Lobster Pots, Portballintrae

The old lobster pots are hard to pass by without clicking that shutter - they just look such interesting things.  This is kind of a boring shot, though...needs some side-lighting perhaps to make some interesting shadows.

Lobster pots, Portballintrae 2021. HP5+ on Ilford MG Classic fibre paper

It has taken me a long time to warm to Ilford's MG Classic paper but I'm getting there.  It can be a tad lifeless at times - or maybe that's just my negs.  The legendary Fred Picker is one of many who recommend One film, One developer, One paper and get to know them inside out - you can see him here, although be warned, it's 3 hours long.  He can (could, I guess would be more accurate as he's left us now) come across a tad stiff at times with regard to the mechanics of the whole shebang but overall I do like the way he speaks and the care he takes with his photography.  The takeaway is that by nailing down the technical aspects of photography you free yourself to concentrate all your efforts on the important things - the creative aspect, or as he rather succinctly puts it, Where to stand.  I think that's a decent strategy and the Zone system, or a version of it, is probably the easiest way to decide what to do with the highlights and the shadows in your scene.  Whether or not Mr Picker's photographs are ones you like is another question - again, to paraphrase the man, it's important to have the strength of your own conviction with regard to your work.  If you don't believe in it, how can you expect someone else to? 

There are plenty of opinions about Mr Picker on the Internet and while opinions on his work vary everyone who knew him personally speaks very highly of him as a teacher and as a person.  The first hour of the video is good for anyone interested in photography, the second hour is more on the Zone system and figuring out your own film-related Exposure Index and the last hour is about darkroom work.  I can see the sense in the One film One developer One paper approach.  Up until recently I've been using HP5+ for about 75% of my work and FP4+ for the other 25% (the exception being a recent foray into Fomapan 200 for the 4x5 pinhole camera).  I know how to make both the Ilford films work for me - HP5+ in ID-11 and FP4+ in RO9.  I can feel myself migrating to using FP4+ exclusively in 120 format and saving HP5+ for 35mm work (which I've been doing less of recently).  However, I do like having a variety of papers at my disposal.  When I start thinking about printing a negative I'll ask myself which paper will suit that subject and shot best?  Warmtone papers are rarely a bad choice; cooltone papers I find myself not using so much; neutral papers such as Ilford's MG Classic I've been using a lot of recently.  And then for something completely different there's lith (cold and warm papers) or something more specialised like Foma 133.  It's all good.