C-41 Processing

A few days ago I set up my Jobo Processor, and mixed up some C-41 chemistry.  C-41 is the process that is used to develop color negative film.  It is pretty straight forward, but needs to have the temperature maintained at 38C for the entire process.  The temperature controlled water bath of the Jobo processor is ideal for this.

C-41 is also used with chomogenic black and white films.  I believe that the only one that is still made is Ilford's XP-2.  The silver particles in the emulsion are converted to dye during the development process and this results in virtually grainless negatives.  I wish they still made this film in 4" x 5" format, but sadly it is only made in 35mm and 120 roll formats.

I don't shoot a lot of color film, and I generally save up the exposed film in the fridge until I have a large enough batch to justify mixing up the chemistry and setting up the processor.  I generally only shoot about 20 sheets per year of 4x5 and around 5 of the larger 8x10.  The film has become very costly and I am mostly just using up old stock that I have on hand.  New stock costs about $12 per sheet for 4x5 and $45 per sheet for 8x10, and the chemistry is about $65 per 1L kit.  Obviously I have to be very selective about what I shoot.  This time around I had accumulated 45 sheets of 4" x 5", five sheets of 8" x 10", and three rolls of 35mm.  One of those 35mm rolls was some XP2 black and white that I shot on a Beer Parlour Project outing.  I used two 1L kits to process all of the film.

The Expert Drums that I use on my Jobo hold 10 sheets of 4"x5"... and I have a larger one that holds 5 sheets of 8" x 10".  So this was five drums to run the 4x5 stuff, plus 1 for the 8x10, and a third tank to run the 35mm.  It took me a couple of days to get through all this stuff.

This scan is a 4" x 5" sheet of Kodak Portra 160VC.  This is the North Saskatchewan River, upstream of Abraham Lake, on the Kootenay Plains.  I took this shot almost two years ago, in 2024.  I used my Ebony SV45Ti view camera and a Fujinon 180mm lens.  No filter was used.  I took the shot on May 13th of 2024 at about 2:30 in the afternoon.  I seem to recall that my brother in law Shawn and I were out on an afternoon drive from the cottage.  The exposure was for 1/15 second at F29.0.

Dry Haven Creek

This is a recent photograph, taken last fall.  When I was running a batch of Rollei film on March 12th, I added a few sheets of Efke PL25M to fill the tanks.  This is one of those sheets.  I was using Rodinal Developer, the Adox APH-09 version, diluted 1:50 at 24C.  The Efke stuff was developed for 7:00 minutes.

Margarit and I were out for a walk along Dry Haven Creek, west of Nordegg, last fall.  It is a really interesting time as ice was starting to form on the creek, but there really wasn't much snow yet.  I took this shot on November 6th 2025, at about 1:30 in the afternoon.  I used my Ebony SV45Ti view camera and a 180mm lens.  The exposure was for 8 seconds at F29.0. 

Alsike Corner

This old service station was in operation for many years.  I remember driving by a few times, in the not too distant past, and it was still in operation.  By the fall of 2024, when I took this photograph, it appeared to have been closed for a little while.  A competitor had set up not far away, and it seems the old place couldn't survive.  This place sits at the junction of Highway 20 and Highway 39.  There is no town there, just a couple of businesses.  There are much larger centers to the east and to the west.  Even the old phone booth has been out of service for many years.  It seems we don't need these any more and the only functioning ones I have seen in recent years were in Saskatchewan.

I took this photograph on September 1st of 2024, at about 2:30 in the afternoon.  This is a sheet of Rollei RPX-25 that I processed on March 12th, in part of that mixed batch.  This was in Rodinal Developer, 1:50, for 11:30 minutes.  I used my Ebony SV45TE view camera and a wide Rodenstock 90mm lens.  A #25 Red Filter significantly lowered the value of the clear blue fall sky.  The exposure was for 4 seconds at F25.0.

Dinosaur Provincial Park

This is a scan of a negative processed on March 14th.  This was a mixed batch, developed in Kodak HC-110 Developer, dilution B.  This particular 4" x 5" sheet was Ilford FP4+, given N+1 development.  The film was rated at 160iso and developed for 14:20 minutes, to boost contrast.

I took this photo last fall when my daughter Helena and I travelled with some of the guys from the Monochrome Guild on our annual fall trip.  We stayed in East Coulee, and explored around the Drumheller area, as well as at Dinosaur Provincial Park, near Brooks.

I took this shot on October 21st at about 3:30 in the afternoon.  I used my Ebony SV45TE view camera and a long 250mm lens.  A #8 Yellow filter added a little extra separation of tone.  The exposure was for 1/15 second at F22.0.

Miner's Grafitti

This is a scan of another negative from that mixed batch of film I processed on March 12th.  Like the previous shots, this is also a sheet of Rollei RPX-25.  I rate the film at 12iso, and develop in Rodinal 1:50 for 11:00 minutes at 24C.  It works well enough, but I find the film a little contrasty, and the exposures often become really long.  I'm undecided whether to keep shooting it after my current stock runs out.

I found these names and dates scratched and pecked in the wall of one of the buildings at the Nordegg Historic Site.  I toured the site with permission numerous times over the past couple of years.  I've been in this building at least a dozen times before, and never noticed this until the light hit it just right.

I shot this with my Ebony SV45Ti view camera and a Fujinon 180mm lens.  A swing on the front standard helped to hold the image plane a little better in focus.  This photograph was taken on September 24th of 2025 at about 1:45 in the afternoon.  The exposure was for 4 minutes at F20.0.  

Shoreline Pebbles

This is another negative from the mixed batch of film that I processed on March 12th.  This is a scan of a 4" x 5" sheet of Rollei RPX-25 that was developed for 11:00 minutes in Rodinal 1:50, at 24C.

I shot this image on the shore of the Blackstone River, along the Forestry Trunk Road.  The photograph was taken on June 2nd 2024, at about 3:50 in the afternoon.  I used my Ebony SV45Ti view camera and a long Fujinon 300mm lens.  The bellows had to be drawn out to almost 400mm to focus this close, which required exposure compensation of an extra 1/3 stop.  The exposure was for 8 seconds at F64.0.

Dinosaur Park Rills

This is another negative from that mixed batch of film I processed on March 14th.  The developer was Kodak HC-110, Dilution B.  This is another sheet of the now defunct J&C Classic 200 in 4" x 5".  The film certainly has a bit of grit and harshness to it, particularly in this developer.  I think it was probably the Foma 200 film that was just custom branded for J&C Photo, but that is only a guess.

This shot is from the fall trip to Dinosaur Park with the Monochrome Guild.  This shot is NOT from the trip last fall, in 2025.  Rather it is from the year prior, as we also went to southern Alberta in the fall of 2024.  This shot was taken on October 17th 2024, at about 12:45 in the afternoon.  I used my Ebony SV45TE view camera and a Fujinon 125mm lens.  A #25 Red Filter lowered the value of the sky, and the shadows, and added contrast.  The exposure was for 1/4 second at F29.0.

Another Old One

This negative is from the mixed batch of twenty sheets that I developed on March 14th.  The developer was HC-110 Dilution B.  The batch included one sheet of Arista EDU, four recently exposed sheets of Ilford FP4+, and 15 sheets of J&C Classic 200.  The Arista and J&C received 8:30 minutes of development at 20C.  The FP4+ was developed longer, for plus development.

J&C Photo was a film supplier based in the midwest States.... Kansas City I believe...?  They were great to deal with and I bought a bunch of film from them.  It seem to recall it was in the late 1990's.  Then, they suddenly went out of business.  Rumor was it was some sort of frivolous lawsuit filed by a disgruntled customer.  Fortunately most of their product line was picked up by other suppliers.  At the time they were in operation they were the only source for some rather unique film and paper.  I miss them....

This shot was taken at the Leduc Number One historic site.  It is the interior of an old International Truck.  This particular film, the J&C Classic 200, does not do a great job of handling shadow detail, at least in combination with HC-100 developer.  It was probably a poor choice on my part to select it for this particular image.  The shadow areas were spot metered at an exposure value of around 9 to 9-2/3, which the highlights on the seat and the windshield fell as high as EV15 to 16.  I exposed at EV 12, which held the highlight values alright, but the shadows fell right off and didn't hold very much detail.

I shot this image on June 21st 2022 at about 12:40 in the afternoon.  This is pretty much exactly the summer solstice, so no surprise that the light was rather harsh.  I used my Ebony SV45TU view camera and a 135mm lens.  The exposure was for 1/8 second at F32.0

I'll chalk this one up as a learning experience and move on to better things.

First Shot of 2022

The batch of twenty 4" x 5" sheets of film that I developed on March 12th, included my first photograph of the year, taken four years ago in 2022.  This was a sheet of Rollei RPX-25, developed in Rodinal 1:50, for 11:00 minutes at 24C.

It was almost exactly four years ago, as I took this photograph on March 21st of 2022, at about 2:00 in the afternoon.  I used my Ebony SV45TE view camera and a long, Fujinon 250mm lens.  No filter was used.  This is Shunda Creek, near my part time residence in Nordegg.  This overview was taken from the bridge near Beaverdam Lake.  

Technically this was my second photograph of that year.  The first one was a sheet of Kodak T-Max 100, at exactly this same setup.  That shot was followed by this exact duplicate on Rollei RPX.  I almost always take a duplicate shot at every set up.  I have learned the hard way, even with my years of experience, that I sometimes mess things up.  I have lost numerous images due to handling and developing errors, and by shooting a duplicate I have mostly eliminated this.  The exposure was for 1 second at F51.0.  The way the film rendered the highlights on the water during this long exposure, is very similar to the image I posted yesterday.

Old Negatives - RPX25 in Rodinal

On March 12th and 14th I headed into my darkroom and ran a couple of mixed batches of film.  Mostly this was to finally get some really old negatives processed.  I didn't really have enough of any one particular type of film, so I had to do mixed batches of different films.  They all required the same developer and temperature, but the development times were different.  So at points during the process some of the film had to be pulled from development, and other sheets left processing longer.  Its all pretty easy to do with my method of using stainless steel hangers for each individual sheet, in open tanks.  Of course this type of processing needs to be done in total darkness, and you really need to pay attention.  I also had to add some recently shot images to round out the batches.

These two batches included some Efke PL25M, Rollei RPX-25, Ilford FP4+, J&C Classic 200, and some Arista EDU Ultra 200.  The Efke and J&C films have been discontinued, and I don't shoot the RPX or EDU very often.  I think I will probably phase these out of my regular routine, once I deplete my current stock.

This negative was developed on March 12th 2026.  It is a 4" x 5" sheet of Rollei RPX-25 that I gave normal development, in Rodinal developer, 1:50, for 11:00 minutes.  I shot this one way back on May 15th of 2022.  I was out for a spring walk with my camera, in Blackmud Creek Ravine, not far from my home in the city.  It was about 2:30 in the afternoon and the light was pretty intense and contrasty.  I used my Ebony SV45TE view camera and a wide, Rodenstock 90mm lens.  A #25 Red filter made the background shadows fall off, and darkened the tone of the water, making the bubbles trails really stand out.  The exposure was for 8 seconds at F32.0.

I only have one sheet left from 2022 that remains to be processed, and will get to that shortly.  I checked and I have about 18 sheets left to go from 2023.  I haven't counted yet for 2024 and 2025, and of course now I am starting to shoot in 2026.  It seems there is always film waiting to be developed.

The Last Apparition

This is the last of my five submission images for the Apparitions project.  My colleague Arturo also has five of his images included.  We are in a holding pattern for now, waiting to hear back from some of the galleries that were sent our exhibition proposal.  We have more galleries to submit to in the coming months, as their calls come up.

This image is a little different flavor than the others, and I have posted this one on my blog in the past.  This is a native site that honors the regrowth after a forest fire.  This is out on the Kootenay Plains, not far from our property in Nordegg.  This area was heavily burned when the Spreading Creek Fire went through the area a number of years ago.

Another Apparition

This is another of my images from the Apparitions project submission package.  This one is kind of a weird image, which is exactly why I chose it.  This old doll, the hatchet and the saddle shoes were all artifacts in an old museum.  But the museum was abandoned, for about 40 years, and towards the end, when the site was no longer monitored and maintained, many of the buildings and artivacts were looted.  The building that housed these items has since been moved to another location.

Arturo and I have now sent out our submission package to eight galleries... since early February.  We have about four or five more, that have upcoming deadlines through the next several months.  We are considering applying for another Arts Grant to fund travelling of the show to galleries that are further away.  With each acceptance comes the expectation that the prints will be delivered to the gallery, the artists will attend the opening, and the prints will be picked up after the show.  Many galleries pay an exhibition fee which partially covers these costs.  But if the venue is further away, then the costs exceed the fee.

One More Apparition

This is another of the submission images from the Beer Parlour Project.  This "Service Counter" shot was taken in a small town in southern Saskatchewan.  I was travelling with my friend Chris for some Beer Parlour Project outings, and attempting to shoot subject matter for the Apparitions project at the same time.  We were all over southwestern Saskatchewan in June of 2024.

In one of the small towns that we visited, we spotted an old building that looked like it had once been a farm implement dealership.  We managed to track down the name of the owner, and he graciously allowed us to photograph the interior.  It was much as his father had left it when he closed the business back in the 1980's.  His son, the current owner, and in his 80's at the time of our visit, operated a farm nearby.  He told us that he had probably not been inside the building for a decade.  It certainly was like a time capsule.

Mid Century Modern

Margarit has been collecting a bunch of stuff to put on display in the 1950's cabin.  Recently she bought a shelf unit, and I hauled it out to Nordegg for her.  Since then she has been working on a display in the master bedroom, that features her collection.  She spent some time on it last time we were out at Nordegg and added a bunch of items.  I'm not sure if she's done yet, of perhaps still has a few things to add.

Big Wind

Overnight on March 7th and 8th a weather front rolled through Alberta.  There were high winds pretty much province wide, and the temperature plummeted.  Out at Nordegg we had the wind, and the temperature dropped to well below zero.  We got a light dump of about an inch or two of fresh snow.  That made things rather treacherous as the new snow concealed all the icy patches that remained.

Two trees came down across our driveway, and Helena rolled them out of the way before I had a chance to get out and do it.  These were standing dead trees that were between our firepit and the edge of the driveway.  They had been dead for some time and I probably should have taken them down some time ago.  Fortuneatly they didn't do any damage, and they can stay there until I have a chance to cut them up for firewood.

When I took a run over to the dump on Monday I noticed that quite a number of trees had come down in the area.  There was a large one that had dropped on a cottage in the subdivision.  It was about 15 lots or so away from us, and I don't know the owners.

When I drove back home to the city I saw evidence of wind damage all the way.  Numerous trees had come down along the roadsides pretty much all the way home.

Last of the Season for the Bubbles

Later on Saturday, after we got Hank dried off and warmed up, we headed out again.  This time we left Hank back at the cottage, to snooze by the fire.  The girls and I took a drive west.

We made a brief stop at Dry Haven Creek and took a short walk.  It was quite icy and slippery, and the creek was still completely frozen over with ice and snow.  So we continued on up to Abraham Lake.  It was warm, but very windy and not all that pleasant to be outside.  There were still a few "Bubblers" trying to make their way onto the ice and catch a glimpse of the bubbles.  The ice is badly deteriorated, and dusted with snow.  There are puddles of water on top of the ice, and a large area of open water at Windy Point.

It was neither safe nor pleasant to wander onto the ice, and not really much to see in the way of bubbles.  The spectacle is best viewed early in the season right after the lake freezes over.  So, we ventured back to the cottage and put a roast in the oven for dinner.  Hank was really happy to see us return.

Beaverdam

On Saturday March 7th Margarit, Helena, Hank and I took a drive over to nearby Beaverdam Lake.  The temperature got up to about +11 at one point, but it didn't feel as warm as the thermometer suggested.  It was quite heavily overcast for most of the day, and there was a bit of a breeze.

We went for a walk on the shore of the lake, and down along Shunda Creek, where it exits the lake.  We were startled and surprised to see a small flock of ducks on a little patch of open water.  There is a lot of sulphur in the water, I assume from some of the nearby coal seams, and except for periods of extreme cold, there is often open water on the lake.

As we walked along the creek, Hank got a little too close to the edge of the ice, and broke through into the creek.  It was in a spot that was deep enough that he was fully submerged.  You could see the panic in his eyes as he hit the cold water.  The girls immediately tried to pull him out with his leash, but his collar slipped off.  Margarit had to quickly kneel down and grab him before the current pulled him away.  Needless to say that put a quick end to our stroll as he had to take Hank back to the cottage and get him dried off and warmed up.

Half A Million

Last night my blog reached a milestone.  It hit half a million page views....!  Since the middle of 2010, so 15-1/2 years, I have been posting my photographs and lots of other mindless schlock, here on my blog.  I know that some of my friends and family follow along just to see what I'm working on.  I'm not sure where all the other views are coming from, but Thank You to everyone that takes the time to check out what I'm doing.

Another Apparition

This is another of my images that has been included in our gallery submission package for the Apparitions project.  I took this photograph on one of my two trips to southern Saskatchewan in the summer and fall of 2024.  Hopefully this one does the subject justice and implies a human presence.

Apparitions

I haven't mentioned much about my Apparitions project in recent months.  It is still limping along quietly... in the background.  Arturo and I have been working together on this project since 2020.  This is a portion of our Artist Statement, that describes the project.....

The title Apparitions was selected for our exhibition as all of the silver gelatin photographs presented adhere to a common theme or thread; the images all portray evidence of a human presence.  At times that evidence is in times past, while on other occasions it is remarkably current.  Visual clues are presented as to what may have transpired, but the performers are not included in the scene.  The viewer is to interact and engage with the images and determine what has come to pass.  The apparition of the outcome is called upon by the image, but the audience is left to draw their own conclusions.  Undoubtedly diverse viewers will derive their own tale and conclusion, at least partially based on their own life experiences. It thus becomes an introspective journey of sorts.

In 2024 we received an Edmonton Arts Council grant that funded preparation and presentation of the selected exhibition prints.  We have selected 32 prints that are framed and ready to be displayed.  Since the production phase of the project was completed, we have been making gallery submissions to line up some exhibitions.  I've lost count exactly, but we have submitted to something around 15 galleries so far, with more upcoming.  We are hopeful and anxiously waiting to see if the project will be accepted for exhibition.  We are hopeful that the finished prints can go on a gallery tour for two or three years so that our efforts can be appreciated.

This is a sample of one of the images that is included in both the submission package, and will also be presented in the exhibition.  Both Arturo and myself are equally represented.  We have included ten sample images in our submission package, and this is one of mine.

Lots more Hockey

Yesterday I played hockey twice...  At noon I had a game with my Vintage League.  A bunch of the old retired guys that usually play are away on holidays, mostly to Mexico, at this time of year.  So we only had ten skaters per side, plus the goalies.  It was a great time and I really enjoyed it.  My Red squad won both games... 5-1 and 9-3.

In the afternoon I had a bit of a nap... then in the early evening I watched the first two periods of the Edmonton Oilers hockey game against the Ottawa Senators.  They played terribly and blew the lead a couple of times, though they did eventually win the game in overtime.

Then later still I headed over to the Argyll Arena for another hockey game, this time with my Renegades team.  This was the last game of the regular season, against a team called the Boomsticks.  We've defeated these guys in the past by this was not our night and we ended up losing by a score of 8-2.  We finished the regular season in 5th place and the playoffs start on the weekend.

In between I hung all my gear up on a drying rack, hoping to air it out and let it dry off before having to drag it to another rink and wear it again.  There's nothing worse than putting on wet gear...!

Today I drove out to Nordegg.  I slept in a bit after being up late from all the hockey.  After making a stop in Rocky Mountain House for some groceries I arrived at the cottage around 4:00.  I will play hockey one more time, this time on the ODR (outdoor rink) later tonight.  It's much warmer out here in the mountains than it was back in the city.  The daytime high temperature peaked at around +6C, while back in the city it only made it up to -9C.  I'll be hanging around out at the cottage for a few days, and will play hockey again on Saturday.  Then, when I return to the city there are yet more games with my Vintage League... every Tuesday until the end of the month, and then every Thursday until the end of June.  And there will be some playoff games to be played with the Renegades as well.

David Thompson Country Calendar 2026 - March Image

This is the image that I selected for the March page of my 2026 David Thompson Country calendar.  There are still a couple of copies of this calendar available to purchase at the Beehive Artisan Market in Nordegg. 

This is a view of Coliseum Mountain, taken from the Forestry Trunk Road just outside of Nordegg.  The foreground area was burned by a forest fire a number of year ago.

March Calendar Image

This is the image that I selected for the March page of my 2026 Fine Art Photography calendar.  I had over two dozen of these calendars printed last fall, and handed them out at Christmas time to friends, neighbors and family.

This is a shot taken in the spring of 2024 at the Abraham Slabs area, along the David Thompson Highway.  In the fall, when the reservoir is full these trees are standing in water.  By spring, the lake level has receded and they trees are some distance from the shore.  This was taken with my 4x5 view camera on a blustery spring day.

Beer Parlour Project - BP41.0 Dominion Hotel

On February 28th the Beer Parlour Project team visited the Barley Pub, in the Dominion Hotel, in Carstairs, Alberta.  This time around it was Chris and myself and two guest photographers.  Byron Robb and David Clarke also joined us on this outing.

I started out the day with a brief return to the Rockyview Hotel in Cochrane.  This was not really out of my way, as I was staying in Cochrane.  The winter storm had passed, the sun was out, the sky was blue, and the temperature had risen to about -8C.  After I took a couple of photographs there with the view camera, I headed north to Carstairs.  When I got there, I did the same thing, and took a couple of exterior shots of the hotel.

A short time later Chris and David arrived and we packed all of our gear into the hotel, and made our introductions.  Byron joined us a short time later.  We stayed from about 3:30 in the afternoon, until around 10:00PM.  

When we first arrived there was a pool tournament wrapping up.  This establishment has a full kitchen and restaurant, so by late afternoon the supper crowd started to roll in.  Later in the evening, as the dinner guests began leaving, the Saturday night crowd started to arrive.  We were kept busy visiting with everyone, conducting interviews, and taking photographs.  This particular establishment had no windows, and the light was limited at best.  But I managed to shoot around a dozen sheets of 4" x 5" film with the big camera, plus some 35mm stuff as well.

It was another great outing, but by the time the evening was winding down, I was pretty exhausted.  Just being wound up and meeting everyone and taking photographs and touring the premises is very tiring, in a good sort of way.  But after two nights in a row, I was drained and so just headed back to the suite in Cochrane, unwound for a little, and then crashed.

I'm not sure exactly when we might get out for more Beer Parlour Project outings.  We have a trip to Saskatchewan planned in April.  It seems unlikely we will get out before then, but you never know.

Beer Parlour Project - BP40.0 - Rockyview Hotel

On the morning of February 27th I loaded up a bunch of gear and hit the road for Calgary.  This was a solo trip as Margarit decided not to join me.  She has a new found freedom now that her shoulder has healed and she is cleared to drive.  That clearance came just a couple of days ago so she decided to stay home and catch up on some stuff. 

The weather was less than ideal and the temperature hovered between -15 and -20C all day.  As I got south to around Red Deer, it was snowing and blowing and visibility was poor in places.  The wind polished the highway and there were icy sections as well.  As I got closer to Calgary conditions improved a little, but the snow got a little heavier and continued all evening.

I rented the basement suite of my colleagues Chris and Connie's kids, located in Cochrane.  This was really convenient as this was also our destination for the day.  I stopped in at the suite and dropped off some gear and then continued into the downtown.  The old Rockyview Hotel in the old downtown of Cochrane dates back to the turn of the last century, and is among the oldest hotels we have visited so far.  The tavern is called the Texas Gate Bar.

I met up with Chris and guest photographer Byron Robb at the hotel around 3:00 in the afternoon.  Connie was unable to join us this time as she is in the midst of some cancer treatments.  She is doing really well, but is supposed to avoid crowds of strangers due to her reduced immunity.

This was our first outing of 2026 and in fact I haven't shot any film with my view camera since our last outings, almost three months ago, back in early December.  It was also a milestone outing as this was number 40.  Our goal is to visit 100 old hotels, so we still have 60 to go.

Despite the weather the place was really well attended and we got some great photos and interviews.  I ended up shooting 14 sheets of film, plus a bunch of stuff with my 35mm cameras.  One of the guys that stopped in for a visit and to say hello was Trevor.  We had previously met and photographed him at the Edgerton Oasis Hotel last summer.  We joked that he is our first repeat offender.... to be photographed twice with the view camera at different hotels.

We wrapped things up a little after 9:00 and I headed over to the suite and settled down for the night.  We plan to visit the Carstairs Hotel on Saturday for outing number 41.

Open Door - D23 Two Bath Development

This is my final scan from the batch of Tri-X Pan given N-1 Development.  I am really pleased with how the twelve negatives in this batch turned out.  In years past I had very little success reducing development time to control highlight values.  The images always turned out really muddy and dull with no mid tone contrast.  This was not just with one film... I attempted minus development with several different film/developer combinations and none were successful.  This two bath development seems to really nail it.

This is the last scan from the batch that I processed on January 25th.  Two bath development was in D23 Developer, undiluted, for 6:00 minutes, followed by a second bath in Borax for 4:00 minutes.  Agitation was normal in the first bath and minimal in the second, all at 24C.  The film was slightly overexposed, achieved by rating it at 250 iso, rather than the 320 iso box speed.

This shot was taken at a historical site that included a number of relocated and preserved buildings.  The site no longer functions as a museum and the buildings are all being relocated again.  This is the interior of the funeral home.  I was drawn to the textures of the peeling paint, the light spilling in the open door, and the leaves scattered on the floor.

I shot this on June 1st 2025 at about 3:00 in the afternoon.  I used my Ebony SV45TU view camera and a wide 80mm lens, with no filter.  The exposure for this 4" x 5" sheet of Kodak Tri-X Pan was for 1 second at F18.0.

I like this one a lot and the next time that I do some printing I will attempt to print this negative.  If it turns out as well as I hope, then I may consider adding it to the Apparitions project.

Carbon House - D23 Two Bath Development

This is my second last scan from the batch of film I developed on January 25th.  I was experimenting with a medium sized batch of Kodak Tri-X Pan 320.  All the scenes were images that showed a relatively high subject brightness range.  I experimented with giving N-1 development in D23 Two Bath.  The N-1 part simply means that development time is reduced to prevent the highlights from getting blown out and rendering them difficult to print.  The minus one part refers to a contraction of one stop.  Normally reducing development also reduces the overall contrast of the image, and the mid tones can suffer.  This two bath method helps to prevent that.  Without getting in a long technical description, the second bath increases mid tone and low value development to retain contrast, while restraining the highlights.  I think it worked very well, and I will continue to use this method going into 2026.

This is an old ranch house near the town of Carbon.  It sits on private property, right beside a road.  The property is posted, so I took this shot from the road.  Even while I was there shooting, which took me 15 minutes or so, the owner drove up to see what I was doing.  She was fine with me taking the photograph from beside the fence but did not want me to enter the property, so I respected that.  I came away with a pretty good image.

I rated the 4" x 5" Tri-X pan film at 250 iso.  Development was for 6:00 minutes in D23 followed by 4:00 minutes in the second bath.  I took this photograph on June 15th 2025, at about 3:00 in the afternoon.  We were in the area at the time, having just photographed a couple of Beer Parlour Project outings.  I used my Ebony SV45TU view camera and a Schneider 135mm lens.  A #25 Red filter created some separation in the sky, and added a little contrast.  The exposure was fo 1/8 second at F22.0.

School Desks

I have three more scans of my experimental D23 two bath development and this is one of them.  The development is N-1, so a contraction of one stop in subject brightness range.  This is achieved by developing first in Kodak D23 developer, undiluted, for 6:00 minutes.  Then the film is transferred to a second bath of a borax solution, for 4:00 minutes.  Both solutions were at 24C.  This provides good mid tone separation while restraining highlights.  This was my first attempt at this, and I ran a batch of a dozen sheets of Kodak Tri-X Pan that I shot last summer.  Some examples from this batch were posted here several days ago, and now I will present three more.

This one was taken in the abandoned Quiet Nook School.  I thought is was a good test opportunity as the interior was in low light, and the exterior, visible through the windows was quite bright.  The film was slightly over exposed, achieved by rating it at 250 iso, rather than the box speed of 320 iso.

I shot this on June 1st 2025 at about 3:30 in the afternoon.  I used my Ebony SV45TU view camera and a Schneider 135mm lens.  The exposure was for 1 second at F14.0.  The exterior, visible through the windows, was spot metered and had an exposure value of around 10.  The darkest areas around the desks were a full seven stops lower, with an exposure value around 3.  The upper walls and the brighter areas of the desks were metered at an exposure value around 6.  The exposure used rendered these values as middle grey.  The contracted development held the windows down 1 stop, so that they fell 3 stops above middle grey [Zone 8] rather than 4 stops above [Zone 9].

Lots of Hockey

There has been a lot of hockey going on the last little while.  Of course the Winter Olympics just wrapped up and I watched a lot of games that team Canada played in, both on the men's side and the women's.  Sadly we came up short in both, and came away with silver medals.  On the men's side, our NHL squad was goalie'd by a really hot American goaltender.  Otherwise I thought team Canada dictated the play.  I questioned a couple of the roster choices, but mostly it was a solid squad.  The officials missed a number of penalty calls that mostly would have gone in team Canada's favor, but we came up short when the puck hit the ice.

I play hockey every Tuesday when I am in the city with the Edmonton Vintage League.  This is a group of guys that are all 55 years old and older.  It is a bit refreshing for me as when I play with this group, I am one of the better players.  Sadly I missed the game last week, as I was out in Nordegg, and will miss it again today, as I have to take Margarit to an appointment.  She is getting a follow up checkup for her recent shoulder joint replacement surgery.

Whenever I am out at Nordegg I try to play drop in hockey at the ODR.  The Out Door Rink...!!!  There is nothing like skating outside, under the stars, with the mountains around you.  At those games it is just drop in shinny.  We usually have two goalies and anywhere from 4 to 20 players.  But there is no equipment and the rink is only about 60% of the official size.  Games are played twice a week, and in between I always help out with shovelling and flooding the ice.

For something like 22 years now I have been playing hockey with my team the Renegades.  For the past several years we have been playing in the Alberta Men's League.  The name is old school, but there are a few women that play in the league, including one on our team.  I started the team over twenty years ago and I'm the last holdout from the original roster.  Most of the players in this league are between 20 and 35 years old, so at 62 I have trouble keeping up.  I won't be playing here much longer, hence the transition to the Vintage league.  

This year the Renegades started in Division 8, but got moved down to Division 9 for the last part of the season.  We had two back to back games on the weekend and I played both.  On Saturday evening we defeated the Legacy Heating team by a score of 11-4.  Then on Sunday afternoon we played a rather rough and undisciplined team called the Ticklers, and beat them 10-6.  We will finish the season in 5th place.  There is one regular season game left in early March, and then the playoffs start.

As for Vintage Hockey, it is more of a recreational game, and we don't keep score beyond in the moment, there are not stats, and no standings.  The winter season ends at the beginning of March.  Then starting in April I will play on Thursdays in the summer season that runs until the end of June.  I'm hoping that the Renegades can also ice a team for the summer league.

Below is a snapshot of my #87 Sidney Crosby jersey from the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.  I wore this while I was cheering on team Canada this year...!

Nordegg in February

Someone from our family has been out at Nordegg for most of the month.  This helps to cut down on the power bill as we heat with wood when we are there, and have to run our forced air electric furnace when we are not.  We only keep the furnace turned on very low when we are not around, but it still adds up to a sizeable bill when it gets really cold.  And in winter, with snow cover at times and short days, our solar panels don't generate very much power.

Hailey was out for a week or so in early February.  A day or two after she got back to the city Margarit and I went out.  We arrived on the 11th of February and stayed until the 19th.  It had been really mild at the end of January and into the first part of February.  At one point the daytime high reached +15C.  There was virtually no snow left when we got there, and there is great concern about the upcoming fire season.

During the first couple of days that I was there I helped some of the neighbors to restore the ODR... the Out Door Rink.  The mild weather had almost destroyed it.  The hard work of neighbors Darrell and Shauna saved it, and when I got there I helped them to flood it four more times.  Other than that it was was mostly a time to relax and rest.  Margarit is still recovering from her shoulder surgery and being out there keeps her away from all the chores she thinks she needs to do.  I did bring out a shelf unit that she bought and she set it up in the master bedroom of the guest cottage.  I puttered around a little more on the old jukebox... painting and installing the coin door.

Over the family day long weekend Ryan and Braeden came out and brought Hank, our dog.  Braedon and I played against each other at the weekly community hockey game on Saturday night.  The ice took a beating with all the people skating over the holiday, and further work is in order.  Towards the end of our stay it got really cold, with night time lows dropping down to -33C, and a dump of about four inches of fresh snow.  Braeden and Ryan went back to the city just before the snow fall, which I understand was more substantial in the city.

Shortly after Margarit and I got home, Ryan and Breaden went back out, and they are out there now.  Braeden got to skate on the ODR again.  It seems colder weather will prevail for the next little while so perhaps we will get to skate on the outside ice a few more times this seaon.

Fractures and Bubbles

Here is another shot of the ice bubbles up at Abraham Lake.  This was taken early in the season, and the level of the reservoir has dropped significantly since then.  We have also had some really mild weather that resulted in a lot of melting.  The lake was open in places back in late January and early February.  Since then it has been colder, and we've seen a little snow.  I have not been back recently, so I'm not certain what current conditions might be like.

This is another 4" x 5" sheet of Fuji Neopan Acros 100.  The film was rated at 80iso and given N+1/2 development in Rodinal 1:50.  I used the Adox APH-09 version of Rodinal, and developed for 11:00 minutes at 24C.

I took this shot on December 4th 2025 at about 1:00 in the afternoon.  I used my Ebony SV45Ti view camera and a Fujinon 125mm lens.  A #25 Red Filter lowered the value of the sky and the ice, and increased contrast.  Fortunately it was a relatively mild day with little wind, generally not the case at this location, and I was able to use a rather long shutter speed.  The exposure was for 1/2 second at F25.0.

Fan Motor

This is what's left of the motor the once powered the ventilation fan up at the Nordegg Mine Site.  There are two fan houses remaining, and this one is from Nordegg No. Three mine.  Of course the site has been looted and copper thieves have damaged a bunch of equipment to steal copper wire.  

This was taken on a 4" x 5" sheet of Fuji Neopan Acros 100.  I rated the film at 80iso and gave it N+1/2 development in Rodinal [APH-09] developer, 1:50, for 11:00 minutes at 24C.  This is one of a batch of 20 sheets that I developed on February 1st.  In hindsight that plus development was probably not a great choice.  I was hoping it would support contrast in the midtones.  It did, but it kinda blew out the highlights in the opening behind the motor, and in the clear corrugated panel on the left side.  I had to burn these down in the scan, and would have to do the same in the darkroom if I print this negative.

I shot this photograph on July 29th 2025, at about 3:00 in the afternoon.  I used my Ebony SV45Ti view camera and a 90mm Schneider Super Angulon lens.  The exposure was for 16 seconds at F20.0.

On The Road Again

The Beer Parlour Project team will be heading out on the road at the end of the month.  This will be our first road trip and first outings of 2026.  

On Friday February 27th we will visit the Texas Gate Bar and Grill at the Cochrane Hotel, in Cochrane, Alberta.  We will arrive around 4:00PM and stay through the evening.

Then on Saturday February 28th we will head north to Barley's Pub in the Dominion Hotel in Carstairs, Alberta.  Once again, we will arrive around 4:00 and stay through the evening.

Anyone interested in our project, and in the area on those dates, is welcome and encouraged to stop by and visit, and to say hello.

I haven't taken a single photograph with my view camera yet in 2026.  Needless to say I am going to be somewhat out of practice.  If the weather warms up a little I may go out for an afternoon just to get re-accustomed to the camera.  I don't want to waste a bunch of film and ruin some opportunities when we head out next weekend.  These will be Beer Parlour Project outings BP40.0 and BP41.0.

Badlands Butte

This image was taken on the fall trip by the Monochrome Guild.  We had a wonderful day last fall at Dinosaur Provincial Park.  I shot this on a 4" x 5" sheet of Fuji Neopan Acros 100.  When I saw this scene I composed it with the intention of cropping it to panoramic, as I did here.

I rated the film at 80 iso and gave N+1/2 development in Rodinal 1:50.  Development was for 11:00 minutes at 24C.  This was part of the batch that I developed on February 1st.

I took this photograph on October 21st 2025 at about 1:00 in the afternoon.  I used my Ebony SV45TE view camera and a Rodenstock 90mm lens.  A #25 Red Filter lowered the value of the sky and the shadows, increasing contrast.

The exposure was for 1/4 second at F20.0.

Grader

Here is yet another scan of one of the photos I took up at the Nordegg Historic site.  I'm not sure how long this old grader has been "resting" up there, but it probably dates back to around the time the mine closed, in 1955.

This is a negative from the batch of Fuji Neopan Acros 100 that I developed on February 1.  Those 20 sheets of 4x5 film were given N+1/2 development in Rodinal [Adox APH-09] 1:50 for 11:00 minutes at 24C.

I shot this on June 25th 2025 at around 3:00PM, during one of my many tours of the site.  I used my Ebony SV45Ti view camera and a Fujinon 180mm lens.  A #8 Yellow filter lightened the value of the yellow grader.  The filter increased contrast even further than the half stop that the extended development provided.  The exposure was for 1 second at F16.0.

Mine Cars

This is another shot testing the possibilities of N-1 developement in D23 two bath developer.  This scan is one of the 12 sheets of 4" x 5" film that I developed on January 25th.  The film is Kodak Tri-X Pan 320, rated at 250iso.  The N-1 development is intended to contract the highlights by one stop, so they aren't blown out.  It seems to have worked as there is printable detail in the brightest highlights, while the mid tones still retain a good range of values.  Development was for 6:00 minutes in Kodak D23 stock, followed by 4:00 minutes in Borax, both at 24C.

This shot is from one of my many visits up to the Nordegg Historic Site.  These mine cars actually originated at one of the mines in the Canmore area and were relocated to Nordegg as display artifacts.  I shot this in the middle of a bright summer day, and the light was very high and very harsh.  It seemed like a good subject to use to test this development.

I shot this image on July 29th of 2025 at about 2:00 in the afternoon.  I used my Ebony SV45Ti view camera.  The lens was a very old Fujinon 150mm that I've had for many years.  It is somewhat worn out and I have to look the shutter open on the Bulb setting to compose.  But the shutter speeds seem reasonably accurate, and the glass is still good.  The exposure for this one was 1/30 second at F20.0.  As with most of my images a small aperture was needed to hold depth of field from near to far.

Nordegg No3

This is another photograph from the Nordegg Historic Site.  I shot this on one of my many visits to the mine.  This is a scan of one of the 4" x 5" sheets of Fuji Neopan Acros 100 that I developed on February 1st.  I rated the film at 80iso and developed in Rodinal 1:50, for 11:00 minutes, at 24C.  This is N+1/2 development, which provides a half stop boost in contrast.  I used the Adox APH-09 version of Rodinal this time.

I took this photograph on July 29th 2025 at about 3:00 in the afternoon.  I used my Ebony SV45Ti view camera and a wide Schneider Super Angulon 90mm lens.  The exposure was for 1/2 second at F18.0.

This was the mine entrance to coal seam number three.  The mine was in operation until 1955.