Old stones

The weekends are pretty busy family affairs, what with my lovely, ever-patient wife, our daughter 'Matilda' and everything.  The 'everything' includes The Hound (our 9-year old border collie) our 5 hens and a rabbit which came to us un-announced and ended up being called 'Rooney van Ramsey' (don't ask, its a football thing made up by The Lad and Matilda).  The Lad is away working for BT this year, doing 'billing' and other important stuff while he takes a break from Uni, so he isn't around much at the minute.  Matilda likes a swim, as do I (good for General Fitness as well as the A.S.) - it's a bit of father-daughter 'bonding' time as well, which is great.   So no, I don't get in the darkroom much at weekends - although I did sneak a little 35mm film into a tank of Infosol3 at 1:14 dilution for 7 and-a-half minutes early this morning when the house was quiet.  The film is hanging in the 'drying cupboard' as I type.  With a bit of luck I might get something printed tomorrow.

The mild spell continues and this afternoon we headed down to Portstewart to see the craic.  Today, the last Sunday in September, was a Big Day in times gone bye.  Known as Chaghera Sunday, it signalled the end of the annual harvest and presumably that meant a rare day off for the labourers, and to Portstewart they would head.  The name apparently comes from a mix of Cookstown and Maghera, two county towns a good bit inland from here.  These days it means everyone drives their car along The Prom, takes the air, gets an ice-cream and generally has a good gawk at everyone else, as is the local custom.  One lap of The Prom and that was enough for us - too busy.  But Matilda enjoyed it, entering The Hound for the Dog Show (didn't win - are the judges blind??) and getting an ice-cream, so all is good.

So for your entertainment here is a print I made of some stones and some wood.

Rock Castle Salmon House, c1600

These particular stones form part of a little cottage in Portstewart which was used by salmon fishermen and dates from around 1600.  Well, I'm guessing the mortar doesn't date from 1600 and nor does the wood where the window would have been, but you get the idea.  Of course The Brother would by now be instigating a philosophical discussion about what it is that gives a building it's building-ness, or some such.  All you have to do to get him started is ask a seemingly innocuous question, such as 'What is a thing?' and he's off, although he'll usually start by informing you (non-too-politely, it has to be said), that that is the wrong question and you should be asking 'Why is a thing?'.  Several hours later and you're trying desperately to cling on to what is by now a distant memory of something - anything - that is real, tangible and understandable in what passes for 'your life'.  That's philosophy for you.

Anyway, this particular cottage-thing lies just in front of Low Rock Castle - famous as the birthplace of Field Marshall Sir George White VC, himself of the Siege of Ladysmith fame.  That house was tumbled only recently and has since been converted into a gated community of expensive town houses and apartments.  Gated community?  In Portstewart?  At least the Salmon Cottage remains, although all boarded up as you can see.

A lovely view

Continuing my coastal journey, on round from Dunluce Castle that was so well photographed in yesterday's piece, lies the seaside town of Portballantrae.  Bhaile being Irish for settlement and Tra for beach it isn't hard to work this one out.

There's still a small harbour there today, mainly used for local fishing boats and for pleasure craft in the summer, when the whole of the North Antrim coast gets very busy.  Best to be avoided at all costs during the summer months if you ask me.  Anytime from October to March (baring Christmas Day and New Year's Day when everyone 'takes the air') is usually OK - you've only the rain and biting wind for company, much more preferable believe me.

To the East of the village lies Blackrock Strand, accessed by the Three Quarter Mile Bridge over the River Bush - although it's nowhere near 3/4 mile long, seems more like 50 yards to me.  Still, that's the Irish for you, never much good at the auld Mathematics - except for this lad, he was pretty good now it has to be said.  Anyone who can read LaPlace's Mecanique Celeste (in the French, naturellement) let alone find an error in it (at the tender age of 17) gets my vote.  I used to dabble in the old sums a bit myself, a long time ago, before I found something easier to do.  But that's for another day.  Perhaps.

Anyway, I digress. The beach is very popular with surfers as some pretty big waves roll in from the Atlantic on a regular basis.  There's the "quare view" over the bay to the imposing Runkerry House, once the home of Lord Macnaghten, member of parliament for the area in the late 19th Century.  Not to be confused with the infamous 'Half Hung MacNaghten' - and that's another story that must wait for another day or I'll never get this one finished.  Runkerry House has since been converted into a series of apartments and town houses, as is the norm.  Still, it manages to provide a decent backdrop to admire from the eastern end of the village and there are several viewing opportunities for those whose legs, like mine, can't cope with the walking.  Hence our photograph today:

For admiring the lovely view, Portballantrae

You see?  Not just one bench, but two, and side by side at that.  And bolted down into a lovely big slab of Blue Circle for good measure so as no-one lifts them.  Still, gives you an idea of just how "lovely" the "view" must be, doesn't it?

I know, I must stop teasing you all (Ed: Ahem - who, exactly?).  And I will post the odd image of our majestic coastline that floats my boat, so to speak.  Once I've taken them and done something to them in the darkroom, that is.  Speaking of which, I'm off there now!

Dunluce Castle

One of the highlights of any coach trip along the North Antrim coast must be stopping off to photograph Dunluce Castle - a bit of a ruin, truth be told, but since it dates back to the 14th Century that's OK.  It's perched precariously on the cliff edge - indeed part of it lies in the Atlantic Ocean, having apparently 'dropped off' one stormy night in 1639.  Famously described as 'one of the most picturesque and romantic castles in Ireland', as you might expect there are a lot of photographs of it to be found if you go looking.  Sunrise, sunset, sunny, cloudy, misty, foggy, midday, midnight, even with the aurora borealis as the backdrop - yup, they've all been done.  You can even get an app about it.  Of course being a castle and being very old it has a fascinating history (with a ghost, of course) - more of that another time (maybe).

So there I was passing it the other day, having just dropped Matilda (as she will be known here) off to school, when I thought to myself I'd better stop and see if there is anything left to photograph here.  Being September and relatively early in the morning I reckoned there probably wouldn't be too many tourists about.  For once I was right - not a sinner about the place.  Keeping my eyes peeled as I drove down the lane leading to the car park I identified where might be a favourable spot to stand and point my camera from.  As I walked back down the road from the car park I half expected a shout from the obligatory coffee shop, informing me that the entrance to the Castle was in the other direction, but none came.  All was quiet as I approached.  Suddenly the sea mist seemed a little stronger than I remembered - an eerie silence descended all around and I realised with a shiver I was completely alone.  Slowly I edged closer, my senses heightened.  (Ed: Yes yes, we all get the message, you're about to take a photograph.  Edgar Allen Poe you are not.  Just get on with it for goodness' sake).

Oops, sorry about that.  Got a bit carried away there, as you do.  Well here it is: Dunluce Castle, my version (just visible in the background there).

Dunluce Castle

PS Don't get me wrong - there might be another photograph or two of this place in me.

Shelagh’s Head, Wishing Arch, Elephant Rock and Lion’s Paw

Around the coast from Portstewart and Portrush (just past Curran Head but before Dunluce Castle) we have an area known as the White Rocks.  A long sandy beach with a backdrop of Limestone cliffs which have been eroded over the years into a variety of shapes - some of which have been rather esoterically named as in the title of this post.

Now I'm not a great one for the classic landscape photograph of the North Antrim coast (as beautiful as it is), the like of which appear in their hundreds in coffee shops all around here, but sometimes your camera ends up pointing in a particular direction and before you know it your finger has twitched, the shutter has been opened for a fraction of a second, those silver halide crystals on the emulsion coated side of your film have begun to effect a chemical change and an image (albeit invisible) has been formed.  The good news is that after being steeped in some chemical solution ("developer") the resulting image is made visible and then made permanent and light-resistant by another chemical bath ("fixer").   If all goes well you might at this stage have a negative, from which, after washing and drying, you can make a print, as indeed I try to do from time to time.  Most times my negatives end up acquiring lots of dust and scratches along the way - which takes particular skill, I might add, in spite of my best intentions.

So on a good day I might take my negative into the room which has bin bags taped over the window and a curtain over the door, place it carefully in my 1970-something enlarger and shine a light through it onto a sheet of paper coated in some chemical or other.  This results in the image transferring itself (through the magic of light and chemistry) from the negative onto the paper - although it is not visible to us humans at this stage.  The paper is then washed in a developer solution which converts this image into something visible (more silver magic), and this can be made 'permanent' through a final fix, which converts all non-image silver into a soluble form that can be washed away.  And there you have it: the Silver Print...and what a thing of beauty is sometimes is.

Occasionally I might decide to steep the final (wet) print into a toning solution (e.g., tea, selenium, sepia) which will effect a chemical change on the silver image.  This might deepen the blacks and even cause a noticeable colour shift in the image, as well as making the image more permanent (if it doesn't end up in the bin, that is).

Blimey - I didn't expect all that, did you?!

And here we are...Ta-da! The masterpiece :)  FP4 on Fotospeed RCVC Oyster paper, Warmtone developer anf Selenium toned.  Was it worth it?  You tell me.

White Rocks, Portrush

PS Normal service will be resumed tomorrow, when I 'do' Dunluce Castle.

Postcard from Portstewart

I hope all is well at home.  Did I say already what clement weather we are having for the time of year?  It can be a little misty early on but the sun usually breaks through by mid-morning and the temperatures rise to a heady 60°F - uncommonly mild for September in this part of the world, I am reliably informed.  Portstewart is a quaint little seaside town with beautiful views over the bay.  Above the little harbour with its delightful array of boats I found our hotel - compact, bijou and full of authentic olde-world charm is how the local tourist office described it:

Our hotel, Portstewart

It may not look like much from outside but believe me it is positively Tardis-like inside.  The view from our balcony is usually something to write home about (!), but today of course the mist stayed somewhat longer than usual and hence the rather uniform greyness you can see.  Lurking somewhere behind all that grey stuff lies the majestic Atlantic Ocean.  If you look closely, just to the left of the main mast of our hotel you might be able to make out Malin Head, which is in Donegal and therefore administered by the Republic of Ireland, or just Ireland, or sometimes Eire, or the Free State, or the 26 Counties, or simply The South of Ireland, even though it's in the North, if you see what I mean.  It's all very confusing for a simple tourist like myself...

Well I must dash, dear and hopefully this card will catch the last post.  Besides which, the mâitre'd has just informed us that afternoon tea is shortly to be served on the terrace - all this sea air has given me quite an appetite! Toodle-pip!

Misty morning

Back to the woods - Mountsandel Wood to be precise.  Another misty morning and another moody tree scene for you.

A

B

Notice a difference?  There isn't much of a difference (even in the prints), but A has been toned in Selenium, B hasn't. Now in a double-blind, randomized control trial conducted here at home (!) 100% of participants (2) preferred A.  I'm not so sure - I think B might have the edge here - it's slightly colder in tone which befits the misty morning scene.  Both on Fotospeed RCVC Oyster paper in Warmtone developer.

Let me know what you think.

Why?

Two posts in one day? I kind of wanted to explain, to myself at any rate, why I'm only showing scans of photos that I've printed in my wee darkroom and not scans of negatives or even digital.

My interest in photography started out in the 1970s when The Brother and I would head out over the ditches and hedges and snap away till out hearts were content.  And then came the darkroom which was great - all those chemicals to play with and maybe even a decent print at the end of it.

But along came University, involving a move away from the homestead, and then a career.  Photography became even more of a pastime and although I usually had a camera about it didn't get much use.  I have a lot to thank the rise of digital photography for - it got me interested again.  But I don't like the digital workflow - too much time spent at a computer, which doesn't suit my Ankylosing Spondylitis.  And I just don't get the same buzz from using an app such as Photoshop or Lightroom as I did from film and darkroom work, which is much more physical and involving.  So I persuaded Mrs North East Liberties to let me ring-fence a small unused room in the house and started building a darkroom.  And what a wonderfully creative space a darkroom is.  I love working with the chemicals again, the smell of the paper as you open the box and the feeling of accomplishment when you handle the prints at the end of a session.  It's so much more rewarding than digital - well for me it is, anyway.

Now I know it doesn't really make sense to have a digital blog and then not upload digital images, or even some hybrid scheme using scans of negatives.  But I fancy keeping this place sacred to the printed negative, even if I have to scan the print in order to upload it and show it to all my readers haha.  The downside is that it's more expensive to print than scan (once you have a scanner that is). And of course it's more time-consuming, so there'll be fewer blog posts than if I was posting digital images.  But if you keep the prints small (e.g., 5x7) it's not that expensive and it's just a very enjoyable activity.

It's also good to have a few prints dotted around the house.  With digital I rarely printed any photographs.  With film, I print a lot and so the walls are gradually getting filled with the results of my darkroom efforts.

You could of course argue until the cows come home (Ed: Eh?) about the 'quality' of film vs digital - and many people do.  Well I'm not too bothered about that particular argument - while it's important if you're a Tim Rudman or a Michael Kenna but for me that's not an issue.  I like the look of film and I would say I prefer the look of film to digital - although with digital filters like Silver Efex it's not always easy to tell the difference.  I would also say that I like the acquisition of skills acquired in the darkroom - from printing to toning.  As I said earlier, it's a much more physical and involving activity than the digital workflow and it's nice sometimes to think you are involved in an activity that harks back to the birth of photography, which went hand-in-hand with printing for many decades.

So there we are. For now I'm keeping this blog 'print-based only' - let's see what happens.