain structure.
Prints
and Toning
I learned to print during a time when graded fiber-based paper was the
standard. Although I used Polycontrast for a few years while I learned
to print, Agfa Portriga- Rapid became my mainstay for serious work. Eventually,
Selenium toning became a matter of course. On a whim, I tried using
Poly-Toner on top of that. The results were interesting and hard to
control, but it became my finished print standard.
| During an extended hiatus from archival printing, I used Kodak or Ilford multigrade RC, as this was the type of paper I used most in my jobs as a custom lab printer. When it was time to try and revisit my old technique, I found that Portriga and Poly- Toner were no longer available. After extensive testing, I settled on Ilford fiber- based Multigrade Warmtone and their RC paper for work prints. I tried double toning with a variety of products, but I could find no combination or dilution that was satisfactory. My latest single toner is a homemade brew of Thiocarbamide (Thiourea). |  photo by Brian Edwards, 2005 |
I print 35mm and 6x7 with black borders. My print size varies by subject and purpose. For wall display, 11x14 and 16x20 seem appropriate. I sign and identify a print on the back in pencil. They are usually dated with the year the negative was made and the year of the print
Within the last
year I made the switch to scanning negatives and digital printing. Again,
it took a while to find a paper surface that I liked. Crane's Museo
Silver Rag fits the bill. My most recent prints are on 16x20 paper in
20x24 frames.
Scans
and Photoshop
Currently, I scan negatives on an Imacon scanner. The older images on
this web site were scanned in a variety of ways. Some are flatbed of
prints and a few are direct from the negative. Large prints were recorded
with a digital camera. This method hasn't been satisfactory, so I intend
to redo older work by scanning the negatives.
All images were
manipulated in Photoshop in one way or another, whether just spotting
and sharpening, simulating my toning process, or making new choices
about burning and dodging. I seem to learn more Photoshop techniques
with every image I work on.
Color
Space
I used a profiled monitor for most image manipulation and worked in
the Adobe 1998 color space on a Macintosh. For this web site, the images
are converted to the sRGB color space, which often has difficulty translating
my sepia technique. Chances are these pictures will not look the same
on your monitor as mine.
Below is a neutral 21 step grayscale (100% density black to 0% density white) surrounded by 50% middle gray that was generated in Photoshop. I provide this as a reference point: if you don't see 21 separate blocks of tone or there is a color cast, you are not seeing the photos on this web site in the way I intended.
