By some peoples standards I am considered a “dinosaur.” I still use film and print in
the darkroom.
The equipment I currently use are a 4x5 field camera and five Fujinon lenses. This
camera renders a 4” by 5” negative to work from. My other camera is a Hasselblad
500cm with five lenses. For this camera I decided to use the A-12 backs and it
renders a 6cmx6cm (2.25” square) negative. The film I use has an ISO rating of 100.
The reason I use this film speed is due to the fact it has a fine grain structure and will
make beautiful enlargements and tonal quality at any size.
With all the various tripods on the market and claims made, I still use a wooden ash
tripod for everything. And it is large enough to hold/mount an 8x10 view camera on it.
The reason I use wood is because wood absorbs vibration. Metal and the various
other hollow leg tripods have a tendency to transmit a vibration up to the camera even
in the slightest breeze or road vibration.
I develop my own film and process my own prints in the darkroom. All works are
printed on a double-weight paper, fibre base and processed for the long term, just as
the masters did. I usually use two types of developers. A warm tone developer for a
nice smooth tonal scale and a cold tone developer for a short time to achieve a good
crisp black. This process which has been used for years is a must for a full tonal
range. Then the print is immersed in a citric stop bath to halt the development
process. From there I use a two bath fixer. The fixer is basically made from sodium
thiosulfate which removes all the undeveloped silver and stabilizes the final silver
image we see. After a bath in what is called hypo clearing agent, the print is wash
and air dried.
All prints are mounted on a 4-ply museum 100% rag board. I really hate to use the
word “archival” anymore. When I was in college in the 1970s the word archival meant
that the image would last more than 100 years.
The reason I don’t use the term “archival” anymore in reference to my images is due
to the fact everything today is appears to be “archival.” Especially when it comes to
Digital Imaging and the pigments that are used to print.
It has been pointed out to me by more than one “expert” in their field that the various
companies have used accelerated aging process’ to determine the longevity of the
pigments. That led me to doing a real life test with the various digital pigments.
I live in Texas and one side of my house has direct sunlight on the windows for most
of the day. Along with that and the heat that develops during the hot summer days I
printed several prints using these Archival Dyes. I covered half the print with black
construction paper and taped several in the windows for three weeks. After three
weeks I removed the prints and black construction paper and I was not surprised to
find that the uncovered half of the print degraded severely, while the covered side
appeared to have no visual loss of content or pigment. So the word “Archival” has
been changed, and if kept in a perfect environment where the light, humidity and
everything is controlled these pigments will last. But who wants a piece of art that can
only be brought out to view and then put right back up not to be seen until next time or
maybe forgotten about for years.
A silver print should be around forever. Silver is a metal and shouldn’t fade over time.
The contrast shouldn’t even change and will handle just about any climate or light
change. Although I do hand tint some pieces of mine, the pigments should hold up to
the test of time if kept out of direct sunlight and the intense heat of some lamps. The
company I get my pigments from has been in business since 1885, yes 1885. They
have not changed their process since then either.
The digital cameras we used just a few years ago, 5 or 6 megapixels are now
antiques. These cameras which looked like 35mm SLR’s have been replaced by 12
megapixel cameras that look the same. But there is a big difference in the quality of
the image. The digital back used on most medium format cameras is roughly up to 32
megapixel and there is talk of a full frame 75 megapixel back. The digital world is
changing faster than we can keep up with.
The computers we use today will be outdated in a couple of years. This means the
way of storing our images will have been outdated. All one has to do is look at how
far and how fast things have change as far as storage. We went to a hard drive, to a
floppy (both could be erased with a magnet) to a CD, a DVD, a Blue-Ray disk, to the
SD card which was once 512 mgs and is now up to a 10 gig SD Card. I’m afraid what
we have today will go the way of the Edsel (a car), try and buy a new one.
It is not that I am not in favor of new technology, I myself have what one would call a
digital darkroom, a digital back for my Hasselblad and a 100 gig hard drive hooked to
it for storage. It will hold over 1,000 high resolution images. Not to mention the
graphic programs available, and they don’t come cheap. None of it does. I use these
tools when longevity in not an issue. If I do a wedding or portrait session I prefer to
use film even color film. Color film uses what is called a four-layer silver-dye cloud
emulsion, meaning, the base of the film is silver. One layer of this film is a filter that
filters out the green cast of the florescent light. The digital is used for charity work I
photograph, the once in awhile commercial job and that is about it.
I hope I’m wrong about digital and it does last at least 100 yrs. I also, hope I will be
around to see it I will be 154 years old by then. But somehow I don’t think I will make
it.
the darkroom.
The equipment I currently use are a 4x5 field camera and five Fujinon lenses. This
camera renders a 4” by 5” negative to work from. My other camera is a Hasselblad
500cm with five lenses. For this camera I decided to use the A-12 backs and it
renders a 6cmx6cm (2.25” square) negative. The film I use has an ISO rating of 100.
The reason I use this film speed is due to the fact it has a fine grain structure and will
make beautiful enlargements and tonal quality at any size.
With all the various tripods on the market and claims made, I still use a wooden ash
tripod for everything. And it is large enough to hold/mount an 8x10 view camera on it.
The reason I use wood is because wood absorbs vibration. Metal and the various
other hollow leg tripods have a tendency to transmit a vibration up to the camera even
in the slightest breeze or road vibration.
I develop my own film and process my own prints in the darkroom. All works are
printed on a double-weight paper, fibre base and processed for the long term, just as
the masters did. I usually use two types of developers. A warm tone developer for a
nice smooth tonal scale and a cold tone developer for a short time to achieve a good
crisp black. This process which has been used for years is a must for a full tonal
range. Then the print is immersed in a citric stop bath to halt the development
process. From there I use a two bath fixer. The fixer is basically made from sodium
thiosulfate which removes all the undeveloped silver and stabilizes the final silver
image we see. After a bath in what is called hypo clearing agent, the print is wash
and air dried.
All prints are mounted on a 4-ply museum 100% rag board. I really hate to use the
word “archival” anymore. When I was in college in the 1970s the word archival meant
that the image would last more than 100 years.
The reason I don’t use the term “archival” anymore in reference to my images is due
to the fact everything today is appears to be “archival.” Especially when it comes to
Digital Imaging and the pigments that are used to print.
It has been pointed out to me by more than one “expert” in their field that the various
companies have used accelerated aging process’ to determine the longevity of the
pigments. That led me to doing a real life test with the various digital pigments.
I live in Texas and one side of my house has direct sunlight on the windows for most
of the day. Along with that and the heat that develops during the hot summer days I
printed several prints using these Archival Dyes. I covered half the print with black
construction paper and taped several in the windows for three weeks. After three
weeks I removed the prints and black construction paper and I was not surprised to
find that the uncovered half of the print degraded severely, while the covered side
appeared to have no visual loss of content or pigment. So the word “Archival” has
been changed, and if kept in a perfect environment where the light, humidity and
everything is controlled these pigments will last. But who wants a piece of art that can
only be brought out to view and then put right back up not to be seen until next time or
maybe forgotten about for years.
A silver print should be around forever. Silver is a metal and shouldn’t fade over time.
The contrast shouldn’t even change and will handle just about any climate or light
change. Although I do hand tint some pieces of mine, the pigments should hold up to
the test of time if kept out of direct sunlight and the intense heat of some lamps. The
company I get my pigments from has been in business since 1885, yes 1885. They
have not changed their process since then either.
The digital cameras we used just a few years ago, 5 or 6 megapixels are now
antiques. These cameras which looked like 35mm SLR’s have been replaced by 12
megapixel cameras that look the same. But there is a big difference in the quality of
the image. The digital back used on most medium format cameras is roughly up to 32
megapixel and there is talk of a full frame 75 megapixel back. The digital world is
changing faster than we can keep up with.
The computers we use today will be outdated in a couple of years. This means the
way of storing our images will have been outdated. All one has to do is look at how
far and how fast things have change as far as storage. We went to a hard drive, to a
floppy (both could be erased with a magnet) to a CD, a DVD, a Blue-Ray disk, to the
SD card which was once 512 mgs and is now up to a 10 gig SD Card. I’m afraid what
we have today will go the way of the Edsel (a car), try and buy a new one.
It is not that I am not in favor of new technology, I myself have what one would call a
digital darkroom, a digital back for my Hasselblad and a 100 gig hard drive hooked to
it for storage. It will hold over 1,000 high resolution images. Not to mention the
graphic programs available, and they don’t come cheap. None of it does. I use these
tools when longevity in not an issue. If I do a wedding or portrait session I prefer to
use film even color film. Color film uses what is called a four-layer silver-dye cloud
emulsion, meaning, the base of the film is silver. One layer of this film is a filter that
filters out the green cast of the florescent light. The digital is used for charity work I
photograph, the once in awhile commercial job and that is about it.
I hope I’m wrong about digital and it does last at least 100 yrs. I also, hope I will be
around to see it I will be 154 years old by then. But somehow I don’t think I will make
it.
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