I was talking to John Brewer about how he is planning
on shooting some 10x8 film, and I realised that it has been months since I have
shot any myself. I bought some Fomapan
100 and discovered that HC110 was not really compatible with it, gave poor
shadow detail, so it has been shelved for a while. Seeing as I had no outstanding work, and the
day to myself I decided to have a play in the studio.
While getting the dark slides out of my van I found
some dolls that I bought in the summer for the Dark Memories project, so these
could be my subject for the day. They
are those horrendous porcelain faced repro things popular in the 90s. I had been told that Rodinal works ok with
Fomapan so I mixed up a tray of 1-50. I
have the Digital Truth app on my phone which makes life so much easier, you can
turn the screen green so that you can see it while processing. The shots produced, processed an in the
dryer.
While John was at my studio the other day he noticed
one of my slightly anaemic cyanotypes. I
explained that it was one of the types of paper that I had bought and it just
didn’t work particularly well.
Apparently some papers have a buffer in them and the way to remove it is
to soak them in a mid acidic bath, such as dilute white vinegar. I gave it a go, and it did seem to give
better results.
While everything was set up it seemed like a good idea
to produce a plate as well. I spent some
time a few days ago experimenting with developers and my technique. I have had a problem recently with
developments marks. I have now diluted
the dev and although it takes longer I am not getting the marks. Its been a fun day in The Engine Room – next task
– some contact prints.
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