Monophoto

<p>You want to look for a common cause for these failures. Ektar and t-Max are different films with totally different processes. That would tend to rule out a lab problem (unless you know that the lab's c41 and b/w processes share common components).</p>

<p>That leads me to suggest the following possibilities:<br>

- film loading (common cause - the person who loaded it)<br>

- underexposure (common cause - the meter)<br>

- underexposure (common cause - sticky shutter)</p>

<p>Sunil -</p>

<p>Ask the folks at Keeble & Shuchet. If there are LF workshops in the Bay Area, they will know about them.</p>

<p>I know that there is a lot of interest in LF in the Bay Area - probably more LF photographers per capita than anywhere else in North America. So you are in the right place and only need to make the connections. </p>

<p>You seem to be interested in landscape/scenic and historic subjects. Some suggestions:</p>

<p>National Seashore - sand dunes, lighthouses, beaches (on the Atlantic side of the Cape), hiking trails.</p>

<p>Rock Harbor, Orleans - classic harbor shots, great sunsets over Cape Cod Bay</p>

<p>Historic buildings - you have to search a bit to find interesting subjects. Some ideas: Barnstable Court House, sea captains homes in Brewster, Yarmouth or Sandwich, Dexter Grist Mill (Sandwich), Brewster Grist Mill, various churches, Fort Hill (Eastham)</p>

<p>Provincetown - for shopping, people watching, nightlife, and fabulous restaurants</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Our son lives in Mountain View, so we get out to the Bay Area about once a year. Great photographic opportunities:</p>

<p>Alcatraz (book a reservation for the first boat)<br>

Fort Point (Friday through Sunday only)<br>

Fort Mason<br>

Ferry Building<br>

Palace of the Legion of Honor<br>

Lands End/Sutro Park and ruins<br>

China Beach<br>

Blue Bottle Coffee (good coffee, and neat place to photograph)<br>

Golden Gate Park (Arboretum, Japanese Garden)<br>

Marin Headlands (old military installations)<br>

Sausalito<br>

Point Reyes Lighthouse<br>

Muir Woods<br>

Angel Island</p>

<p>In Wine Country -visit wineries, taste wine, eat great meals<br>

Bale Gristmill<br>

Castello di Amoroso<br>

Chateau Monteleone</p>

<p>South Bay -<br>

Sanford University Campus & Cantor Museum<br>

Lick Observatory<br>

Testarossa Winery (Los Gatos)<br>

Alviso Marina<br>

Carmel Mission<br>

Point Lobos State Park (be there when it opens at 8am - it gets crowded, and they limit the number cars allowed in)</p>

<p>That area is rich with possibilities:</p>

<p>Wineries in Los Gatos and Saratoga (and Napa is a possibility)<br>

Filloli House and garden<br>

Crystal Springs<br>

Alviso Marina<br>

Santa Cruz amusement park<br>

Santa Clara Mission (on the Santa Clara University campus)<br>

Golden Gate Park in San Francisco - Strybling Arboretum & Japanese Garden<br>

Lands End in San Francisco<br>

Fort Point in San Francisco<br>

Military installations in Marin Headlands<br>

Sausalito<br>

Downtown San Francisco; Fisherman's Wharf (mainly people)<br>

Lick Observatory outside San Jose<br>

San Jose Museum of Innovation<br>

Gamble Garden in Palo Alto<br>

Sanford University Campus in Palo Alto (especially the church and the Cantor Museum)<br>

Pidgeon Point Light</p>

<p>There's not a lot that you can do in the chemical stage.</p>

<p>However, you may be able to reduce contrast by flashing the film - ie, adding a light exposure of white light either before or after the actual exposure. This was a technique that was commonly used when ordinary film was used to make copy transparencies.</p>

<p>Venues like libraries typically don't have any provision for physical security. In fact, you will be luck if they have provisions for hanging. As a practical matter, libraries don't have the budget to be able to do major refurbishment of the display area between shows, and anything that would provide physical security would require major reconfiguration anytime there is a change in what is being shown.</p>

<p>The best you can hope for is that the library circulation desk will be located between the display area and the door such that the librarians MAY notice if someone tries to walk out with one of your pictures.</p>

<p>As you know, one of the problems with LF is that kit tends to be large, heavy and expensive. That provides an incentive to minimize kit. </p>

<p>Don't know the details of the Toyo, but a 90mm lens is typically the largest that can be used without a bag bellows. Having only one bellows can simplify life. </p>

<p>Sorry - I saw Harry's response and interpreted it to be the question. Brain cramp!</p>

<p>Dating an old print involves several techniques. One way (the best way) is to look carefully at the image itself for date clues. License plates on cars used to include dates, in street scenes look at store fronts, check out clothing styles, etc.</p>

<p>There may be scientific techniques, but my guess is that they would not be very exact. Potentially you could tell by the degree to which the silver has oxidized, but to do that you would need to know the residual fixer content in the emulsion - which will probably be indeterminant. And scientific techniques may be destructive.</p>

<p>Are you thinking about digitlal processing or analog?</p>

<p>If you are doing digital, your editing software probably has a text layer function that can be used to annotate images.</p>

<p>In analog processing, you would need to make an overlay that you would superimpose on the image as it is being printed. One way to do this is to use Powerpoint to lay out the overlay, and then print it on a sheet of overhead transparency film. Then, when printing, place the overlay over the print. This will create white lettering on the print, and of course you would need to plan to have a dark field in the image so that the white layer would show.</p>

<p>If your area where you want the annotation to appear is white (or light), then you need to make a negative of the overlay. Make the basic print exposure without the overlay, then lay the overlay on the printing paper, and expose to white light. This will place black lettering on the print.</p>

<p>The traditional route for photography is Rt 100. </p>

<p>You implied that you have a specific destination that you must reach in Vermont. While that may bias your route, the state is actually quite small and you can travel from the eastern to western borders in only a couple of hours. So your destination actually won't matter.</p>

<p>In the Bay Area:</p>

<p>Japanese Tea Garden, Golden Gate Park<br>

Strybling Arboretum, Golden Gate Park<br>

Conservatory of Flowers, Golden Gate Park<br>

Filoli, near Palo Alto<br>

Gamble Gardens, Palo Alto<br>

Allied Arts Guild, Palo Alto</p>

<p>I've bought lots of film over the years from both NYC suppliers and from Freestyle in California, and I've never had a problem with x-ray damage.</p>

<p>My limited understanding (based as much on urban myth as anything) is that the US Postal Service may use x-ray screening when they suspect a possible problem, but they don't routinely x-ray everything. But more importantly, I believe that other services (FedEx and UPS) are even less likely to use x-ray screening. </p>

<p>Also, my sense is that x-ray screening is more likely to apply to packages at the point of delivery, and as a function of the perceived sensitivity of the recipient. I know that my employer's mail room had the ability to screen packages that was used occasionally.</p>

<p>So the issue is really fraught with uncertainty - does the package service used by the vendor have the capability to do x-ray screening, will it actually be used on your package, is the intensity of the x-ray screening enough to produce a noticeable effect on your film, etc.</p>

<p>Perhaps the best way for you to answer your question is to ask the vendor which package deliver service they use and what has been their actual experience regarding x-ray screening.</p>

<p>Central Camera is a like a step back in time. They have more 'stuff' stacked in boxes in the aisleway that most stores have in their backroom.</p>

<p>The Calumet store Goose Island is hard to find. There is parking, but if you are coming from a hotel in the Loop, you may not want to drive. I suppose you could walk, but Goose Island is a bit of a hike. Be sure to check the hours before going - the one time I tried to go there I found that the store was closed (on a Saturday).</p>

<p>Yes, exposure is additive. Obviously, you must account for reciprocity failure when the total exposure time exceeds about one second. And you need to be careful about jarring the camera between exposures.</p>

<p>This is a common trick used by architectural photographers. The best architectural images are done after dark when the building's interior lights are on. But that creates a problem with exterior lighting. So architectural photographers routinely use two exposures, one during daylight (or just before dusk), and one just after dusk with the interior lights on.</p>

<p>In the past, LF meetups have been organized by Large Format Magazine. They have generally taken place in the West - partly because there are more LF photographers in the West, and partly because LF Magazine is headquartered in Sante Fe. There was one year in Kentucky, and in 2005 it was in Springfield, MA. I've never heard of any sessions in the NY area.</p>

<p>I haven't heard of any plans for 2011.</p>

<p>Why do you want a monorail?</p>

<p>Monorails are fundamentally studio cameras, and are clumsy carry in the field. A field camera might be easier to use, and also lighter in weight.</p>

<p>The theory behind using a prewash is that it accomplishes two things. First, it tempers the film and tank - that is, the prewash is at the temperature of the developer, and brings the film and tank to that temperature. As a result, the temperature during the development period that follows will be more constant.</p>

<p>Second, by prewetting the emulsion, developer is able to migrate into the emulsion more readily. Again, the the idea is to make the chemical process that takes place during development for uniform over time. This becomes more important as the development time becomes shorter.</p>

<p>Third, because the film is wetted before the developer goes in, there is less risk that bubbles will form when developer is poured into the tank. As a result, the risk of 'air bells' is reduced or eliminated.</p>

<p>Kodak endorsed the idea of using a prewash, but Ilford never felt it was necessary. I suspect that the truth is that while the theory makes intuitive sense, in reality the advantages of using a prewash are not as important with modern materials as they may have been in the early days of photography.</p>

<p>My experience is that if you arrive at a standard development time using a prewash, and if you consistently use a prewash before the developer, it will do no harm. The prewash water doesn't have to be distilled or purified in any way - the tap water used to dilute your developer works just fine.</p>

<p>Prewash is not the same as the final rinse. The final rinse should be done with water that is at least filtered - distilled water is better - and with a small amount of wetting agent added. The purpose of the wetting agent is to relieve the surface tension in the water so that it doesn't form bubbles on the film that translate into waterspots when dried. And the water should be filtered or demineralized in order to avoid mineral deposits as it dries.</p>

<p>Actually, View Camera is one of my favorites.</p>

<p>Yes, the editing is sometimes sloppy. It's a low-budget production with minimal staff, and mistakes are made. And yes, sometimes the images are not my taste. But that's a matter of taste - not objective quality of the publication. On the other hand, some of the images are wonderful. I typically clip several images from each issue to go into my collection of images that I find inspiring.</p>

<p>It's the ONLY magazine that treats large format photography with any kind of respect. It contains some technical information, but unlike most of the photo magazines today, its not a constant stream of technobabble on this software versus that. And it treats analog and digital as equal siblings - no other magazine does that.</p>

<p>Wife and I were in NYC last weekend. Brr - it was cold! </p>

<p>Snow disappears pretty rapidly in mid-town - combination of effective snow removal and the fact that there are so many utilities underground that the ground is warm enough to melt snowfall pretty quickly.<br>

Top of the Rock is great for photography. A tripod won't be very helpful - there are some narrow gaps between the large glass barriers, and to avoid distortion you will want to get your lens as close as possible to shoot through those gaps. If the weather cooperates, the views are fabulous.<br>

Flatiron building is a great shot, and since there is a park right in front of the building, you would have no problem at all using a tripod. The only concern with tripods is if you block the sidewalk.<br>

For people pictures, I suggest the area around and a few blocks north of Canal Street. The area is generally mobbed, and there are all kinds of interesting things to see and photograph.<br>

I've been intrigued with the idea of doing a walk around NYC photographing churches. There are some really beautiful buildings. The key is to avoid crowds, and be aware that some churches are undergoing renovation and the interiors are temporarily cluttered with scaffolding.</p>

<p>I would remove the film from the holders, fix it out and wash it, and put it aside for use in dye-dodging negatives that require tweaking.</p>

<p>Industry standards are fine when it comes to consistency in manufacturing. Standards are voluntary, but assure that products from various manufacturers can be used interchangeably by consumers. The location of the notch is governed by standard. '</p>

<p>But the issue of which side of the darkside means what is not a matter of industry standardization - instead, it's a matter of conventional practice. Each photographer gets to establish his own practice. I put the white (or silver) side out on unexposed film, and the black side out on exposed film. </p>

<p>You will be in a different country where the laws are not what you are accustomed to. In addition to civil law, you may also be subject to religious law - which can be even more restrictive. Therefore, you need to be much more reserved than you would be at home.<br>

Some of the more obvious rules are:<br>

- Always ask before photographing someone.<br>

- Never photograph women or children.<br>

- There will be restrictions on photography in some areas - the airport, and any military facilities, for example.</p>

<p>I use a six-sheet slosher (mine is homemade, but there are commercial versions out there) in an 11x14 tray. I use 800ml of working solution - in my case, I use HC-110, dilution H, with intermittent agitation.</p>

<p>If I have only one sheet, I will do it in a 4x5 tray without a slosher. I also have a two-sheet version of my slosher that fits in an 8x10 tray to cover that middle ground.</p>

<p>Part of the secret is to use a higher dilution than normal - in my case, dilution H rather than the typical dilution B. Dilution H is dilution B diluted 1:1 in plain water. In addition to improving the overall economy, the greater dilution requires an increase in development time (roughly 2x the dilution B time) which is very helpful with HC110 where the standard times can be very short for tray development with intermittent agitation. It also helps smooth out tonalities by providing some compensating effects.</p>