On January 12th I spent the day in the darkroom. I worked on printing four negatives, to changeover most of the prints at Mimi's pub. The owner, Shanaz, selected these four from a number of scans that I previously sent to her. I'm pretty satisfied with the way that three of the four turned out, but the fourth one is not up to my standards. It looks really flat and blah and does not have enough contrast. It is a shot of Crowfoot Mountain in spring, with a covering of snow. I have two negatives taken at the same location, at the same time and I tried printing both and they are both the same. Unfortunately the mountain was in afternoon shadow, and the snow does not print white enough. I'm going to dig back into my archive and see if I can find some other images to use instead. I know I have another shot of the same mountain, taken a few years prior, that is much better. I also have a similar shot of the Colin Range in Jasper, that is also much better.
In the meantime I will continue with the three that turned out. These prints now need a second fix, a clearing bath, and toning in Selenium. Then they will hit the washer for an extended wash. I will finish all this up before I take off to Nordegg next week. When I return from a few days working at the cottage, the prints will be dry and I can cut mats and mount them. Then at that point I will deal with coming up with something for the fourth print.
In early February I will take down some of the prints that are currently on display. The five that are presently at the restaurant have been there since before Covid, so a change is long overdue. One at a time I will take the old ones down, take the frames apart, and put in the new prints. Then I will return them to the restaurant and hang them up again, shuffling around the order.
I really appreciate that Shanaz allows me to display my work in her restaurant. This exposure recently led to a print sale. Hopefully with some new work on display, further interest will be forthcoming.
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