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| Portstewart Harbour on Adox MCC |
It's from the 'Blad but as you can see I cropped it, this time to a 6x4,5 format. I've been obsessing lately about formats and I've been trying - as much as possible - to print to the same ratio as the negative. So for 35mm that would be 2:3, for 6x6 it's 1:1. But sometimes the negative just doesn't work well in it's original format and this was one of those cases. So as I say, I opted for a 6:4.5 crop. I don't feel too bad since you can get a 6x4.5 back for the 'Blad so I can convince myself of a certain authenticity to it. I priced an A16 back on the Auction Site and they go for somewhere in the £100-£200 range. A bit steep when you can do like I did here and simply crop in the darkroom. A couple of hundred quid still buys a decent amount of film these days...
To be honest I wasn't sure if I'd have anything to write about this week since I've been laid up for a while on account of me legs. Bed rest, elevated feet and all that melarky. It looks like this will be the pattern for some time, until the medics get their act together and sort out those pesky veins of mine. I'm back on my feet now but on 'light duties' only. Among other things that means putting a strict limit on darkroom work, since I'm on my feet a lot when I'm printing. Ironically that’s one of the attractions of darkroom work for me - the fact that I’m not sat at a computer editing my images. Anyway, on Saturday last it was an hour and two prints and I was out.
Sorry your legs are giving you trouble. I hope you get some relief soon. I once saw a photo of a bed-bound person who had a piano suspended over their bed so they could play. Perhaps you could hang a second darkroom over the bed? You could do the exposure and the missus could put the photos through the baths, haha. (sorry to joke about your condition. Laughter's the best medicine?)
ReplyDeleteThat's a fine looking photograph and print, by the way. Another place I would love to visit. I used to feel I was cheating if I cropped because of Saint Cartier-Bresson, who never cropped. Except once when he couldn't get his lens through a fence all the way. But I do trim and crop now if I feel that a photo would look better with empty sky etc cut out.
Thanks Marcus. That's some vision I have in my head, of the enlarger suspended above me. Mind you, I think in my case a piano would be the easier option lol. I use a DeVere 507 floor-standing enlarger - probably one of the biggest and heaviest around. It stands about 8 feet tall and is bolted to the wall. As my mate said as he helped me manoeuvre it into place, 'At least you'll still be able to print during an earthquake'. It's complete overkill, but it's a lovely bit of kit to use...the focus wheels sit below the baseboard, so even for times when the head it raised up it's very easy to use. I love it.
DeleteThe crop police are active on the forums. It doesn't really bother me that much, to be honest, but there is something very satisfying about printing the whole frame. Some printers file back their neg carriers so they can print out the edges to demonstrate their commitment to the full frame. At least when I crop I try to do it with some pre-existing format in mind - and that's easy enough when you think about the film and camera formats that were around in the last 30 years - 24x36, 6x4.5, 6x6, 6x7, 6x8, 6x9, 6x12, 6x17, 4x5...the list goes on and on. And if you go back a bit further you've got a whole load more to choose from.
I looked up some photos of the DeVere 507 enlarger. Wow, that is a beast. I bet it is fun to use, though. I don't remember what I had, but it sat on a table.
DeleteI try to keep my crops to 5:4 or 3:2 so they will fit on standard paper sizes. Having non-standard crops was a problem when I used my local lab because the fellow there wouldn't pay attention and fill out the paper, cutting off parts of my photo. Now I send off my film or digital files to a lab in Seoul that understands it's better to have a bit of white margin than to chop off the ends of a photo.
Will you mend or are you settling into a new normal, with your legs? I sure hope the former.
ReplyDeleteCrop proudly, my friend.
Jim I hope I'm mendable! But I'll not know for sure for another few weeks until I get back to Belfast to see my surgeon. I'm hoping there's some new laser-type intervention available, but if not, the hope is that the veins can be removed under GA. General Anesthetic is my least favourite option - I'm difficult to intubate on account of the fusion in my neck due to the spondylitis. But I just want to get back on my feet again, so I'll take whatever he offers me.
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