...from my daybook...

April 21st 2009
I am a bit anxious about reprinting photographs I already did just b/c they're not on glossy. But I want everything to look cohesive and professional so I guess it has to be done.
First up - 3 mailboxes & open/closed. I remember these being somewhat of a pain to print, so I am not too excited about it.

The first issue seems to be the difference in paper - not just pearl vs glossy. Apparently, every batch of paper can be slightly different because of the chemistry used to produce it.

So no the image, which I thought wold take just 15mins or to reproduce is going to take quite a bit longer - I need to iron all the kinks out.

April 22nd 2009
Yesterday did not go well. I printed two images, neither of which I am satisfied 100% with. The open/closed is a train wreck - not less than 3 issues: I messed up on masking, should have exposed the frame longer and this SPOT appeared out of nowhere. It's on the emulsion side of the negative and I can't get rid of it. Bob has a solution I can use to manually touch up the actual print, so we'll see.

I decided to stay away from 're-printing' anything today and I am printing two brand new images - great train bridge pictures taken from underneath the structure.

I have to admit - the only reason I stuck it out yesterday as long as I did is because of this schedule I've made - I can't fall behind, even a bit, if I want to defend on July 16th.

[part way through printing]
Today is going drastically better - the images in the T1 train bridge series were all taken one after another and have the same subject matter so the exposures are very similar. There will need to be adjustments, no doubt, but I may even accomplish 3 prints today.

Because they were taken in foggy conditions, the atmosphere of these images is every different than others I've printed. I am debating on sacrificing increased contrast (and true blacks and whites) to focus on a wide range of greys.
OR, do I sacrifice detail for a feeling of immensity and power??

[after printing]
The images are great. I am not sure what order I will be presenting the triptych, but I managed to print all three components today, which is excellent. I decided to forget about true blacks and focused, instead, on depth. There is a lot of detail within the structure of the bridge, and I thought it was more important to capture that.

Update.

The last three days:
Wednesday: Printed a train bridge picture on glossy paper - looks great. I'm happy with the glossy paper decision. I'm up to seven finals... though six have to be redone on glossy. It should go relatively quickly.
Thursday: Lost a day due to dizziness... bad timing. Bought a pack of glossy paper though, and a binder & plastic inserts to hold the finals so they don't get ruined. Everything is much more organized now.
Friday: Back in the darkroom today. Printing the public school diptych. Hoping to catch up on lost time. Going to reprint the train image today too... I don't think I need it for Mx reviews as it doesn't really have a pair or group yet, but it won't hurt. It should be pretty easy since I have everything writting down.

Saturday and Sunday will be write-offs... I'm beginning to panic slightly for Mx reviews...

a.

...from my daybook...

April 4

After speaking to Bob, I learned there is no easy solution to my park picture. Branches against skies (I'm sure) will be the bane of my existence forever.

The only way to solve the problem is to individually spot burn the main white areas while avoiding, as best I can, the larger branches.

So, that's what I did yesterday. I admit it looks muhc better than before, but I think it still needs some work.

[after printing]
Very overwhelmed and furstrated right now. I started printing this image and it did not go well. I don't think I have the skill set to print this image yet... not this large.
Got a pep talk from Sach... I'm going to do a different image.

[1.5hrs later]
I think I've successfully printed an image. This one was much easier - not nearly as much contrasting areas. No more sunny days! I am quite happy with the result of this one. I even listened to my gut and slightly reframed the picture, bringing the right side to hug the plant a little more. I felt the plant was getting lost and it's one of my favourite things about this picture.

There are seventy-six day sleft of my 100, or 97 if I give myself until the very end of June. However way I look at it, there isn't much time left and I have printed finals of only five images...

April 8

Developed two rolls today. They look pretty good - might be some interesting shots on there. Going to work on the contact sheets today and one train bridge print. I'm trying to get some ready for the Mx Reviews. I'm also done my bulk roll of film. I might have 12 or so pictures worth of film left. Aleks is picking me up four rolls of 120mm film for this weekend, so I'll focus on that for a while. Maybe some groups could contain both sizes of pictures?

I am still facing the dilema - glossy or pearl? I have always printed on pearl... I like that the paper is somewhat unassuming and not show-offy. Glossy paper also tends to glare if not observed under the right condition and at the right angle. BUT, it does look really sleek and the contrast pops more. The blacks are definitely true blacks. I'm going to have to decide quickly before I print too many more finals. Redoing 7 or 8 isn't a huge deal... 20 or more is a bit redundant.

Spoke with Bob... glossy paper it is.

[back tracking]
A couple day sago I printed the bookstore front window. It looks pretty nice - and is a nice partner to the front door/mailbox/plant image I printed a couple days earlier. I'd liek to get a third to go along with this group/theme.

...from my daybook...

March 31

I've been browsing through photos I've posted so far.
There are some great 'groupings' among them - photos that on their own may not have caught the attention of anyone look quite intersting and seem to have mch more potential when paired with another.

Examples:
- two balcony shots of school
- pictures of grouping of bldgs in water/ainslie parking lot
- three shots of house gates/steps

April 2

[12:30pm]
My favourite time in the darkroom is when the ACM closes for lunch. It becomes my own studio without a stream of people coming in and out with printing issues...
Don suggested I put as much energy and anger into my work as there is in my thesis soundrack - I think I can do that. I didn't really realize there was anger in my soundtrack, but I guess there is. It's funny what a year (or two or three....) of Masters will do to a person.

As of May 6th, there will be aphotography class for the third years and my very own studio will no doubt be transformed into a chaotic mess, at least a couple times a week. NIghts and Saturdays will probably become my escape.

I have started developing three prints at one time, using three different enlargers. I have access to all of them right now, so I might as well take advantage of it. I find that I have much more patience when I do three at a time - mainly b/c before I would put in a couple hours to finish one print and then I would have to start the process all over again for a different print. Now, I start the testing for all three images and near the end of the finals around the same time. It feels much less repetitive and tedious. To avoid confusion, I am religiously writing every piece of information down as soon as I expose the paper - I can't keep track of that many numbers all at once.

Right now I'm workign on the park image, the school w/ trees and one of the 120mm wall images.

[5:30pm]
Okay, so the park is a bit of a puzzle. The bldg and ground are nto a problem - it's the trees. Or, the tre branches to be exact. Here's what I've done.

After a couple test strips, I decided f16 is a good aperture. With a number one-and-a-half filter, even some ofthe smallest twigs are shoping up, creating an incredbly intricate web in the sky. But, the photo is a bit flat - there aren't any blacks, really and the texture of the tree trunk is pretty blah.

As soon as I do 21sec w/ a two-and-a-half, the overall depth of the photo improves quite a bit... but all the little twigs disappear! The top half of the photo is too washed out. I tried burning the sky & twigs (avoiding the main tree trunk) but it just doesn't work tha twell. The branches and sky are too dark compared to the rest of the photo.

[8:oopm]
I've done some more testing and I can probably up the exposure to about 25 seconds for the entire image of the park and burn the top portion an extra 7 seconds or so to get some more detail. I'd like to run this over with Bob, though, see if he has any suggestions before I waste half a pack of paper.

I did manage to get a very nice print of the school, though, so that makes me happy.
However, after speaking to Bob, I gave up on the 120mm wall image - it's just not good enough to be in the thesis, so there is no point of messing around with it. I have another roll in the Mamiya that I would like to finish and I'll print those instead (if they're better).

I also started test strips of the cyclops house - an hour or so more, and I think I'll have the print.

...from my daybook...

March 4

Left the house around 1pm and walked around North end of Galt for the first time (Wellington, Kerr, Beverly, etc.). Focused on residential details - yards, porches, sheds) using 35mm Pentax. (Result: Third contact sheet in this post).

I'd like to go at dawn and dusk for the next shoots to get different light.

Photographed Royal Hotel wall w/ 120mm Mamiya for second mini-project. "We have a tendency to photograph things on their way out," (G. Sorbara).

The renovations on the bldg have begun - walls are being cleaned, repaired, torn down. here were incredible textures, patterns and compositions. The series was quite successful - developing negs tomorrow.

March 5
The negatives are a bit underexposed - must have stopped won from what the 35mm light meter indicated. Thought that because it was really sunny there was a chance of over exposure...not the case.
The image of the school yard taken from balcony turned out well - great contrast.

March 10
Went home (Niagara) for the weekend - forgot the Mamiya and colour film. I had wanted to take pictures of Stella Street and family.
Developing photos - not so easy.
Using a new enlarger (for the 120mm negs) is proving a bit of a set back.

Wall enlargements are coming out grey - I'm having trouble getting true blacks and whites. Slightly discouraged - hoping to be able to enlarge photos to show the texture qualities I intended to capture.

[after enlarging]

No.5 filter seems to be getting me whites and blacks in wall images.
Great school enlargement.

[evening]

Finished shooting roll w/ Pentax - it was great atmosphere. Just after rain and sunset, misty, glowing. Had issues w/ the light meter so the photos might not turn out. Should try own Pentax MZ7.

March 11
Meeting with Don today.
He compared photography to wind - the difficulty of capturing the energy, but not the by-product.

March 14
I discovered shadows today in the image of the porch - it'll add incredible depth and interest to the image. The discovery is thanks to the advice of Bob for always saying it is better to expose the paper for too long rather than not long enough.

.... some notes on exposure follow...

Three seems to be my maximum for the day. I need to catch up so I can begin producing only one final enlargement per day - I seem to have a lot of patience and enthusiasm for the first enlargement.

March 16
Spoke with Bob.

Re: Porch
He likes the first exposure better - says windows provide a feeling of entering into photo and traveling upstairs. He says the couch, when not burned, looks more inviting - like he cold go and sit down on the it and bask in the sun.
Detail in wood beam is great.
Shadow of porch could be slightly lighter: 4-5 sec.

Re: Factory
In contrast to the original 4x6, the 7x9 photos both feel truncated. Suggested to take photo to 9-1/2 wide and make vertical whatever it happens to be (probably around 6).
What he really likes: angle of tree, rise and dip of snow (partially lost in truncated version) and balance of light on right and left sides (also partially lost in truncated version).
Suggested 10sec or less on snow and to burn the right side only, 15sec or so?

Re: Trains
Good contrast. Snow in background does not really bother him as much as it should. Suggested slightly less on actual trains (highlights of snow on roof are almost lost), plus 4-5 sec dodge on wheels. Snow in front could be a couple sec. darker.

[after developing]

"You are to be congratulated" - Bob
Two finals are successfully enlarged! It feels really good to know two photographs have been 'figured out', so to speak.

March 19
Attempting third final - the pace needs to quicken drastically. I want (need) ten finals for next wednesday.

...some notes on enlarging follow...

I have been watching BBC Documentary "The Genius of Photography". Hilla Becher spoke about photography on grey, clear days - they allow you to see much more than sunday days which cause shadows.

So, I went out yesterday and shot a roll of film (Wellington, Walnut, to Ainslie townhouses and around neighbourood South of Concession). It was a monotonous grey light so we'll see how it turns out. (Result - first two contact sheets in this post).

I've decided to pay part time tuition next term, but not work part time. Will start full time work in July after thesis is done. I am giving myself until the end of June to submit.

Final #3 (Trains) may be done - might require changes after I speak to Bob.