Thursday 7 March 2019

Trees at Mountsandel

I was out the other morning with the 'Blad and boy was it cold.  I suppose it's still early March, so we have to be thankful there isn't snow on the ground but that might come yet so I'll not say any more on the matter.

St Patrick's Day is coming up, in case your didn't know.  In Chicago, where The Brother lives, they turn the rivers green and have great aul' hooley.  Here in Ireland we don't do that.  No - we're all good-living God-fearing people here.  We got rid of the troublemakers a couple of centuries ago, y'see - to the "New World".  Hah!

If only, eh?  No - there is a grand celebration on the 17th March in Ireland and lots of people enjoy a pint (or two) of The Black Stuff (Guinness) early in the day (morning) and then try to make it through the next 12 hours without falling asleep on a park bench somewhere (usually no chance).  'Nuff said.

Anyway, this was one of the shots from t'other day:

Trees in Mountsandel by the River Bann, Coleraine.
The foreground foliage was reddish in colour so I stuck an orange filter on the front of the 250mm Sonnar on the Hasselblad.  The resulting print looked promising but I thought it would tone so I gave the second print a little more time under the enlarger - overprinting it by half a stop or so.  A short bleach in PotFerri followed by a dunk in thiourea and you have - more or less - what you see here.

4 comments:

  1. That's lovely. The trees glow. One for the wall? I'm suddenly curious about what you do with your prints. Do you give them to people? Put them in a portfolio box/binder? I got prints back from the lab yesterday that made me quite happy. Some were film and some were digital, but both looked great on Eco White Matte paper. The paper costs twice what regular glossy paper does, but it's worth it. And I only print my best photos from each month to keep costs down. Negative film (including black and white) has a very distinctive look that I find difficult to describe, but digital and slide look quite similar when printed on very good paper. After I show the prints to the missus, I put them in a photo portfolio box. I take them out now and then to have a look. Otherwise, what's the point, eh?

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Marcus. Yes, one for the wall indeed. And maybe for my Club’s Annual Exhibition which is imminent.

      I’ve boxes and boxes of prints in the spare room where I do my mounting. I mount the decent prints. Some end up in frames on the wall (which I swap out for others from time to time) but there’s a lot just sitting around. I should get some portfolio boxes to store them properly.

      As I'm sure you know different darkroom papers can have very differing outcomes on the final print. Paper is by far the biggest cost of the darkroom consumables. Plus it can take a few attempts to get it looking the way you want.

      I agree with your last comment. Prints need to be looked at - if only by yourself and immediate family for now.

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  2. Oh yes, that's one for the wall for sure!
    I really love the tones in it, and thank heavens you put that orange filter on the front of that 250.

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