Pete Askew
Admin
I thought it might be interesting to show the whole sequence of actions involved in creating an image using the DIY Cam (http://www.realphotographersforum.c...format-paper-negative-diy-camera-project.html). Ideally this should be done using video but that would have taken too long I'm afraid, so it is a sequence of stills and text instead.
The first step is to set up the shot and lighting. Here you can see an arrangement similar to (http://www.realphotographersforum.c...2547-diy-camera-new-firmware-release-2-a.html). The subject (yet another seed pod I'm afraid!) is suspended on an articulated arm in front of a velvet backdrop and lit using a single light (Bowens 3K flash head, but using only the modelling lamp) fitted with a honeycomb diffuser.
The subject is then focused using the new viewing hood...
and then the viewing screen is removed and it is then off to the darkroom.
Here are two shots that give an overview of the room under safe-lighting (Ilford S 902).
This shows the wet side with the trays containing developer and fixer as well as the washer...
and this shows the dry side with the RC dryer that will be used to dry the 'negatives' after washing (it normally lives on a shelf under the film processor when not in use).
A sheet of A4 paper is taken from one of the drawers of the paper safe.
This is then loaded into the film holder...
which is then closed and taken back into the studio (the darkroom has a double door system so that you can come and go under safe-lighting if you wish). The film holder is then placed on the camera.
The lens is held permanently open and so the next job is to close the aperture to the one to be used (f/22 in this case) then cover it with a spare lens cap and open the dark slide.
The cap is then removed and the exposure timed: in this instance, 2 minutes. At the end of this time, the lens cap is replaced and the dark slide is closed. The film holder is then removed from the camera and taken back into the darkroom. Once there, the dark slide is removed and the sheet of exposed paper is taken out...
and slid into the tray of developer and agitated initially with the tongs and then by rocking the dish gently, by hand, to create a swirling motion in the liquid. After about 15 seconds the image has started to form...
and continues to rise in density as development takes place.
The image is usually fully developed after 90 seconds but I always develop for two minutes. During the last 15 seconds the print is lifted out using tongs and allowed to drain before being transferred to the fixer in the next tray.
When doing large numbers of prints and when using fibre-based paper I would use a stop bath, but for small numbers of paper negatives I tend to skip this even though it shortens the life of the fixer.
Fixing is done for 2 minutes under constant agitation and the negative is then transferred to an archival washer...
where it is washed for 3-4 minutes (resin coated paper washes very quickly and will begin to delaminate if washed for too long - a common mistake: fibre-based paper needs a minimum of 15 minutes in an archival washer). It is then dried in a rotary drier designed for RC papers. Here the paper negative can be see emerging from the rear of the unit.
The dry print is then scanned to give a digitised version of the negative.
This is then reversed and inverted in Photoshop.
This is used to create the final print - http://www.realphotographersforum.com/abstract-still-life/12677-divided-ii.html#post101707.
The first step is to set up the shot and lighting. Here you can see an arrangement similar to (http://www.realphotographersforum.c...2547-diy-camera-new-firmware-release-2-a.html). The subject (yet another seed pod I'm afraid!) is suspended on an articulated arm in front of a velvet backdrop and lit using a single light (Bowens 3K flash head, but using only the modelling lamp) fitted with a honeycomb diffuser.
The subject is then focused using the new viewing hood...
and then the viewing screen is removed and it is then off to the darkroom.
Here are two shots that give an overview of the room under safe-lighting (Ilford S 902).
This shows the wet side with the trays containing developer and fixer as well as the washer...
and this shows the dry side with the RC dryer that will be used to dry the 'negatives' after washing (it normally lives on a shelf under the film processor when not in use).
A sheet of A4 paper is taken from one of the drawers of the paper safe.
This is then loaded into the film holder...
which is then closed and taken back into the studio (the darkroom has a double door system so that you can come and go under safe-lighting if you wish). The film holder is then placed on the camera.
The lens is held permanently open and so the next job is to close the aperture to the one to be used (f/22 in this case) then cover it with a spare lens cap and open the dark slide.
The cap is then removed and the exposure timed: in this instance, 2 minutes. At the end of this time, the lens cap is replaced and the dark slide is closed. The film holder is then removed from the camera and taken back into the darkroom. Once there, the dark slide is removed and the sheet of exposed paper is taken out...
and slid into the tray of developer and agitated initially with the tongs and then by rocking the dish gently, by hand, to create a swirling motion in the liquid. After about 15 seconds the image has started to form...
and continues to rise in density as development takes place.
The image is usually fully developed after 90 seconds but I always develop for two minutes. During the last 15 seconds the print is lifted out using tongs and allowed to drain before being transferred to the fixer in the next tray.
When doing large numbers of prints and when using fibre-based paper I would use a stop bath, but for small numbers of paper negatives I tend to skip this even though it shortens the life of the fixer.
Fixing is done for 2 minutes under constant agitation and the negative is then transferred to an archival washer...
where it is washed for 3-4 minutes (resin coated paper washes very quickly and will begin to delaminate if washed for too long - a common mistake: fibre-based paper needs a minimum of 15 minutes in an archival washer). It is then dried in a rotary drier designed for RC papers. Here the paper negative can be see emerging from the rear of the unit.
The dry print is then scanned to give a digitised version of the negative.
This is then reversed and inverted in Photoshop.
This is used to create the final print - http://www.realphotographersforum.com/abstract-still-life/12677-divided-ii.html#post101707.
Last edited:
