More Bromoil

Continuing with my post from yesterday, here are two more of the bromoil prints I did yesterday. It really is a marvelous process. I'd like to thank Gene Laughter, probably today's preeminent bromoilist in the US, along with Derek Watkins. Gene's work is what inspired me to attempt the process in the first place, and I can only hope to be half as good as he is.

Copper Canyon, Mexico

The next shot is one which I will be printing again and again until I'm sure I'm satisfied. It's not there yet but it has potential. Shot on my old family farm in central Pennsylvania, this Ford tractor was one of the first mechanical devices I ever learned to drive. The shed in the background was a tool shed that had blacksmithing tools going back 100 years. All gone now. The farm is well on it's way to being a housing development.

The Cocklin farm, circa 1998

That's it for now. I'm off to the darkroom/bathroom to make some more prints so's I can get to bleaching. I'm hooked.

First attempts at Bromoil

Since I've had a lot of time at home recently I've been able to experiment a little with my photographic processes. For a few years now I've been interested in getting into Bromoil printing and within the last couple of weeks I've assembled everything needed, including lithographic ink and brushes, as well as the bleaching chemicals required.

A brief explanation of the Bromoil process is in order. A bromoil print starts out its life as an ordinary black and white print. Some B+W papers are more receptive to bromoil than others. Once the initial print is developed and fixed, it is allowed to dry overnight. With many papers it's helpful to 'super dry' the paper using a hair dryer or holding the print over an oven burner for 30 seconds or so. This ensures that the last of the moisture is drawn out of the paper.

The print is then soaked in water again for around 10 minutes and then placed in a bleach and tanning bath for 10 minutes with constant agitation. This bleaches out the black and white image and at the same time tans the gelatin proportional to the print density. Once bleached and tanned the print is now known as a 'matrix'. The matrix is then fixed for 5 minutes, or 1 minute if an ammonium thiosulfate fixer (rapid fix) is used. It is then washed for 30 minutes to remove every trace of the fixer from the fibers of the print, and again allowed to air dry.

When the matrix has dried (again the action of superdrying it should be applied here) it is placed into a tray of water to soak for between 10 and 15 minutes. Upon removal from the water, the matrix is wiped down to remove every trace of surface water. Soaking in the water causes the gelatin to swell in proportion to the tone, so in very light areas the gelatin swells and the water retained by the swelling repels the ink (oil based) when it is applied. Inking is accomplished with a stiff lithography ink and is built up in layers to gain density in darker areas of the print.

I inked 4 matrices today and will be posting the other 3 when I'm sure the ink is completely dry, but I wanted to post one, flaws and all.

Bodie, CA in Bromoil

While I can see many areas of the print where I've got things to learn, I think this bromoil process is one of the most enjoyable and creative processes in photography. Due to the hand-made nature of the print, no two will ever be alike, giving each print a uniqueness similar to oil paintings.

Costa Rican Paradise

Though it's been a few years since I've been there, at one point of my life I would travel to Costa Rica two or three times a year, for a month or so each time. Of all the Central American countries, Costa Rica is one of the safest, friendliest and easiest countries to get around in. Over the past 15 years the general infrastructure of the country has been greatly improved. While there is still no rail service to speak of, high quality buses run to almost every small village on newly paved roads.

A well frequented vacation spot is Tabacon Hot Springs and Resort, near Lake Arenal and the volcano of the same name. In fact, when the clouds clear, you can sit at a swim up bar and watch the volcano erupt from what seems like a far too insufficient distance.

Tabacon Hot Springs Resort

Tabacon is very popular with the locals (known affectionately as Ticos) as well as international tourists, so book well in advance if you're thinking of staying overnight. Day trips are a good way to see the area, which is little more than an hour away from the airport in San Jose.

Costa Rica is a country well prepared to show tourists a good time. Almost every hotel in the San Jose area has a tourist desk where excursions can be booked with various tour companies. A great trip is a 2 or 3 day sojourn to the Carribean coast, where Tortuguero National Park is located. There are no roads into the park. It's bordered on the east by the Carribean Sea and surrounded by jungle on the other three sides. You can fly in, or even better, take the tour bus (a small 15 seat job) to the coastal city of Moin and from there take the canal boats north 3 hours, enjoying the wildlife all the while.

Up close and personal with a Costa Rican Caiman

Anhinga drying wings in Tortuguero

While both coasts offer numerous typical seaside diversions it can be quite warm and humid. For a cooler time, check out some of the montane cloud forests along the slopes of the Talamanca mountains. There's quite a lot of waterfalls if that's your thing.


There's a million reasons to go to Costa Rica. Pick one and get on a plane.

Something French

In honor of today's anniversary of the Normandie invasion, I thought it would be apropos to post some photos of our cousins across the pond.

The south wall of the Louvre, Paris

Paris is a city with so much history it's difficult to know where to begin. Once a Roman outpost in what was then known as Gaul, Paris flourished over the years. Originally a walled city, remains of the wall can actually still be seen below the Louvre as part of the museum's exhibits.

The river Seine is probably one of the most widely known rivers in the world. Passing through the heart of 'old Paris', the Seine bifurcates around two large islands which were the original city. These islands are known as the Ile de la Cite, and the Ile St. Louis. The Ile de la Cite is where Notre Dame Cathedral is located, an on it's western point is the infamous Pont Neuf bridge.

The Seine from a little park below the Pont Neuf

Since the Seine flows from east to west the south shore is affectionately known as the 'Left Bank', and is famous for the hangouts of writers and painters in the 1920's and '30's.

The Seine looking west from the Left Bank

For a good example of the excesses the French Aristocracy and Royalty were capable of, take a trip down to Versailles Palace, built for King Louis the XIII and expanded by Louis XIV. Truly a magnificent structure, it boasts gardens, reflecting pools, fountains galore and the infamous Halles les Glaces, or Hall of Mirrors.

Halles Les Glaces

I'd love to show you more pictures of Versailles but the day that I went it was closed. Closed. One of the single greatest buildings the french have ever built and it was closed on a Monday. Apparently it's closed every Monday. I guess you have to mow the lawn sometimes.

Coastlines

I'm doing much more black and white work these days, trying to understand and get to know Ilford FP4+ in Pyrocat HD developer. It's a huge amount of fun and I'm enjoying exploring the differences between shooting with roll film and sheet film. The large format images are definitely a step up in some aspects, particularly in definition and sharpness. There's nothing quite like an 8x10 contact print. But the speed and portability of the smaller formats mean that there's a great deal more subject matter available to shoot than there would be with a 15 pound camera.

A few friends and I made a trip to the California coast, specifically Point Reyes Nat'l Seashore some time ago, and while I've managed to develop all the negs I shot I have yet to print most of them.

In terms of printing you'll see, if you follow this blog over the next few months, that I've been doing a lot of what's called Lith printing (see here and here for more info) One of the most enjoyable aspects of this type of printing is that it's almost impossible to get perfectly repeatable results, so each print really is one-of-a-kind.




It's also a process that imparts it's own variants of color to the print, depending upon various factors such as dilution, temperature and paper type along with a multitude of other factors.

For those of you out there who still enjoy the smell of fixer and standing in the dim red glow of a safelight, I highly recommend giving Lith Printing a try. I can also strongly recommend Tim Rudman's books (see here). He describes methods of digital lith work, as well.

Cats

I'm not much of a cat person. In fact, I'm badly allergic to both the hair and the dander, not to mention whatever crap is in their saliva. Still, I can respect an animal that doesn't feel (or won't admit) that it depends upon me for sustenance.

When I was fortunate enough to convince my girlfriend that we were meant for each other I inherited 2 long haired Turkish Van cats. Apparently she had gotten them just a week or so before we met. Story of my life.

Ordinarily I can't stand it when people post pictures of their pets online. I mean, who the hell really cares? Also, most of the time the pictures are pretty bad. Usually the picture will just have a title, "Betsy being Cute!!!" and it will encompass the entire living room. Your eye roams the image, all the while wondering what kind of animal 'Betsy' is.

Not so with my pictures. I mean, you may still be saying to yourself, 'Who cares?' but at least you will be able to find the pet in the picture and know what kind of animal it is. It's a cat, king of the 'domesticated' beasts.

First up is Isabella. She's the female and the one who likes to use her claws. Naturally.
Next is Madison. He's the cool cat. Sleeps most of the day. Naturally.

And then there's the cat that I would have loved to have gotten, if only to keep the neighbor's kids away from our garage doors.

So there you have it. Our cats. Or rather, our Monarchs.