I’ve made a good amount of pictures and managed few keepers during Covid, but not nearly enough. Nevertheless the time I spent photographing during this difficult period was incredibly worthwhile. Even though the virus made it prohibitive to take many of the pictures I like to make, what mattered, and what I’ve always loved about photography is the journey.  Everything about being out there is special to me, and if fortune is on my side, just maybe a meaningful picture will be captured during a memorable day.

Last week I wrote about Fred Picker’s Zone VI Newsletters and it seems they’re still fresh in my mind. Something he said so beautifully really struck a chord.

“Of the numerous aspects of the photographic experience there is only one that I find always wonderful, exciting, and capable of producing instant happiness.  The best part of photography isn’t talking about it or writing about it or teaching it or developing film or hanging shows or publishing books or making prints.  It isn’t selling prints or having your work admired. It’s the excitement of being out there: the anticipation of the unknowable wonder that may appear over the next hill. It is the knowledge that there is a chance of finding and recording a metaphor of your loves, your dreams, your past, and what you may feel about your future. It is the hope of searching out for yourself and your camera something incredible.” Zone VI Newsletter 47, p.10.

The rules that have governed our coming and going for almost a year and a half are now being changed as we move back to a more normal life. Today, still being a bit careful, I am going to photograph the Doylestown’s Memorial Day Parade and the very moving memorial service that always follows it at Doylestown Cemetery. It will be the 153^rdanniversary of this wonderful tradition and I’m excited to be a part of it! Not because I know I will make some great photographs, but because I will be out there experiencing something that is truly wonderful. And during that experience there is a chance that I and my camera will find “something incredible”!

Happy Memorial Day, stay safe, and best wishes for a better time ahead,

Michael

Ok, you have walked to the edge of the cliff, stood at the precipice and … jumped off!

I know this is hard. Been there done it many times.  It’s simple … you need to be true to yourself. Are you going to push yourself to produce the best you can and strive to become better? Or produce something that’s good enough?  Or worse yet, let mediocre work slide because you just don’t feel like investing anymore time?

I hate it when someone shows me a work print, or says they know their finished print needs a little more burning or dodging, or the contrast isn’t just right.  If you care at all then do the best you can! If you can make the print better do it!  If it’s a clunker forget about it and move on!

Yes, I know how painful it is, but I have no choice when there’s no alternative.  None of us who really care do. After all, this is about you as a creator of art … as a person that can look in the mirror and honestly judge who you are, and what you want to be. In the end this is about your soul … as a photographer …  as a person.

Stay safe,

Michael

This is where the rubber meets the road!

Evaluating the print is perhaps the most important step next to actually making the photograph in the first place! Let’s face it, you have done a lot, spent a lot of time and, frankly a lot of money to get this far, and you are so, so, close. Now is your chance not to blow the whole damn thing.

Study the results of all your hard work. How? As I’ve discussed before, I place my prints on a strip of wood attached to the wall in my workroom and look at them long and hard under the same lighting I use in my darkroom to examine prints. Why look at them long and hard? If all is well then GREAT! But it’s quite possible they may not deserve to be seen … in their present form … or at all!

Now read that last sentence again, because it can be a difficult thing to accept.

I have written about this several times over the years, but it’s worth mentioning a few things I’ve said before.

The wooden strip is wonderful tool that can help you determine whether the print you made was a statement of what you saw in your minds eye and deserving, or whether it needs more work or isn’t very good after all. If the print does not capture what you meant to say or is disappointing for some technical or other aesthetic reason, that’s what the garbage can is for!  On this, John Sexton said, “I find the single most valuable tool in the darkroom is my trash can – that’s where most of my prints end up.”

Ansel Adams said, “Twelve significant photographs in any one year is a good crop.”  Think about that for a moment.  He made thousands of images most of us would die for, yet very few made the cut.  I’m not Adams so I have to be pretty ruthless … and so do you.

Paper and chemicals are expensive and your time is valuable.  A box of one hundred 8X10 sheets of Ilford Warmtone Variable Contrast paper alone is currently going for $160!  Think about how much you have spent just to get to this point. But settling for an also ran after spending so much money and time is the worst thing of all! It’s also costly to the long-term growth of your work .

So what to do? Take a deep breath and toss it; then think about My Step 17!

I promise it will be all right.

Stay safe,

Michael

Last weekend I drove to Gettysburg to photograph. The excuse was Tillman Crane’s photo retreat and to see some of my Monalog colleagues that were going to be there. So if nothing else, I could say hello and do a little catching up in a socially distanced manner. I had not been back to Gettysburg since the obligatory middle school field trip with my son that everyone within several hundred miles makes. It had been around twenty years and to be honest I didn’t remember very much of the details.

I packed up my Plaubel Makina and left early Saturday morning.  Two and a half hours later I arrived without a hitch. To make a long story short despite the virus there were a lot of people throughout the park, much of them without masks. After driving to several of the monument locations and dodging the Covid deniers, I just could not get much of a feeling for what might excite me.  So what to do?  I could easily bag it or try to make something more of my outing.

Look, there is no shame in coming home empty. I’ve done it plenty of times.  But since we were talking about five hours of driving, why not try as hard as I could to find some good pictures to make and maybe something else.  So I worked hard to find a couple of opportunities in the park and then drove into the small town of Gettysburg to see what was there. What I found were even more people. A lot of field trips and families. And again, many without masks. It was beginning to seem that the itch wasn’t worth much of the scratch, but after driving around town a few more times I found a couple of things that looked promising.  After a few hours I finished a roll of 120 Tri-X film. There are actually one or two pictures I am looking forward to seeing once the film is developed and I’ve made a proof sheet. As always I remain hopeful!

Seeing my friends for a few minutes in the lobby of the local Best Western was a treat and a real bonus, but could I do more to make this outing truly worthwhile?  Time permitting I had been thinking of making a detour on the way home to stop at Baldwin’s Book Barn in West Chester, Pennsylvania. I’ve always wanted to visit this place as it’s pretty well known, but hadn’t ever made the trip from Doylestown.  Today, as things would have it, time was permitting!

The Book Barn was built in 1822. The five-story building is packed with 300,000 used books, manuscripts, and maps as well as paintings, prints, estate antiques, and other collectibles.  If you are a used bookstore junky like me you definitely need to check this place out! It’s amazing and within a short amount of time I had become lost several times looking through all the nooks and crannies. I finally found the photography section. A few books were interesting, but not enough for me to buy. Not to be deterred, I kept looking around and stumbled onto the section titled “Artists”. There stuffed on a shelf I found a beautiful first edition of the two volume Daybooks by Edward Weston. Yes, I have the Aperture softcover reissue that combines both volumes into one fat paperback, but truth be told I had never took the time to really read them. Maybe it was the paperback format this didn’t provided the dignity the Daybooks deserved. Needless to say I had to have these two books!  I am reading them now and there is no comparison between the original hard covers and the later soft cover edition. The books are larger, the paper is better and the reproductions of the photographs are nicer!

Left the Book Barn with a smile on my face and made it home in time for diner with my lovely wife.

Not a bad way to finish off a pretty good day!

Stay safe,

Michael

Today photographers have a number of choices when it comes to mounting and matting your finished work. I’m not going to debate the merits of each approach, but will simply tell you what I do. The important thing is that you mount your prints so they are in a proper state for safe storage and for you and others to look at. Why go to all the bother if you’re going to store your prints in an old empty photographic paper box, probably never to be seen again?

Here is what I do:

1. Using my old Seal tacking iron, I place a piece of dry mount tissue the same size as my print (8×10) on top of the unprinted side of the paper and attach it by pressing down and making an “X” on the middle of the tissue sheet.I recommend using something that is pretty archival like Seal MT5, Colormount  or Beinfang, that while discontinued or not available in boxes can be found in boxes on ebay and elsewhere.
2. Next I trim my print with the attached dry mount tissue using my RotaTrim paper trimmer.In my opinion they are the best out there.
3. Now I measure and pre-mount my print onto a piece of mounting board using an old Falcon Print Mounting Positioner that looks something like a T Square and helps you position the print with more space on the bottom of the mat. Most people seem to be centering their prints on their mat boards these days, but have been doing it this way since the beginning and I think it looks better. I prefer 4-ply acid free conservation board that is bright white in color. I purchase my boards pre-cut into a 14 X 17 inch sizes, but some people choose to buy large pieces of board and do their own cutting to size, which saves some money. When I get the print into position I place a leather shot bag on top to hold it in place on the mat. Then I take my tacking iron adhere each corner of the tissue to the mat below. Now the print is securely in place so that it can be transferred to the dry mount press for permanent mounting.
4. I have a Seal Commercial 210 dry mount press I purchased used over 30 years ago, so I have no idea how old it really is. It needs a little babying but it still works well enough. I pre-heat the press to 170 degrees, which is the right temperature for the tissue I use. Then I use an anti-static brush to make sure there isn’t any dust or other particles on the print surface. I then place the print between a “sandwich” of two large 4-ply conservation boards like I mount my prints on and close the press. Depending upon the humidity level in my basement it takes about 3 minutes or so for the print with its tissue to fully adhere to the board. But just to be sure all is well I lightly bend each corner of the board to make sure there are’nt any gaps in the seal.
5. I then place the mounted print(s) underneath a large heavy metal plate so that they will cool flat.
6. I let things sit for a while. When I am satisfied the mounted prints are nice and flat I place them in an archival box for storage.

Note: If prints are good enough to make the cut, they will receive a 4-ply over-mat I will cut and permanently attach using archival tape if they are to be framed for a show or to be sold.

Stay tuned for more … we’re almost done!

Stay safe,

Michael