Nikon lenses bounce!

Yep, it has been a while since I have dropped something!

Well, today was the day! Dropped a 105mm DAF while changing lenses in a local cemetery. Dropped it from about 3ft onto a concrete roadway and luckily it bounced. Most of the impact seemed to be taken on the side of the lens. No damage to the filter ring (otherwise, the filter would have shattered and it would have been a nightmare to get off). Otherwise, the lens seemed to survive. I used it for the rest of the session and, besides a couple of external scratches on the barrel, it worked a treat.

I guess this is partly why I use some much Nikon kit. :@)

Using a sun tan lamp as a UV source

Well after the last post, I twigged that I was thrashed around a bit and the best approach is going to be to take a more systematic approach to Cyanotype.

There seem three key steps in producing a good Cyanotype:

1. Coating the paper evenly;


2. Getting the amount of exposure on the print to produce dMax (maximum black, or in the case of a Cyanotype, maximum blue);


3. Using a negative of sufficient density to be able to produce the right tone in the highlights (without blocking up).

Well, I seem to have 1 under control. But 2 was causing a significant problem. The sun produces a very variable amount of UV, particularly at this time in the UK. I decided to try a small sun tan lamp as a UV source. I found a relatively inexpensive Philips sun tan lamp intended for facial tanning. I managed to find one locally for around £50. You can even buy them on Amazon!

Next trick was work out how to expose the print evenly. This was fairly straightforward to sort by suspending the lamp across the top of a plastic storage box. The print was in the bottom of the storage box under a sheet of thick glass.

Thus, the lamp is suspended about 25cms above the print. Next step is to work out how long the print needs to be exposed for.......

Frustration

Sometimes, I forget how frustrating photography can be! Every time you try a new technique, it is like trying to walk again. At the moment, I am struggling to produce half decent cyanotypes.

I gave up trying to use the sun to expose the contact prints. At this time of the year in the UK, it is too unreliable and when present, very variable. Some of the cyanotypes I was producing via this method were taking over an hour to expose. The alternative? A small sun tan lamp, intended for just your face, but it produces loads of UV. I tried it with the lamp stood upright and the contact print placed on the floor about 12 inches in front of the lamp. I exposed it for 20 minutes, moving the lamp around to make sure that it "cooked" evenly. The resulting print (shown below) is OK, but not evenly exposed or exposed enough. [This print has a second probably which is due to washing marks on the image side of the print. You can see these in the top left corner. Good news is that I have managed to work out how to dry the prints flat.]

I tried a second print with the lamp suspended horizontally over the contact print (about 4 inches above). I exposed it for 40 minutes. The results? Massive over exposure and almost no image at all. Didn't even both washing it. It went straight in the bin.

Now, I know better than this. I should have kept all the variables the same and just changed one. Changing the distance of the lamp from the contact print AND the amount of exposure time was bound not to work. Stupid mistake.

When all else fails, go back to first principles.

OK, next step to create a method of exposing the contact print in a constant manner and produces some test strips at different timings.

Ideas for image series

OK, so having set up the idea of shooting a series of images, here's some potential ideas:

• Cyantoypes - having played around with these recently, this seems appealing. I really like some of the images in the Eddie Ephraum's book. It would be possible to mock up some of these images by shooting them on 35mm, scanning a print, and then making a large "digital" negative from the scan. This should speed the process up as well as making experimentation a bit easier.
• Infrared - in the past I have gone through periods of shooting Kodak HIE and developing it in HC110. I currently have stocks of both.
• Lith prints - again went through a period of doing a lot of lith printing. I have both paper and chemicals (Fototspeed LD20). I am particularly tempted to combine infrared film and then lith print it.
• Pinhole images - I have previously made pinhole cameras out of 35mm film canisters. I also have a purpose made 5x4 pinhole camera. Biggest problem here is being able to preview the image.
• I have been toying with the idea of doing some still life work - I was recently impressed with Bob Carlos Clarke's spoon photos. I hadn't seen these for a long time.
• Polaroid Type 55 - This produces 5x4 negatives as well as a positive. I have a couple of boxes (20 sheets each) that expired in May 2006 but should still be OK. They will need to be used fairly shortly if they are going to be of any use.

In terms of subject matter:

• Re-purposed Welsh Churches. There always seems to be an over abundance of these and they are now being put to all sorts of purposes - carpet shops, art galleries, museums etc.
• Still life - I am always amazed at what washes up on the beaches on our trips to North Wales. Maybe a still life made up of things washed up on a beach.
• Graveyards - Really intrigued by one of the local Victorian grave yards in London. I always find the buildings and tombstones (which are usually in a state of decay) interesting.
• Nudes - Inspired by the Eddie Ephraums/Allan Jenkins book.

So now, it is just a case of combining one of the techniques with one of the subjects.......