A Finished Print

Music | Crescent by John Coltrane

I've worked a consistent 3 weeks learning the Platinum Palladium process using digital negatives. It wasn't so much the Pt/Pd process that I was having difficulty with, but the making of a digital neg. Between setting up my print preferences and having ink clogging issues, I was set back a good week. I knew this wasn't going to be easy. These set backs were initially very frustrating, but after realizing it is part of the process that I finally just went with the flow. I made 3 good negatives and made 3 very nice prints.

Earlier, I cut a mat, placed one of the prints behind it... With full realization, as the mat and print came together, the small adjustments I made to center the print, this moment was the ultimate reason I wanted to learn the process. I knew that this moment was special.

Anna

Music | WBGO Jazz 88.3 fm

Sometimes you take what circumstance gives you and sometimes you are rewarded. My shoot with Little Anna went really well, though I had some technical issues in the beginning. I have to also say I didn't shoot a bad plate of Anna. She was a great little subject, challenging, funny and charming. However, she is also 2 1/2... I don't think I need to say more. :-)

I love it when things just work. This was the last plate, even though I was really happy with the image before. I decided to go after just one more and press my luck. When I returned from loading the wet plate, I had a lot of trouble getting Anna's attention. Though she was all over the place, I waited... and waited... to what seemed like much longer than maybe the 10 seconds I did wait. I finally lost my patience and opened the lens, hit my flash and made an exposure. I marginally thought I was close to where I needed to be for focus, but I honestly had no idea... As the plate came up in the fixer, my attention and focus became more and more acute. As the image slowly changed from negative, to nothing, then into a positive, I was kindly treated with this...


Anna

and the other plates...

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Anna from 2008

Music | Mad World by Michael Stipe off the soundtrack, Donnie Darko

This year has started out in flux between ups and downs, mostly up. However, I've noticed as the days go by in the new decade, I'm having a bit of trouble jump starting my creativity. I haven't shot a personal photograph in a few months. I hate this feeling and the only walls around me are the ones I have created myself...

So, in an attempt to get going, I reviewed some older images to bring out. This photo was from a very good shoot I did with Anna. I do like seeing things with a different perspective that only time can create.



Often makes me wonder what other treasures I have passed over.