Thursday, 28 December 2017

Staircase

The staircase in The Mineral Water Hospital, Bath is rather special.  Ok so the actual treads are a bit uneven in places (not that suitable for people with mobility issues I guess) but the finials (is that the correct term?) are beautiful - if a little dark in this print:

HP5+, Adox paper, mild sepia tone
I had the Pentax ME Super with me this year and I just stuck it on A and shot away in blind trust to Pentax's metering system - in any case, there is no manual metering option.  I always rate HP5+ at around 200 anyway but even so, perhaps I should have used the compensation dial by the rewind knob and let even more light in.  But the print is a fair reflection of the scene - the wood (mahogany I would guess) is very dark.

2 comments:

  1. You did a nice job documenting the Min before it closes.

    The ME Super probably has the same metering system as the ME, which I know well. When calibrated properly it does good work -- but is not sophisticated enough to navigate such a high-contrast situation as this shot. Could you dodge the bannister to bring out more detail?

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Jim - you spotted what I was up to, documenting photographically some parts of The Min.

      The Pentax is really lovely to handle - and that's high praise from someone who cut their teeth on an OM1.

      I thought about dodging, but it's a very complex shape. Also, I think I'd just end up losing contrast in that area. Most times these days I favour a straight print. That's a whole other debate for another day. Perhaps I'll write about it :)

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