{"id":3401,"date":"2017-03-23T13:25:48","date_gmt":"2017-03-23T18:25:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/siskinphoto.com\/blog\/?p=3401"},"modified":"2017-03-23T13:31:40","modified_gmt":"2017-03-23T18:31:40","slug":"new-work-with-the-11x14-camera","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siskinphoto.com\/blog\/?p=3401","title":{"rendered":"New Work With The 11X14 Camera!"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Bree<\/a>

Bree 12a v-8<\/em>
The numbers are only a working title.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

I think this is the sixth time I\u2019ve taken the 11X14 camera out for a spin. I\u2019m extremely gratified with the results of this shoot. I worked with a model named Bree Widener and a make up artist Julie Powers; both are excellent. Of course I also worked with my current assistant David Kidwell. Really I don\u2019t think I could manage the camera without his help. As you may imagine the camera is a beast. I\u2019ve written before about the process. You can review the early blog posts if you\u2019d like, at these links: blog-3207 <\/a> and blog-2871<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Bree<\/a>

Bree 7 v-2<\/em>
There is less process manipulation in this image.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

I think the business of coming to grips with the ultra large format camera and working out an accessible process is quite interesting. A lot of skull sweat has gone into figuring out this method of shooting the big camera. I\u2019m using 11X14 Ilford Multigrade RC paper in the camera. This gives me an 11X14 negative, but it\u2019s on paper rather than film. This works out well because I have an oversized scanner that enables me to scan the paper negatives. This means that the basic process is analog-digital rather than the strictly analog process you would get with a film negative and direct printing to silver gelatin printing.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Bree<\/a>

Bree 9 v-5<\/em>
The color is added in post processing. The analog\/digital process allows for considerable creative input.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

The process allows me to introduce chaos into the images in ways that I can only do with a wet darkroom process. In fact this method is probably better for creating these chaotic images than working with film or any other method. There are of course many ways of working, both with digital capture and with film, where the goal is to gain control over image making. I would be shocked and dismayed if an architectural or product image I made suddenly displayed totally random results, but that doesn\u2019t mean that I don\u2018t want chaotic results in some circumstances. Many people are shooting film just to court random results, and they sometimes achieve results so random that it\u2019s hard to see any original intent in the final image. I just can\u2019t go that far, though some of my results have been totally out of control. The primary way that I crate chaos in these images is to re-expose the paper to light as I process it and to process the paper in unusual ways.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Bree<\/a>

Bree 1 v-2<\/em>
The first test image of the day! Off to a good start.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Part of what makes this whole process exciting is that I develop and solarize, the negative while the shoot goes on. The whole studio is lit by a sodium vapor safelight, so we can load, handle and develop the paper while the shoot continues. The people involved in the shoot, make up, talent and assistants are always amazed to see the image develop right in front of them. Often I can finish scanning the first good negative from the shoot and make a print before the shooting day is finished. Of course it takes a while to dry and scan each image, so finishing the post processing may take weeks after the shoot ends.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Bree<\/a>

Bree 5 v-2<\/em>
This image shows the brush work that is done during processing.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Since this is an analog digital process all the control and interpretation that Photoshop offers is available after the scans are made. I do a lot with layers and curves to manage the contrast. In addition there are usually defects, dust and other problems, that have to be fixed. Unless you\u2019ve done print spotting, you have no idea how much easier it is to spot an image in Photoshop than it is on a print. I usually add a slight warm tint to my images, just as I would have done by printing on a warm paper, like Agfa Portriga Rapid, in a darkroom. I may also add false color to the image, if the spirit moves me.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Bree<\/a>

Bree 4 v-2<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

I tested another piece of the process with these images. I made a new negative on a transparent film with my digital printer. I had always hoped to be able to take these images back into a wet darkroom and make various kinds of prints: silver gelatin and alternative process. I was able to make a couple of Cyanotypes from the new digital negatives. They really look great! My test prints are 8X10 but of course I could make a really enormous negative make enormous prints with it.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Bree<\/a>

Bree 12a-cyanotype<\/em>
Of course the scan of the Cyanotype isn’t like seeing the original.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Since the original negatives are 11×14 inches and the scans are 1200dpi the final files are just huge. I could make a print that is about 5 feet tall at 300 dpi without any problems. Psd files are about 600mgs. which can make them a little difficult to deal with in Photoshop.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Bree<\/a>

Bree 5-cyanotype<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

I\u2019m not offering prints of these images at this time. If you\u2019ve been watching this blog you know that prints of a lot of my images are available through the blog. I really hope you\u2019ll buy some. These images will be available, but I hope to create a show with them first. I will do a few more people shoots before I start working on that. I\u2019m looking for models, of course for figure studies, but I\u2019d also like to work with people with facial tattoos and who knows what else?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/form>\nI hope you\u2019ll also check out my books, use the links below:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> \"\"\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/p>\n

One more thing, there are now almost 6000 people registered on this blog. Wow! Thanks everyone.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/form>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Re-exposure during processing is called solarization, or, sometimes, the Sabattier effect. This re-exposure to light during processing causes a partial reversal of the image. In the case of my images that means the negative becomes more positive. In the old days of wet darkroom work many people experimented with this by simply turning the white lights on while their print was still in the developer. Sometimes this happened quite by accident; you hit the light switch by mistake. Anyway this method affects the entire image and provides little control. I usually remove the print from the developer and re-expose with various kinds of small flashlights. After the re-exposure I can put the paper back into the developer, or I can also apply the developer with a brush. Each method creates different patterns of development.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,4,23,19,21,30,16,17],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/siskinphoto.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3401"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/siskinphoto.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/siskinphoto.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siskinphoto.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siskinphoto.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3401"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/siskinphoto.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3401\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3421,"href":"https:\/\/siskinphoto.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3401\/revisions\/3421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/siskinphoto.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siskinphoto.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siskinphoto.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}