Elodie

After all these years, I've finally got around to learning how to develop, enlarge

and print images from b/w film. This is one of my first attempts. It features 3

y.o. Elodie, who was fast losing patience with being Grandma's photographic

model.

works beautifully.  she has a wonderful expression.  best, j

p.s.:  i guess this is a scanned negative.  you could also scan one of your prints.  that would be even better because the paper is designed to undo the high contrast of the film.  it would reduce the funny look of her hair.  scanning traditional silver-based negative film is hard.  what film was it?

Hi Jamie, thanks for your comments.  It's actually a scan from a print rather than a negative, so any oddities must be blamed on yours truly - still very much a novice when it comes to choosing filters, judging exposure times and applying appropriate dodging and burning strategies.   It's a lot of fun learning, though.

Elodie's hair, by the way, looks peculiar largely because she'd insisted on doing it herself, as only a 3 yo can, and it was a complete and utter shambles!  

I used ASA 400 b/w film but not sure of the brand as we rolled our own reels from a bulk supply provided by the trainer.  BTW, very proud that I managed to do this without too much trouble as I'm not usually known for being clever with my fingers!!!  Even more proud that I managed to extract the film from its canister in total darkness and get it into the development canister without spoiling the images.    :)

very beautiful portrait..I like it

A beautiful and lovely result, Margo!

With best regards,

Ruud.

the contrast is just a bit too high, the eyes too dark, the face too light, the hair too varied. it looks interesting as it is, though.

the film might say what it is along its edge. best, j

Hi Jamie, the film strip has Kodak 400TMY-2 written on it.  The varied contrast results from stripes of sunlight falling across Elodie's face and body (also seen behind her on the wall), caused by strong light through a slatted awning.  This is deliberate as I was seeking to emulate a pic by the 20th Century Australian photographer, Harold Cazneaux.  I've experimented with a range of filters but this is my favourite so far.  Cheers, Margo

I really like your processing in this one Margo, she has a sense of 'urgency' or perhaps she just was getting impatient. It's almost as if her 'friends' were off to the side and she was upset that she may just miss out on some of the fun. Well done, I love the soft look and almost high key features due to the sunlight. I love her name! Never heard of that one before!

Kind regards, Gail

Thanks, Gail.  I think it was actually her grandfather who was attracting her attention - he was doing much more interesting stuff than her boring old grandmother! :)  Elodie is named after the daughter of a French family with whom her mother lived during her "gap" year between secondary school and University.