Print Session

With the weather being a bit on the cold side this past weekend, getting outdoors with the big camera wasn't really an option.  Instead I went down to the darkroom and worked on a print.  In need to create an exhibition print for the upcoming Exposure 2015 show.  I have one that I made back in the fall, and displayed at the Monochrome Guild Show, but I am not 100% happy with it.  It was made at the time that I was having printing issues, which I have since resolved.  On Saturday evening I made a new unsharp mask, along with masks of a few other negatives that I intend to attempt to print in the next little while.  On Sunday I went back down into the darkroom and began my printing session.  I was working with a fresh batch of developer and this time around I think the print turned out much better.  I printed it quite a bit darker than I did in the past, particularly the sky.  This mood is much more fitting of the way I recall this place.  We spent a night in our trailer here and the wind howled all night long and there was very heavy rain, with lots of thunder and lightning.  I was a little nervous about being able to get out with the truck and trailer the next day.  But, by morning the rain had quit and the wind began to quickly dry things off to the point that we were able to hike in the hills by afternoon.  The lighter unsharp mask that I used really seemed to pop things up too.  So far I am much happier with this version, but I will reserve my final decision based on what it looks like when it dries down.

While I was at it I also printed a second negative.  This one is not mine, rather it belongs to my friend Peter from The Monochrome Guild.  He wants to see how his smaller [at least by my standards] 645 negative [approx. 1-3/4" x 2-1/4"] stands up being enlarged to 16x20.  I must say it held up pretty well.  The grain of the film is evident in the uniform toned areas of the water, but I don't find this offensive at all.  Peter does not have the paper, the trays, or the washer to make prints this large but now that he knows his negatives yield an acceptable result he will probably invest in the materials needed to make them on his own.