Tutorials & Knowhow

Focus Adjustment and Other Considerations when Shooting Infrared

By / March 26, 2023 / Gear Theory, Processes, Tutorials & Guides / 4 Comments

From very early in my photography I have been fascinated by the unique look and simply luscious tones infrared images can produce. Ansel on steroids. I have only been able to produce anything like decent images recently but pre-digital, inspired by Sir Simon Marsden’s work (www.sirsimonmrsden.co.uk or www.jamescwilliamsphoto.com), I tried some Ilford SFX 200 film that has extended sensitivity up to 740 nm (nanometers). At the time I only had a 6x red R25 filter which produced an infrared result of sorts and I didn’t take it any further. Sir Simon used the same R25 filter but with Kodak High Speed Infrared, sensitive up to 900nm and with less sensitivity to visible light. That combination and a lack of an anti-halation layer gave much more dramatic results with the halo effect so characteristic of his work.

A Polaroid Pathfinder 110 camera, with an Olympus Trip 35 next to it for scale

Polaroid Pathfinder – Shooting 120 Film In My Father-In-Law’s Essentially Obsolete Camera

By / March 26, 2023 / Medium & Large Format, Mods, DIY & Lens Adapting / 6 Comments

My father-in-law is a bit of a packrat. He loves people and he’s always got relevant questions, stories, and of course stuff in his hoard. Tell him what you’re interested in, and he can find an on-topic decades-old postcard, or calendar, or a book. When I got back into film photography over the past couple of years, he dug into his trove and started hauling out cameras. Boxes of cameras, really, some from as far back as World War II. The one featured in this article is a bit later in the century, but still what most people would consider obsolete: a Polaroid Land Camera Pathfinder model 110.

A print on a printing press

The Polymer Photogravure Process – By Nik Stanbridge

By / February 2, 2023 / Processes, Tutorials & Guides / 6 Comments

I’ve written before about how important it is to me to see and experience my photographs in a printed form of some sort. Whether it’s a darkroom or giclee print, in a photobook or some other physical format, I’m simply not a great fan of looking at photographs (mine at least) on a screen.

A few years ago, I went to the Royal Academy Summer Show in London, something I now try and do every year, and was completely taken aback by a printing technique I’d never even heard of – polymer photogravure (or photopolymer gravure as it’s sometimes called).

darkroom

Building a Darkroom with Little to no DIY skills – by Laura Cogan

By / February 13, 2023 / Mods, DIY & Lens Adapting / 24 Comments

The title suggests I can’t do DIY which is not entirely true. I have been known to wield a hammer from time to time but while the results are functional they’re not particularly pretty. However, my stubborn hubris was no match for the skills necessary to convert my storage space into my new darkroom. If this resonates then this article is for you. On the other hand If you’re one of “those” people who can put up shelves and shit then you can just go ahead and read this with smug abandon.

North Belongil, 2022. 16x20 Bromoil Print

Bromoil prints – Enduring Patience in ‘Painting’ a Photograph – By Tom Schulte

By / February 1, 2023 / Processes, Tutorials & Guides / 14 Comments

Early last year I began making Bromoil prints, and I cannot recall why.

Many a time I’ve scoured my brain for any clues. Unsuccessful however (so far)… I can only assume that one fateful day, I was drawn enough to the ‘non-traditional’ qualities of certain alternative printing processes, often described as soft and painterly, knowing full well I cannot draw or paint for the life of me… but no matter, that is a trivia for another day.

I can say however that after countless hours, I’ve fortunately been successful in performing this method, but at a great cost – it has continually tested my patience that I naturally have very, very little of.

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