my photographs

Highgate

Sun, 15 Mar 2009 00:09:26 +0000

I’m really pleased with this photo, taken earlier this year at Highgate Cemetery in north London.

Peeking Duck

Sun, 8 Mar 2009 23:19:45 +0000

Why am I excited by this photo?

I’m excited because it is proof that I’ve finally finished the plumbing on my new darkroom. Since moving house about 8 months ago I’ve not been able to develop any colour film (and precious little B&W) - hence the complete lack of updates either here or on my Flickr stream...

This is one of the first frames from the first roll I put through my processor today, to test my new plumbing - a momentous occasion! Time to tackle the backlog of film that’s built up...

The photo was taken on New Years’ Day 2009, incidentally, at the always lovely Arundel Wetland Centre - I’d recommend a visit to any of the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust centres if you get the opportunity.

Watchtower

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 19:47:13 +0000

This print is from a photograph taken at Brompton Cemetery, Chelsea, London, early in the new year. Getting these blasted birds to stay still was a challenge! This print also marks my first attempts to get a bit more methodical with my printing...

Public Transport

Thu, 6 Dec 2007 00:19:22 +0000

This is from a recent trip to Budapest, Hungary; although a simple photograph, it’s definitely one of my favourites.

This is Kodak Gold 200 colour print film, cross-processed in E6 slide film chemistry (the ‘wrong’ chemistry for this type of film.) The muted colour palette in this photo which results from the cross processing is exactly what I was hoping to get - which is why I like it so much!

The photo on the right is another of my cross-processed shots from this trip - one which I like for much the same reasons!

Psycho Bunny

Mon, 26 Nov 2007 00:04:00 +0000

This picture is the result of several experiments; as such, I’m quite pleased with it - even though it looks rather rough and ready!

First, there’s the subject of the photograph - Miffy. Miffy is incredibly cute (this goes without saying.) So, I thought an interesting experiment would be to try and take a photograph of Miffy looking menacing or evil. I think this is a step in the right direction; although there is more work to be done!

Secondly, this is the first time I’ve shot with Shantou ERA film. This is a Chinese made and branded film which you can’t buy in the shops over here, but which you can order through eBay; the cost is considerably lower than for comparable films from Kodak or Ilford. These films have a reputation for quality control problems, which is probably well deserved - I noticed emulsion defects in some of the negatives which I wouldn’t have expected from an Ilford film; that said though, I’m actually presently surprised by the overall negative quality .

Finally, and most notably, this is my first attempt at making a palladium print (palladiotype.) Making a palladium print involves making the emulsion using measured amounts of ferric oxalate and palladium solutions, and then hand coating the paper; in this case I used Arches Platine paper (as you can tell from the watermark in the print!) The picture is then contact printed under UV light.
Obviously this is a very rough start - but for a first go, I’m pretty pleased!

The chemicals for palladium printing came from Bostick & Sullivan; the 100% rag paper from Falkiner Fine Papers.