Wrapping Up

2025…another year….they seem to roam along like a coyote crossing a road. Upon first observation or knowledge, while neat, they soon slink back into some anonymous mode and out of sight.. They seem to skulk into the shadows and life moves on. Somewhat like a new year….sure, 2024 is gone and now 2025…..So upon first thought, you say….wow, what a fast year it was last year. And then you think that we are already well into January and it came and went without much notice. The year moves and much like the coyote, days past are just that, days past.

Where does that make my photography….well….it also moves along like a coyote caught in the headlights of my car. While I don’t try to make new year resolutions as ‘time itself’ is just a configuration that humans place upon our culture to live by, ….to plant crops by…to sleep at dark and wake in the morning etc…. the number itself to me is meaningless or the date. But it is a new year and looking back I found I am doing about the same thing this year as last (filing taxes too) regarding my photography. Last year and this year I used January as a time to sum up my prior year projects and push them into the home front and for me, that is in the fashion of a new zine.

Not just one Zine but three….all around 44, 48 & 52 pages. That is about as close as I will get to a new year’s resolution and it isn’t even that as I wrap up a few photo-projects and get my work out there.

The image below shows my recent initial order to MIXAM; my publishing company. These are certainly not large orders as I usually order a small batch and hand them out to people and if I get positive vibes, I can order more. Also, each one this year has a purpose.

For instance….the first zine is entitled 4 Evenings. These sepia photographs used a combination of film (Olympus Pen F and OM1) and Digital (Olympus OM D) where I captured an artists colony in Tucson AZ. I just wanted some odd shots which represent this warehouse/art colony. My intent is to return and with a second round (perhaps this year) capture stories of a few individual artists.

The second Zine is my Urban Lyfe Series 3. Shot in Philadelphia and all on film, I pulled from 70+ rolls shot in 2024 and all of it shot on film. These images reflect the third year in a row where I have taken my best urban shots and placed them into a zine. No doubt, there will be a Series 4 as I have a condo in center city within the heart of Philly, so I wander a lot while there. I am going to change my shot composition/emphasis just slightly this year.

The third Zine represents my ‘salt printing process’…..all of the photographs are from my work in the studio perfecting my salt printing technique. Dating back to the 1839 upon first introduction (185 years ago) I have gone a bit radical in my approach, but that is par for the course with me. I want to be different, not the same. All images have a slight sepia tonality and all were printing using various water colour papers plus a mixture of chemicals that I managed to dilute differently than others might, as well as placement in the sizing process of the paper. My studio has a UV light box, which makes this salt printing process have less variables.

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That brings my 2024 to a close and now for 2025. What might be on the horizon?

First….my overall emphasis regarding shooting composition is going to change. More to come as there is no reason to give away ‘the store’….

Second, I am going to attempt to capture individual artists at the Steinfeld Artist Warehouse in Tucson, AZ. Again, I will match what I do in my upcoming Philly zine in terms of creating a new shooting composition/ emphasis. This is a tag-on to my first zine of 2024 “Four Evenings’ as I described above. I love the idea of these very creative artists and to represent them in an equally unique and creative way.

Third….I would like to build up my knowledge of the 1930’s and the Farm Security Administration (FSA) and teach a course on this topic. As evident by below (By the way, is that a color photo? I shot color? What….no way man…I shoot black and white) , I am just starting and certainly have books to read and photographers to research individually. I have other books ‘on order’ so my reading this year is pretty photo-based. Sorry Tom Clancy. But I have a natural love for history and photographs. What better way to meet my love, than to combine the two and the decade of the 1930’s in America represents a time during the Great Depression where images shot by a cadre of photographers can’t be put aside and forgotten. These are simply too valuable.

The Swing of Salt Printing

I am here in my Tucson studio and have been working on salt printing. A few things come to mind.

First…I tried printing a landscape photograph of the Badlands in South Dakota which I took this past summer …a 35mm film captured with the Olympus OM-2sp. I happen to enjoy the photo. But I also have been showing it around and others are not overly crazy about it. So it has me wondering if I should even pursue more landscape photography using the salt printing process. I envisioned having a small zine of landscapes done in that manner. Will ponder on. Below is the photo.

The second thing that has come to me has been in answering a question I have had regarding why some images come out more sepia than others. I already knew that the longer a photo ‘rests’ after the final rinse, and with the addition of putting a coating on after it has dried, it turns darker in that final process. But I think it also has to do with when I prepare the paper with sodium or silver nitrate, if I force dry the paper by using a hair dryer or smaller space heater, than it comes out sepia it appears. If I just let the paper dry naturally, the sepia isn’t as strong. The image below has a sepia tinge to it, as I took a shot of this with my iPhone, so that is another thing entirely as in person, it is more black. Go figure. Also, the image below was not under the UV lights as long as I would normally as I wanted the person to come thru a bit more and not be as dark. So that too causes sepia. Too little time under UV lights. Lots to learn….each image has to be taken individually and understood.

Salt Printing Again

I am preparing for my winter ‘studio’ months….a time where I find I concentrate more on printing, experimentation, zine creation etc…. The summers and shoulder seasons are for ‘filming’….. So my trek back to my Tucson studio allows me to retool and rethink and of course to experiment.

To my Salt Printing process….. My studio has been transformed into a salt printing studio. It is not total ‘blackout’ so I can’t have an enlarger unless I deaden the light, but I did create my own UV light box which I have taken copious notes on, as well as the process…..if you read my page entitled Salt Printing.

This year I am experimenting with different forms of paper and I think overall paper size as well. I participated in a photography festival selling my zines and books in Philadelphia a few months ago and while there I talked to a young lady from Ithaca, New York (Christine Elfman) who was showing off some of her salt prints. I want to shift some of my future zines into that direction as I have pondered over it the past year or two but haven’t made the shift to actually do so. But her influence has me headed now.

So….paper….paper…which paper? I have used various papers from the ‘cheapo” from Walmart to Arches, to Fabriano, to Strathmore etc… Both Hot and Cold as well as homemade watercolor paper from Mexico. To each, well….to their own.

This year I am branching out the experimentation process hoping to really find one that just ‘hits me’ …although I am almost convinced the process of salt printing is so convoluted with multiple variables that it is pretty difficult for me to say that ‘it is the paper’ man….. No, it is all the other things!

But this year….two new papers. First one up is Hahnemuhle Hot Press, 100% cotton and acid free. I have a feeling it is going to come close to Arches but hey, that is okay….I love Arches and would use it daily but it does get expensive, especially when experimenting. But a professional paper and frankly, I am not saving any $’s over Arches!!!!

As stated…it is hot press so I am know I will get some texture. Perfect…. I want that and feel the textured nature of hot press sets it apart from just a regular photograph, let alone the salt printing ‘look and process’.

The second paper I am trying is printing paper and not water color paper. This will be Lenox cotton printing paper. The texture won’t be as fine since it is printing paper so that has me thinking just a bit. But if I look to soften up some of my prints and perhaps shift from a 6x9” size to a more square 5”x5” size, this paper should be just fine. It is worth a try as without experimentation; well….is there any real growth?

As a backup…and as long as I am in the spending/purchasing mode, I will most likely order some Revere 320 gsm platinum paper which again, is a high quality paper but not hot press, so more a smoother texture as in the Lenox. I believe my first try will be with the hot press Hahnemuhle.

Will see….more to purchase though as I need some more Pictorico and I see it is not in stock in all places I have checked. This means purchasing more in ‘bulk’ and working at cutting to fit. It does come out cheaper that way but I worry with this product; will it curl up on me? Not sure. Many rolled bulk tends to curl.

Either way…I just continue to experiment and grow. I envision that next year I will have my first ‘salt printing’ zine to show / sell. That is my goal. While I prefer to work within a thematic approach, I have a feeling that this first salt zine will not evolve around any one theme, rather….a printing approach.

So…what are your goals? What are you looking forward to do? We all need that, right?

FUNKY...general notes

For some reason I have used this term (FUNKY) several times now in regards to a project I am working on. FUNKY…. from the onset I wanted images that were unique….not run of the mill, and a bit on the wild, funky side. Not polished for sure.

I am beginning to turn away from being polished. It appears that most everyone and including AI (the image cheating of all cheats )….Oh, think TOPAZ, has polished images but I want images where my creativity come into play. Most people lack creativity and that includes photographers, and AI isn’t quite there yet. I am still daubing on this funkiness issue and have been since completing my Paranormal project. The funkiness in me has come out and now it doesn’t want to go back in it’s hole.

Keep being funky….odd….connect to a theme, but do so without a sense of Normalism. I will continue to be a bit more realistic when I print with my salt printing process as the image needs high contrast and due to the heaviness of grain, when I print…..the image can’t be overly funky. My opinion of course.

Notes on———

Notes

I shoot street…..and this genre allows little time to ‘overly think’ or I should say to stop, adjust, think, adjust etc…. The scene changes too rapidly. But I do have to have my settings in place ahead of time so I can capture images quickly and exposed correctly..

Thus…..notes.

Now, I just viewed a photographer on You Tube from England who suggested to adjust settings ahead of time on his shots so the whites on his negatives are not over-exposed. Makes sense. To do that, he will take a spot reading on a dark area and from that point so as not to overexpose the whites, he will adjust from his spot metering and underexpose by two stops. So a F16 at 15 would now become F16 at 60. Then when he is developing the film, he will cut development time by 30%. So 12 minuets normally in the tank becomes 8 minutes. Again, all makes sense. In the ‘tank’….the first 4-5 minutes is all about shadows while the last portion of development is about the highlights. So by cutting developing time by 30% he is cutting back on the highlights. Between underexposing a dark area by two stops prior to taking the images and cutting 30% off tank exposure in post, he feels he gets it about right.

A second guy on You Tube told his audience to ‘overexpose’ (as opposed to underexpose) shots by a stop or two. Now, this contradicts what the first You Tuber stated but the first one is spot metering while the second one was either auto-program or shooting AP mode. By overexposing by a shot on program mode or AP, ….you are not going to far in exposure to lose your shadows as with film it is critical you don’t blacken your shadows and lose detail as one can always taper down your whites (opposite of digital). Then according to plan, I go into the developing process and increase (as opposed to decrease) the time by 30%. So a normal 12 minute development time now becomes 15 minutes.

Wow….complete opposites! …. So what do I do? First, I have to know my genre of shooting. I shoot street. I have little time to think too much. Second, since I do develop my film but only do ‘salt printing’ as opposed to normal printing or, I develop film and then scan prior to sending to printer, I have a. bit more control over my images by using a bit of software if needed. I usually only will add contrast in software or I can tone down blown out whites. Otherwise, nothing…..so no reason to think about the actual printing process and when I do print with salt printing, I can dodge and burn where needed.

My take? …continue to shoot as I do. Shoot with AP mode or Spot meter. Overexpose shots by one or two shots and then develop in the tank slightly more than usual as I want to have high contrast images This format allows most high content photos…. I think.

Redirection to Salt Printing

My last blog spoke of ‘re-direction….’ and someone questioned the image I connected to that blog. But wait….hear me out. My intent of over-exposing an image related to my ‘intent of my inten’t, or….what am I going to do with that image that is over-exposed slightly.

My intent….? to create an image, high in contrast….so I could have an image that is in the acceptable category for the salt printing process. Salt printing needs ‘high contrast’ images to work with. If I had a regular exposed image, the salt printed final product image would appear dark and under-exposed. In fact, it is the skin tones I need to worry most about. If not ‘white or light gray’ the skin becomes lost in the background. It is best in the salt printing process to have slight over-exposure, knowing that the image isn’t being created for detail and sharpness. Hence, I can get away with a bit of over-exposure to bring out a high contrast end product.

High Contrast is critical when I work with Salt Printing. And, as I now find myself in the middle of the salt printing process (but working with a different image), I have to admit, it is a process. Not difficult by any means….but, one does have to pay attention to small detail. Again, not rocket science but little things such as totally dry images or paper coated with silver nitrate. Detail pertains to correctly burning or dodging where needed. Or detail implies selecting the right medium to being with. Do you use a wet inverted transparency film or a dry inverted print on regular paper? Is it emulsion to emulsion? If you do a wet transparency film, you can go for emulsion to emulsion while a dry print is the opposite. How does one spread the silver nitrate without created dots under the UV light? How to feather the edges? How to know when to take out of the UV light? 6 minutes? 8? ….9 or 10? ….

You see….salt printing while simple by nature, is far from simple. Just having the right paper is one thing….the right chemicals, the right image etc…. is not ‘IT”….. for “IT” also is in the detail. Below is a photo I took with my 35mm and 400 Fomapan. It was shot inside a building with just a hint of light shining on this ‘candid’ subject. I like the way this print turned out although the funny thing is the sepia still shows. I have another print of this where it is more ‘brown’…. I haven’t figured out why yet.

The second image below has been inverted so it becomes a negative. I will take this negative and use it in the salt printing process.

Salt Printing

I just picked up a 28mm …F3.5 Ziuko lens for my Olympus OM-1…. So you might ask, what is in the bag? Well a 35mm, 50mm and a 24mm. I also have a funky 55mm which should provide some odd bokeh from what I understand, but that lens was purchased in Australia and until I venture down there, it stays down there.

I am an utter sucker for film as I believe it to be the purest form of photography. Yes digital is ‘close’….it is quick, live, real time etc…but sadly, it is not film. The next few days we are traveling up-state and will see how film does.

Update……. a few days later. I had three rolls to develop but the last is still in the camera so that will be awhile. As it be, that last roll is the one I really want to view! But I developed the first two and have some nice results.

I keenly want to stay as analog as possible, even though as I sit….I can see a $5000 Digital Leica Monochrom + a lens sitting on the shelf. There it sits….while I am debating picking up another OM-1 film as ‘backup….’ What? Backup?… well, I would hate to lose the OM-1. I can just hear the ‘sigh’ coming from the Leica as I longs to find a new home.

My analog process involves developing the film, which is not all that difficult. At this point I can go a few ways. I can take the negatives and scan them to my computer (yes I know, this is not an analog process), but with those negatives turned to digital, I can then create my zines which I have as physical copies. I want my images in my hands and not on the computer. I just published one called “No Eyes upon Me’…. and have a few more that I am working on, in degree or the other.

The other option is to select certain photos with high contrast and do a totally analog process called Salt Printing. This is not to be done with all photos, ….no, rather… ithe photos must have impact. What will make a person ask a question. Impact = questions and Impact = contrast. If I am lucky, I will find at least one negative I can use to salt print that takes into. account both of those ‘impact’ legs.

Salt Printing is how photography first evolved….. Salt printing was used to develop images of leaves, or twigs or anything that the sun coupled with chemicalized paper, would produce a view representing the said ‘twig or leaf’ etc…. Eventually technology led to photography as we know it today.

Salt printing using the sun to develop the negatives is a totally inconsistent process but it is about as natural as one can get in the photography world. I work with the variables of intensity of sun UV rays, type of paper, image contrast….length of exposure, how much sizing to put on or how much silver nitrate etc…. Cleanliness also comes into play. Can you say ‘variables?”

While suggested by many, I should cut back on the inconsistency such as paper and sizing and cleanliness and yes, ‘that’ I agree on. Try to build in the process some measure of consistency. But where I conflict with their suggestions is in the using of a UV Light box. I don’t envision that a UV light box was utilized in the early photography of salt printing , so…. My intent is to remain true to an analog process using the sun to develop'.

I expect several ‘takes….’. I expect some underexposure and overexposure. I expect the sun to come and go, and I expect difficulty with ‘dodging’ where needed. I expect failure more so than success but ….when success does come about, the end result truly belongs to me.