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"I have often said the
negative is similar to a musician's score, and the print is the
performance of that score. The negative comes to life only when
"performed" as a print".
ANSEL ADAMS (The Print)
Cameras :
Medium Format : Fuji
GSW690III, Agfa Super Isolette ( a 50 year old classic camera) and Mamiya 645 Super. With negative sizes of
up to 6x9cm these camera's produce images of very high resolution and
great tonal subtlety making them ideal for landscapes.
35mm SLR : Contax AX, RX, 167mt, 159MM and Yashica FXD with Carl Zeiss
prime lenses (28mm, 50mm, 100mm, 200mm). Teamed with the very finest grain
black and white films the legendary Zeiss optics can almost compete with medium format.
Sigma APO 400mm and ultra wide lenses are also used.
Film:
Very detailed high resolution
fine grained films are utilised
for black and white landscape photography wherever possible. Favourites include Technical Pan, Agfa
(and now Rollei) 25 pan, Fuji Acros and XP2 Super. A tripod tends to
be the norm for British landscapes but candid street photography by it's very
nature tends to favour less detailed fast films which can be handheld even
in low light. Tri X is invaluable for these people pictures and can
be "push processed" to work in low light levels. It's famous
"S" shaped tonal curve gives strong mid tone contrast which
suits this subject very well.
I also enjoy using infra red black and white films. These can record light
beyond the range of human vision. With appropriate filtration they open an
ethereal world of luminous vegetation and dark skies and water . Kodak HIE
infra red film is extremely grainy and gives haloes around bright objects
to create glowing ethereal impressions. I am now experimenting with the new infra red emulsion from Rollei as a
finer grained alternative now that Konica have ceased production.
Digital workflow :
Scanning :
Medium format films are scanned at 4800 ppi with an Epson 4990 in 16 bit
to retain the tonal subtlety of the original. This gives a total pixel
count exceeding 150 million pixels for a 6x9cm negative. This is well
beyond the capabilities of the top end digital cameras and is suitable for
enlargements far bigger than those I offer.
35mm film is scanned with a Minolta Dimage Scan Elite 5400 to produce 16
bit images of 37 million pixels.
Editing:
Photoshop allows me to emulate the techniques I used in the darkroom
for 15 years. Dodging, burning, split grade printing, bleaching and toning
can all be achieved now without chemicals to arrive at a truly expressive
print.
I also use Photoshop to stitch together multiple negatives to form
seamless panoramas. These have particularly high resolution due to the
high number of pixels sampled..
Printing:
Archival prints with longevities exceeding that of traditional fine
art photography are now possible with the top end printers. I use an Epson
R2400 with Epson K3 pigment inks and print on the highest quality cotton
based canvas papers.
Mounting:
I use a Logan 301 matte cutter to cut
perfectly straight bevelled windows. Mounts are constructed using archival
materials throughout to ensure longevity for your black and white
photograph.
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