Pyro and Delta 100

A few days ago I processed a batch of Ilford Delta 100 in Pyro Developer.  Like usual, I used my old favorite, PMK.  This is a Pyro formula developed by California photographer Gordon Hutchings that utilizes a blend of Pyrogallol, Metol and Kodalk [balanced alkali]... hence the name.  This stuff is a little susceptible to uneven development, and requires fairly vigorous agitation.  It is really well suited to automatic processors such as the Jobo, which is what I use.  Tray processing by hand with constant agitation also works, but it is a challenge not to scratch the negatives by this method.  The developer imparts a stain on the negative that is proportionate the the amount of exposed silver in the emulsion and as a result this adds a density to the negative that is not there with development alone.  It sounds like this would be the same as additional development or additional exposure, but it is not.  The negatives processed by this method have a lightness and a tonal range that seems to be somewhat unique.  The scans that I post here on my blog really don't do it justice, but the fine prints that result from printing these negatives, usually in combination with an unsharp mask, and with a certain degree of experience and darkroom skill, are beyond compare.  I find that time and time again, the negatives that I most often end up printing, were processed in Pyro.  Sometimes it is this Ilford Delta film and sometimes it is Kodak Tri-X Pan, but the common denominator seems to be this developer...

This batch includes a mix of new and older work... all taken in 2014.  There are some from the Monochrome Guild Spring Photo Weekend in Fairmont, a few from various weekend and day trips over the summer, and a couple from Utah last April.

Winter Hockey - Game 6

The Renegades played an early game this morning at KofC Arena.  We faced off at 8:45AM against The Thunder.  We played these guys in the first game of the season and defeated them, but this time we were handed our first loss.  The game had a lot of contact and was fairly chippy.  Our team is so big and solid compared to this team of mostly small asian guys.  Every time there was a collision the little guy went down, the big guy was left standing, and the big guy eneded up going to the penalty box.  This got us into some penalty trouble and we just couldn't battle back.  We ended up being badly outshot and losing the game 6-4.  One of the guys on their team must have only been about 5'4" and 125 lbs.  He looked like a midget when he skated beside most of our guys, and particularly when it was 6'4" Leroy.  After today the league will put into effect the divisional realignment.  The Thunder will be moved down to a lower division.  We will remain in our division with The Hungry Beavers and the Juggernauts.  Two teams, the Trojans and the Tighthawks will be moved down into our division.  And one new team, called StAnkey, will be moved up.  We will become the new Division VIII, with Divisions IX and X being consolidated and Division XI being eliminated.  We have played most of these teams before and if they have similar rosters to what they've had in the past, it should be a fairly well balanced division.

Kodak 100 T-Max in 510 Pyro

Back on April 30th I wrote a blog post called "Development Test - Pictorial Negatives - 510 Pyro".  This post described the process of mixing up this developer formula and processing some test shots in it.  The Developer is made up by combining 5 grams of ascorbic acid, with 10 grams of pyrogallol, and 0.25 grams of phenidone, in a base of 100ml of Triethanolamine.  This concentrate is then diluted 1:100 with water to make a working solution.  The lab tests that I originally conducted provided me with a starting point for exposure and processing time.  I refined that a little by shooting a few test shots, which I processed and posted back at the end of April.  Since that time I have been accumulating a bunch more negatives, which I recently processed.  I really like the look of these negatives and this developer gives Kodak 100 T-Max a snap that I wasn't quite able to acheive with any other developer.  It appears as though some of the bright highlights are a little blocked up and blown out.  I think I will further refine this by reducing exposure a little, and adjusting development time slightly to compensate for it.

This batch included a few shots from the spring trip to Utah, as well as a few taken this past weekend down in the badlands.  The rest were all taken over the summer of 2014, including the one mushroom shot, which was taken by my daughter Hailey.  These were all taken under a range of different lighting conditions, at different times of day and different times of year, with a number of different contrast filters.  The earlier test shots were all taken in flat winter light and were helpful in getting a feel for where I need to be.  This latest batch continues that process.  Overall I am quite pleased with these images and will continue to fine tune and refine my work with this film.

20,000 Pageviews...!!

Sometime last night by blog had it's 20,000th pageview.  I starting writing the blog at the very end of July 2010.  So, it has taken just over 4 years to get to this milestone.  Thanks to everyone that comes back on a regular basis to check it out.  It took 37 months for me to get to 10,000 pageviews, but only an additional 14 months to double the count to 20,000.  It encourages me that people all over the world find my photos and my stories interesting.  I suppose I shall continue...

Winter Hockey - Game 5

The Renegades played Game 5 of our winter hockey season early this afternoon.  I remain particularly annoyed with the league for booking our game at noon on Thanksgiving Sunday!!  I struggled all week to put together the roster, but so many of the guys had family plans for the holidays.  We eventually called in a couple of non-roster players, which we are allowed to do at this point in the season, so that we could make a game of it.  We ended up with 11 skaters and a goaltender, and faced off at 12:15PM against the Gators.  The Gators had a pretty full bench, and we were expecting this to be a challenge.  But, we jumped out to an early lead and took it to them.  We outshot them 46-22 and won the game by a 9-4 score.  We are now undefeated through the first 5 games, with a record of 4 wins and a tie.  We are in first place in our division and it is likely that we will be moved up a dvision as the 30 game schedule rolls on.

Badlands Trip - Day 4

This day didn't actually involve any activities in the badlands.  We cleaned up at the campsite in the morning after we got up, and got the truck hooked back up to the trailer.  Shortly after breakfast we hit the road back to Drumheller and rolled up to the shop in East Coulee before noon.  I unpacked all the stuff from my trailer, and winterized the plumbing.  Then I backed the trailer into the high bay at the shop, where it will remain in storage through the winter months.  

Frank and I headed over to the East Coulee Hotel for lunch, before heading back to the shop and wrapping up the last of the chores from our three days out in the badlands.  By mid afternoon I hit the road back to Edmonton, and arrived home in time to have a late supper and spend a little time with the girls.  Here is a shot of some of the fall colors and the trailer down at our campsite, before we left.

Badlands Trip - Day 3

This time we got up early and headed out into the hills.  Not nearly so much beer the night before, so everything went well.  We headed back out to the same area, but this time moved a little further down the valley, to the next gas well site.  It was partly cloudy and fairly calm, and we hoped that the wind would not pick up the way it had yesterday.  After parking the truck I got up and wandered around the prairie on the edge of the grass lands.  I soon found a tipi ring.  As I wandered around further, I found four or five more.  These are the rings of stones that the nomadic plains Indians had used to hold down the edges of their tents [tipis].  These temporary campsites often seemed to have been set up right on the rim of the valleys, as was the case here.  The theory is that the wind coming up out of the valley kept the bugs down, and also helped when they were preserving meat by drying.  I found this site fascinating and explored for quite a while up on top, while Frank headed off on foot down into the badlands.  I brought out my camera and took a number of photographs, both film and digital, of the tipi rings.  Eventually I came across 10 of them, all within a couple hundred yards of where I had parked the truck.  Later in the day Frank came across three more, in a perfect line, about a quarter mile to the south.

It was after noon before I had finished exploring all the tipi rings and photographing them.  I spent quite a bit of time at this, and also kept my eyes peeled for arrow heads.  I didn't find any arrow heads, but I did find four deer sheds, to go with the one that I had found our first day out.  By this time the clouds had rolled in and the light had gone kind of flat.  The wind also really picked up, to much the same level that it had been the day before.  Having learned the hard way the day before, I was particularly careful when setting up my tripod.  I met up with Frank down in the badlands and we spent the afternoon wandering around and exploring.  I found a cool little fish vertebra, and a nice chunk of amber.  But other than that I mostly just enjoyed the scenery and took a few photographs.  As the day came to a close we headed back up to the truck, and drove back to the campsite.  Here are a few photographs taken that afternoon...