New Light Farmer

My new blog site

2012-01-18T08:42:00.000-08:00

This blog will now end in favor of my new email address. The ISP that hosted my web site, studiocarter.com was canceled, I did it because nothing was happening. My new gmail is all I have now along with a blog.

studiocarter 2012

Michael A. Carter

2012

2012-01-18T08:05:00.000-08:00

Last week I tried out all my lenses on the Canon 5D digital camera. It has a full 35mm sensor. Adaptors allowed me to hook up old Minolta 35mm lenses and Pentax 120mm lenses to it. I wanted to see how the coverage or field of view looked.

What I discovered was that the larger format lenses gave the same field of view as the smaller format lenses. 50mm was 50mm no matter if the lens was made for a slide film or a 6x7 film.

That said, how could I try out the huge old brass lenses made for the ULF cameras, specifically the 12 inch by 15 inch camera? Would they be more telephoto?

No. An 18 inch lens is about the same as a 4 to 500mm lens. A mm to inch web site converts 18 inches as being about 450mm. The field of view matched those statistics.

It was interesting how a picture resulted using a 5D digital camera and a 12x15 inch camera. The larger camera was set up and the back lifted. The back has the ground glass on it. The digital camera was stripped of its lens. I held the 5D inside the back of the 12x15 and moved it around to establish the shot. Exposure was made by altering shutter speed and ISO on the 5D. The lens was wide open at f:7.7

It worked. Now I can see exactly what a 35mm sensor sees on a 12x15 inch negative. The image is telephoto as if I had used a 450mm lens on a 35mm camera, although to get the entire field of view of one photo that is ULF I'd need to shoot many many 35mm images and then stitch them all together.

new stuff

2012-01-15T06:27:00.000-08:00

my new email is michaeldotstudiocarteratgmaildotcom

I can't get this program to accept it since it is already mine ??!!

Light Meter

2011-08-03T08:11:00.000-07:00

The light meter I use is a Sekonic Studio Delux. It can measure light as reflected or as incident. Reflected light bounces off the subject, while incident light falls onto a subject. I had been using reflected light for a long time and never really figured out what the ISO of emulsions was. Now I use incident light readings exclusively and get better results. The light source is independent of the subject and is not dependent on what is being photographed.

A white plastic dome is placed over the sensor in order to measure incident light. Readings are taken from the subject with the meter facing the camera. If it is bright outside a screen is placed in front of the sensor to block some of the light. In that case the dial must be read a special way. Usually, as in low light conditions, black numbers are used. There are red numbers which are used when the "high slide", as it is called, is inserted. Those numbers are to the left; the dial is rotated clockwise and they are revealed.

On a bright sunny day the amount of light is usually 320 give or take a block with the high slide in front of the sensor under the white plastic dome. When you aim the light meter at the camera from the subject and depress the center button the red needle will move up to 320 or 320+1 more block; let go and the needle is fixed in place.

The large dial is in two parts. It looks black but there is a white part under it. That moves a red pointer. The red triangular pointer is aligned with the needle. It serves to remind you of the reading so more can be taken. The black dial moves a scale of numbers. The numbers are the same as the needle numbers and are to be aligned with one or the other triangles in the white scale inside the dial. The red scale is used with the high slide and the black scale is used without it. 320 is put over the red H.

A little white square shows the ISO setting. The lowest setting is one click below 6. ISO of Liquid Light is below that. One full stop will raise or lower the number 6 by twice or half. Above 6 is 12, below it and not shown is 3. 320 by the red H is moved over so that 160 is on the red H making ISO to be 3 when the ISO is on 6 (one click up from the maximum). Then move it again so that 80 is aligned with the red H and ISO is 1 1/2. Move it again and you get 40 on H and 3/4.

There are two dots between the 6 and 12. ISO decends from 6, 5, 4,3, 2 1/2, 2, 1 1/2, 1 1/4, 1, 3/4.

That is how I have been thinking. The dial, however, shows different numbers; ISO is indicated above the f16 number as 1, 2, 4, 8. Not 6. I suppose the lowest number on the dial is actually 6, one click lower than the number and not aligned with it, but since it does not align I don't use it that way.

At the bottom of the dial on the light meter a red 1 will align with white 16. ISO is 1. Bright sun is f 16 at 1 second. That is -3 stops or three more stops of light from 6, when foot candles are 320, my way.

The Scientific Method

2011-08-01T06:12:00.000-07:00

The High School Chemistry book begins with a teaching about the scientific method. Simply stated, that is to 1) State the problem. 2) Gather observations. 3) Form a hypothesis. 4) Conduct experiments. 5) Evaluate the results.

1) State the Problem. Now I have a problem with two plates made so far. One of the plates is the Liquid Light bracket test and the other is the better work photo of the Field House that followed. The problem is that both have the same exposure, part of the bracket test has the same exposure as the Field House. The biggest part of the problem is that when I developed the bracket test I could not see any image form in the area that has the same exposure as the Field House, but when I developed the Field House photo it was observable.

Without the present study of the scientific method I would not pursue it. I went right past it and onto making large format images.

2) Gather Observations. I take a lot of notes when working. The notes are written again into a word processor document. I now have a format for all good photographs and some of the bad ones. A photograph fills the width of the page at the top. Under it, in bold, the title. The first paragraph under that lists the size, date, emulsion, camera, lens, and exposure, including the Foot Candle reading in incident light. The next paragraph is how the image was developed and fixed. A brief comment follows and the final paragraph tells something of how the plate was made.
Everything fits onto one side of one page. All photographs have the same format and information. It helps me figure out what is going on.

023 Frick field Wedge Test ...This plate was scraped twice, one end was thicker than the other.
025 Field house ...The emulsion must be very thin because it cleared so fast.

When I developed the Wedge Test, the part that was good didn't develop; it stayed white and I thought there wasn't an image there.

3) Form a Hypothesis. Thick emulsion may have a higher ISO than thin emulsion.

4) Conduct experiments. Make two plates, one thin and one thick with emulsion. Expose them both the same, develop them both the same, developing the thin one first by observation.

5) Evaluate. When I had developed 023, no image showed until it was cleared after 20 minuets in fixer, then the image showed to be the better part. I may have been overdeveloping thick plates! 025 cleared in 3 minuets.

I am guessing that thick emulsion will capture more light then a thin one and then hide the image under the unexposed excess white halides. Trees in the Frick Park Wedge Test photo have more gray details than the trees in the Field house photo. Development was one min in the Wedge Test and three min in the Field house. I will develop 2 min both new plates.

Two new plates were coated. The glass is new single strength with the sharp edges knocked off with a black diamond pad underwater. Two different methods of coating plates were used. One coating was applied thinly and the other was applied thickly.

The thin coating used glass edge strips of the same thickness, single strength, and a puddle pusher glass rod. The ends of the glass rod were wrapped with three layers of scotch tape. A thicker, double strength, glass strip was used to guide the glass rod pulling down emulsion over the plate. The glass set up was heated with a hair dryer. Emulsion was dumped onto one four inch edge and emulsion ran over the edge strip and the plate. Emulsion was pulled down over the plate in one slow pass then past the edge at the other end so to prevent emulsion from backing onto the plate. Excess was put back into the film canister; emulsion was kept warm for reuse on the next plate. The plate appeared light gray and dull.

About a third of a canister of emulsion remained and was used to coat the thicker plate. A marble slab was extended out over the edge of the table and a hot plate put under it. The stone end was heated to warm to the touch. Uncoated glass was preheated on the stone then held on my finger tips. Emulsion was about 110 F and carefully poured into the center. I was looking into the safe light in order to see to keep the glass level. No emulsion was allowed to pour off. I slowly tipped the plate this way and that so the emulsion ran into corners and edges. Then I rotated it some and placed it back onto the warm stone. While it sat for one minuet on the warm stone, I pushed the glass in circles with a popsicle stick. After I had counted to 60, I pushed the coated glass plate to the cold end of the stone without lifting it. It was allowed to solidify there. The plate appeared very white and shiny.

A couple good books

2011-07-30T14:27:00.000-07:00

The book called, A Life of Discovery, Michael Faraday, Giant of the Scientific Revolution, by James Hamilton, really helped me. ISBN 1-4000-6016-8. I could relate to it. I liked how Michael Faraday learned on his own and took notes and made his notes into books. He shared his discoveries, taught freely, he even was artistic and was interested in photography some. I was a teacher, an artist, and although I'm not a bookbinder I do have a computer and make books. This blog can be made into a book for anyone who wants a copy and is willing to pay for it. I got a copy, hardbacked. In the early 1800's art and science were connected. That is happening again, I think, this time via the internet.

Another book I found is a high school chemistry text book. ck12.org has text books for all grades and teachers from K to 12th. grade for free downloads. I've been reading chapter one part one about the scientific method. My new study of how to make emulsions would not be complete without a study of chemistry. I have a lot of catching up to do.

A new level

2011-07-27T06:33:00.000-07:00

Emulsion making is now being studied. Much material has been looked over; lots has been printed out; several reads of several parts have been done. Two sites are being explored and mined for data. One is The Light Farm, and the other is in APUG, Emulsion Making and Coating, the stickies.

It took a while to be able to even print out anything. I had to learn how to use several different computers, programs, and methods of printing to get hard copies. That was fun because I used to be a graphic artist and it came naturally.

There are other sources on the web, but they are not being used; there is so much on the two sites listed that I'll find what I need there. What I need is a selection of recipes and materials to the end of getting the most basic and simplistic way to make an emulsion. The idea is to be able to make emulsions in Middle School, where I used to teach art.

The study of how to make emulsion has begun now because preliminary work has been successful. Several beautiful plates in ULF (larger than 8x10 inches) have been made and many in the 4x5 inch format. Cameras, lenses, plate holders, tripods, and lenses have been collected, fixed, and I learned how to use them well enough to get good images. Put light meters in that list, too. A darkroom was constructed, stocked, and used. Finally, plates were coated. That took a while to get hold of.

Now I want to learn how to make my own emulsions. Before I buy new lab equipment I want to be able to make emulsion the primitive ways. I saw an article like that somewhere, I think it is on The Light Farm, about sea water ...

My second large plate

2011-07-21T11:39:00.000-07:00

8 1/2 x 15 inches glass plate, Liquid Light emulsion, book form plate holder, Hermagis f8 24 inch lens, f 64 waterhouse stop, lens cap shutter.

A negative tells a lot. The day was very hot and brightly lit. Foot candles must have been over 320, say 320+1 block. The time was just past noon. Exposure was 15 seconds at f64. Development had to be shortened because the plate was getting dark so fast, it was 1 min and 20 sec with a acetic acid stop bath and then Kodak fixer for about 10. The plate was washed later with Perma wash to remove fixer smells. I was careful but still got some fixer spots onto the plate. The negative looks almost as good as the first one when I place it emulsion side down onto white paper. You can see what it is about. That means it is a good one to me.

The close phone pole in the picture was very much out of focus with the camera at a normal arrangement. Then, the front of the camera was tilted up some and focus improved. I kept increasing the tilt and it got better and better. However, it was so much up at the end that I moved it back to about half the way from the maximum to take the picture. The small lens opening helped to focus the rest. I had focused on the middle distance so that the pole and the horizon were both a little fuzzy.

The plate had been coated by using the same thickness glass edge pieces. A glass rod with black plastic tape wrapped on the ends spread out the poured emulsion. Four wraps were used. Unfortunately, the plastic caught on the dry glass and bumped along. I spread again to even out the application. It worked because the edges were then already coated with wet emulsion. Pre lubrication is needed with the "cheap" tape method. I really have to buy some of the 3M TAPE told of at 'The Light Farm' web site. The glass also had been warmed by using a hair dryer. That helped to even out the emulsion after application. One application or scrape is best to strive for.

A funny story is that I had gone out with all my 19th cent. stuff but forgot to take my watch. When I was all ready to expose the plate, I couldn't time it! So, I phoned my wife, using a 21st cent. cel phone; she used her watch and counted it off.

8x15 exposure

2011-07-02T10:57:00.000-07:00

This dry glass plate photograph sized 8x15 inches was made using a Vageeswari Camera Works camera that I purchased from Alex in India. He was selling one just like it on ebay and no one bid. It ended. Perhaps he will list it again. I am very happy with mine, the tripod and the extra plate holders he provided for extra. The tripod words surprisingly well. A large heavy lens was on the camera.

The plate was coated, as per a previous article by me in here, using Liquid Light Emulsion. It was exposed at f64 for 15 seconds; it was developed in Dektol 1:3 for 2 min and 45 seconds. The sun was read with a Sekonic light meter, the foot candles were 320 -1 block or 280 incident light.

Better work

2011-06-30T18:59:00.000-07:00

Liquid Light with photoflo in it on 4x5 plates.

Lliquid Light bracket test

2011-06-27T15:19:00.000-07:00

Liquid Light emulsion on glass was applied with thicker glass edge strips. My son and I went to the park to expose it in a long shot of some trees across the grass at mid day. Exposures were an unknown to me; past experience told me that ISO could be 1/2 to 2 according to instructions but to my trials with one year material was ISO 10.

This emulsion is new. Exposures varied from 1/4 second to 7 3/4 seconds. The slide was pulled out all the way, a one forth second shot was made, the slide was inserted and pushed over some, then following exposures were 1/2, 1, 2, 4. Foot Candles were one block under 320 by a reflected light reading.

I used to pull the slide out and expose 1/2 second shots or 1 second shots. This was new. Good thing I had a solid 1/4 second exposure covered because that is the one that was correct.

Development was only one minuet in Dektol 1:3. It could have been over three minuets long.

Dry Plate Cameras

2011-06-24T12:10:00.000-07:00

There are today two cameras for sale on the web, e-bay from the UK. One is a 10x12 and the other is a 8x15. Each has a film holder but no tripods are included.
The man I bought all mine from in India, alx.pk, has some for sale today. They are the same kind of Vageeswari cameras. I did a search for Vageeswari in film cameras on ebay.
The sellers name is photolud if you are interested. He has had these ULF dry plate camera offered for a long time. They look good to me. I'm not ready to sell mine. I want to use them. I wrote photolud and told him that I now can coat glass plates for such cameras. He was listing film sources and foam inserts to use film. HA. No one knows how to coat plates that big. I want everyone to know how to do that.
Here is how to coat large format glass plates. Sand the edges smooth. Use single strength glass. Clean the top with Calcium Carbonate and grain alcohol; I use a 1 inch brush and paper towels. Rince all dust off and polish with towels, wash with alcohol and don't touch it. Have edge strips made out of plate glass that is the next size thicker and have those edges smoothed; strips should be about 4 inches wide and longer and wider so they can overlap. Butt the edges of the edge plates and leave a gap where the plate is inside the 'well'. Have one more edge strip ready to scrape emulsion with. It should overlap and ride on the edge strips. Heat it. Melt Liquid Light at 110 degrees F, pour it inside the well all over and scrape it down one time. Practice with buttermilk first and measure out how much to use. Excess is easily recovered from the wide sheets surrounding the plate. Oh yea, the glass assembly is set on a damp cloth or rubber matt. Emulsion has a way of getting under the glass and a way to lift the glass is needed. The flexable backing peels off the glass.
That's about it. I couldn't believe how easy it went on.
Be careful how and when you take it apart as the emulsion needs to stay on the edges of the plate. It doesn't cut well and rips easily. A razor blade if stainless could be used to remove excess after dry some.

A New Book

2011-06-23T05:43:00.000-07:00

It's kind of hard to find how to publish a blog; try looking for blog2print. I had a book made of all the previous pages in this blog. Considering the effort involved in doing it myself it is well worth the price.
This posting is the introduction to the second part of my work. Now I am able to coat large plates. Before, I was learning how to do that with small plates. Yesterday I photographed with the Korona View 8x10 camera and developed the plate. Here is what I got.

My main objective was to get a plate exposed and processed that I had coated. The other objective was to develop it in the center of the time scale so I could pin down the ISO.
A bracketed test plate 4x5 had been made; five exposures of one half second each were made; all of them showed image, and I chose 2 seconds for the 320 foot candles earlier in the day when the sun was on the side of the houses. It moved while I got the big K ready; that is a story in itself. The sun went behind some clouds so the foot candles dropped to 160. I used 4 seconds at f 6.3 or 2 1/4 ISO according to the test. Development for the test was in Dektol 1:3 for 2 min. 22 sec.. That is a lot. It was a thinly applied coat and went dark immediately. The Dektol package says 3-4 min starting at 3/4 sec.. If you make a scale of numbers every quarter second there are 14 in all and 7 to the center.
3/4, 1, 1 1/4, 1 1/2, 1 3/4, 2, 2 1/4, 2 1/2, 2 3/4, 3, 3 1/4, 3 1/2, 3 3/4, 4
Two min and 22 or 23 seconds was the center. If only three min. would be used as the maximum time in developer then less than two minuets would center. I think fog may increase with development but I used the longer scale anyway. I wanted to see how it would effect very light exposures.
The image was grossly overexposed. ISO may be 6 not 2 1/4 when developed to the center or 2 min.. I stopped development at 2 min..
If I had developed by inspection instead of time I'd have pulled the plate out in 30 seconds while there were still lots of lights showing in it. However, now I have a benchmark to gauge further work.
A Dark plate means less light is needed, If one processed to the center of the development scale.
The emulsion used was Formazo which is not made anymore at least as far as I know. It was applied thinly with an emulsion well.
Later on I'll try to make better photographs. This is incredibly dirty as well. I don't mind. Bigger contact prints won't show what a computer can see.
...........
new note: the longer time of 4 min in developing is used in developing fiber based paper. 3 min is quite enough to do plates. 1 min is recommended for RC paper and 2 for Fiber based paper. One minuet is about right to develop plates with. I may have been developing too long.

8 x 15 plate coating

2011-06-20T17:36:00.000-07:00

How I coat 8x15 inch glass plates with Liquid Light emulsion. Single strength glass was used from the glass store. I had them polish the edges. The glass fits into a book form plate holder for a Vageeswari camera.

Double strength glass is thicker than single strength glass. I had some and cut edge strips out of it. They should be at least 4 inches wide, two are longer than the others. The sharp edges were taken down with emery cloth. Wet o dry paper would be better to use wet.

The thinner single strength 8" x 15" glass photographic plate was cleaned with Calcium Carbonate and Everclear grain 151 proof alcohol. It was rinsed with tap water, held with paper towels, and wiped off. It was then cleaned only on the top with Everclear. It was handled carefully using paper so as not to touch it at all with bare fingers.

The plate was laid out on a flat table on a sheet of rubber matt. The thicker glass edge strips were laid out around it with 1/8th inch gaps between the plate and the edge pieces but without a gap between where edge pieces touch each other.

Buttermilk was used in daylight to see how much emulsion it would take. 2 1/2 ounces did the job. Buttermilk is very much like emulsion and cleans up easily. One 35mm film canister holds about an ounce of emulsion if it is totally full. Nevertheless, I used three full canisters of Liquid Light emulsion; it is better to have some left over than to not have enough.

Three cold and solid full 35mm film canisters loaded with Liquid Light emulsion are placed into a quart measuring cup that is filled with 120 degree F water to melt. A 'nose' pot and a glass "puddle pusher" rod are placed into a tray with hotter water in it so they can warm up. When things are taken out of the water they are dried off and they quickly cool. The water in the measuring cup cools to 110 F; the top is taken off a canister and the emulsion is checked with the thermometer probe to see if it has melted completely.

In the dark, with an amber light on, the emulsion was poured first into the 'nose' pot, after it had been dried, then out onto the plate in long s curves with little spaces between the runs. The emulsion was pushed from one or two inches inside the plate out towards the near narrow end to start and make sure that end was fully covered. Then, I started the scrape out on the thicker edge piece and pulled the rod slowly and lightly all the way to the other side. One swipe did it. Excess emulsion piles up on the wide edge piece.

I was lucky the first time and the plate covered completely with one swipe. However, the second time four swipes were needed; good thing it was hot. The excess was push back onto the plate and dragged to the other side. Three cans were almost completely used up. It is best to do it in one pass. Multiple passes creates uneven exposures. Use one application no matter what. Uneven application, as in pouring, can be remedied if the glass is heated like when I put hand poured smaller plates onto heated stone to allow uneven cooling emulsion heat back up and spread out. 4 canisters in a small measuring cup may be better because it comes out faster and 3 didn't cover on the third attempt at coating a plate in one swipe.

Excess and spillage soon gelled and was taken up with a new razor blade, and an artist's palette knife, and returned to an empty film canister.

The plate looks great. It was set onto three wooden dowel rods in a cardboard drying box of shelves. The wet back would stick to the paper and be very difficult to remove otherwise.

This method is very easy to do and gives excellent results. The edge pieces and rubber mat and glass rod may be used over and over. Actually, a glass rod isn't even needed I bet. I'll need to use a flat piece of glass with a polished edge to coat larger plates because a longer one is needed to cover and I don't anticipate any different results. The glass strip can even be heated first and that will help. Glass on the rubber matt was room temperature. It coated great. I'm happy.

Transcription progress

2011-04-16T07:16:00.000-07:00

The 100 page notebook has been transcribed into a Pages document. That is what a MAC calls its word processor. Photos have been placed, numbered, and named properly. Everything has been printed out as a PDF, bound, and is in hand to read from. It will not be put on line as it is very fragmented; it makes sense to me and helps me to remember what I did and want to do.
My skills are increasing with the MacBook and Pages. More photographs have been taken in order to flesh out everything that was done. Such photos are a shot of my darkroom door, a shot of a measuring cup with a darkroom thermometer and film canisters in it, and one of a small tray that just fits a 4x5 plate with calcium carbonate on it and a bottle of EverClear beside it. That kind of thing. I know what everything is but a new person would need to see pictures lacking hands on experience.
The local hardware store has supplied me with a stack of plates to coat and emery cloth to sand them with. This batch will be coated thinly with Formazo to see if the edge artifact of picture framing goes away. The experiment will also tell how fast a thin emulsion will dry.

emulsion application methods

2011-04-09T05:16:00.000-07:00

My methods of emulsion application are self taught from the web. There was a you tube video of emulsion being poured, and although not actually dry plate emulsion, it was enough to get me started. I tried to copy that last year with enough success to do it again this year.
Emulsion pouring by hand is my basic technique. It is being revisited. New information is being processed and I will pour in the air by hand again. A technique resulted that works lats year. It is a thick emulsion that is not run off but allowed to gell fully thick. That solved my edge problems and gave me perfect plates.
The same technique with a different emulsion led me to try different ways of applying the emulsion. Edge problems of a different sort entered the fray. To get rid of them I've tried scrapeing emulsion onto a plate from edge pieces of glass. This is more in line with The Light Farm methods, without the taped edgs on the Puddle Pusher. Old thin glass was put in the center of new thick glass edges. It works and the edge artifact of picture framing is all but gone.
Now I have two ways of coating plates that are very easy to do and work perfectly.

The Light Farm contributor

2011-04-06T05:37:00.000-07:00

The Light Farm is where most of what I'll publish next will go. It is best, I think, to have one place where the newest to this art can go to find information.
The Light Farm
I wrote an article and it was posted there; as a contributor, I urge others to do likewise.
Article by Michael Carter

My own web site will be maintained but not to the extent that I had planned. You can read about what I'm going to do there:
Dry Plate Photography on studiocarter

Formazo

2011-03-22T05:21:00.000-07:00

A new bottle of emulsion was dispensed into the film canisters; it is called Formazo; it is very different from Liquid Light.

plate warmer

2011-03-19T13:39:00.000-07:00

Here is a photo of my plate warming set up. It consists of a slab of marble under which is a hot plate. The end is allowed to become warm to the hand and not very much warmer. The other end stays cold. A piece of glass is set on the warmer for as long as it takes to get a can of emulsion out of the water in the sink, not long. Plates are hand poured just to the left of the marble slab. The plate is set onto the warm end for a measured amount of time. Today I used 2 min.. The plate is then pushed back onto the cold part. The emulsion has a chance to level out, flatten, and perhaps rise in ISO.

good work

2011-03-19T07:20:00.000-07:00

All the plates were flat. They adhered to all the edges. No frilling occurred. I mean, there was none of that variable thickness like last year. Thickness was totally consistent from edge to edge. It is wonderful. And the best part is that ISO was so high.
Shown here are the three plates of praise as I call them, and the stinker that had the shutter left open. Top Left is the bracket test. ISO of 6, the lowest setting on my Sekonic Studio Delux light meter, gave me a reflected light reading of 160 foot candles. One second at f 5.6 or wide open was the exact setting; the slide was pulled out more, one more exposure at the same setting and one more time. ISO is then 6, 3, 1 1/2. The lightest part is ISO 6. Development was for one minute in fresh Dektol diluted one part developer to three parts of water all at 68 degrees. Agitation was continuous for 15 sec then 1x/30 sec. or very little at all. I took the plate out 1 sec before a min. and put it into a little bit of fresh fixer for a 30 second slosh stop bath. It was then transferred into a larger quantity of fixer. Total fixing time was for 30 minutes followed by a 15 min. wash.
All three plates were treated the same way regarding development, stop bath, fixing and washing. Only the time in the developer varied.
The light area looked like that was working correctly but needed to be improved. Even less exposure would lighten the light areas more and I wanted that. Longer development would darken the darks.
The next plate exposed was a little better and proved I was on the right course of action. I wanted to get blacks and whites on the negative instead of overall gray. I read Chris Paton's article again on The Light Farm. Heat and age changes ISO.
Foot Candles were 160; less exposure was used, 1/2 sec @ f5.6, ISO was set on 10, development was 2 min. You can see the improvement. It worked. Logic works, photography is so logic responsive it is wonderful.
The last exposure has slightly more light. Foot Candles were on the high edge of 160, ISO was 10, 1/2 sec @ f5.6 was used, and development was 3 min and 45 seconds. It worked. The darks became much darker and the lights are very light and clear.

good iso

2011-03-17T16:36:00.000-07:00

Some things to know about:
Make an exposure bracked test first thing; it is worth it.
Mix fresh Dektol; it only last about 4 months; dilute it 1:3; that is, one part Dektol ane three parts water; develop between 3/4 min and 4 min maximum.
Unexposed or undeveloped emulsion will be white; it will clear in half an hour in fixer; you can see it happen in a black tray; nothing will happen for 15 min.
Exposed emulsion will turn black; you can watch it develop in a white tray; it will darken within 30 seconds.
Stop bath may be in a red tray; you can see red in low light; it may be fresh fixer, although much less than in the fixer tray; slosh it for 30 sec.
Washing for 15 min is not too much
emulsion will stick to properly cleaned glass even if in liquids for 75 min
ISO will increase with age of emulsion even in the bottle; the longer emulsion is warm the higher ISO becomes; the hotter the higher; it will fog

My old emulsion that was allowed to sit on a warming plate was used as an ISO of 10, and was developed for 3 3/4 min in Dektol 1:3
In order to lower development time into the center of the time range or about 2 1/4 min the developer would need to be more concentrated.

drying plates

2011-03-15T05:28:00.000-07:00

While plates are drying, I installed a new scanner that has a large light in the lid. It is able to scan 8x10 negatives. It didn't cost much and installed even though I'd lost the disks. Software was downloaded and it is good to go. The scanner is a HP, like my computer, G4050. I'm also transcribing my notes to a MS Word 07 document. So far, I'm up to 40 pages of hand written notes in a spiral bound notebook. Typing is on page 24. The new document will need to be rewritten and illustrated. Photography of plates, equipment and set ups have been going on, too. All of it will be put together and bound at Office Depot. A PDF has been made and will be available eventually. Older ones are on line through my web site, studiocarterdotcom. The notes help me think and are a valuable resource in remembering how I exposed or developed or poured plates. Writing them helps me plan what to do next.

second run

2011-03-14T07:51:00.000-07:00

The main thing I've been doing is to wash plates so that emulsion will stick on them all during processing and afterwards and secondly to pour plates so that consistent results are possible.
Today, there were 4 canisters of cold emulsion remaining and eight 4x5 glass plates sitting in the drying rack. The glass was washed and wiped with EverClear and paper towels. Canisters were placed into 115 degree water. They melted and cooled to 100 when I began to pour with them.
A slab of marble that was used to cool plates with was pulled out from the table top like a diving board. Under the end a hot plate was put on a folding chair to heat the end some.
As it turned out, the best way to pour was holding the plate on my finger tips again. The glass was warmed a little, half a can dumped onto the glass, it was tipped ever so slightly, then it was placed on the warm end of the marble. After a min., I was impatient; it was pushed back onto the cold end, where it was allowed to get hard. Two by two they were transferred to the new drying cabinet. Two to a shelf were spaced out.
It was easy work. Spills were wiped up as I went.
The marble was found to be level yesterday. A mound of water stayed where it was put on a plate so that meant it was level enough.
The 8 plates will dry at least to Wednesday. Dektol will be used this time to develop with.

first week

2011-03-10T12:27:00.000-08:00

My first week has produced 6 plates. One is totally clear; one is almost black; and 5 have images on them, including the black one. I forgot to shut the shutter but got an image anyway?! All the plates were developed in D-76, which was wrong; I just wanted to see... The totally clear one was the one poured in the light as a practice; I wanted to see if it would actually become clear; it took 30 min. but it did. So, if there is any fog, that is a result of development, not fixing or exposure. Exposure was way too little; I've got it scoped out now; asa is most likely 0.5, not 1.5. Dark subjects need longer exposure and closely focused ones need a little more, too.

This is photo number one of this year. I like this method because almost anything I do, even if wrong, still yields images.

new work

2011-03-08T04:59:00.000-08:00

A lot of good work was done last week and this week promises to hold new photo prints from new glass slides. Last week was used to first review how to wash plates. A wooden drying rack was almost filled with 4x5 plates left over from previous work. They were clean but had some water spots and dust on them. Some were cleaned again. A new method of cleaning was used. It proved to work just fine. Water drained off the plates in a sheet; that is proof that the plate is clean. Calcium Carbonate was used with a little EverClear to scrub with, followed by tap water rinse in hot water, followed by distilled water rinse, it might be that a paper towel wipe is needed because it got rid of some grit, followed by a final PhotoFlow rinse.

How to coat plates was reviewed next. I chose to hand pour plates; this size is so small that it seems the thing to do. Liquid Light Emulsion had been put into 35mm film canisters made of plastic. One was put into a container of 120 F degree water for a while to melt; water had to be made hot again after a while; it took about 20 min. and one reheating to do the job.

One plate was poured in the light; emulsion was sacrificed to do this important learning step; it was well worth it. Half of a container was used; emulsion spread rapidly because one spray of EverClear had been applied to the plate first; very little tipping was needed; after each corner had been filled a little more mounded up the emulsion and it was carefully transferred to a cold slab of marble to harden.

Drying was done in a old shoe box. I love this work. Using hand techniques and things like shoe boxes is what I like to do. Plates were allowed to dry for days; boxes were changed for dry ones. The first day will deform the box because it absorbs moisture. A dark cloth is used to cover boxes when in the light.

The plate that was hand poured in the light is thick. Thick plates are recommended by Winkler on The Light Farm web site in his article. The thickest one I ever did gave me the best photo prints.

Drying a lot of plates made me do the third thing last week; I made a drying cabinet. We had a chest of drawers made of cardboard for Christmas ornaments; it had gotten water logged and sagged a bit. My wife bought new containers and I was free to use the old one. After straightening it out with water and a heavy pack of ceramic tiles as a weight I altered it. A door was made out of the drawers; the shelves were cut to allow air flow inside the box; seams were taped over. The box is now light tight and can hold a dozen or more small plates. The cardboard will absorb moisture and dispel it through the walls. Both sides are dry and not painted so moisture can pass through.

I like this kind of photography because I get to make things.

what's up?

2011-01-31T05:45:00.000-08:00

Boy am I glad I made this blog! It has been a long time since any real work has been done on the photography in it that reading the blog again and again is a great way to find out where I'm at, so to speak. The only problem is that the blog is upside down and that made it difficult to read. If it were a book that'd be different and is much to be desired. hint hint

My web site is www.studiocarter.com

latest museings

2011-01-29T07:43:00.000-08:00

Last year was spent mostly learning how to ride my new motorcycle. But I did attend one photographic seminar in the North Hills. It was about eggs and paper and old glass. I got one nice print framed out of it and a reason to ride that far, which was far for me at the time.

Now I want to go to Montana this year, yea, on the big bike . The class will be the one on glass plate coating. I wonder if I can ride 500 miles a day...

to post or not to post

2010-08-26T07:58:00.000-07:00

This blog may or may not be continued. It is possible to delete it completly. Should all postings be made to my own web site? Nobody ever writes me here so why keep it. It is neat and has good features and I like it. However, how long will it survive?
A class needs to be taken about blogging and more than one are available locally; such a class may be just the thing to make a decision.
Everclear is finally at hand so now darkroom work may be resumed.

Lately

2010-02-06T13:38:00.000-08:00

Lately I've gotten three 10x12 book form plate holders, a new bellows for a Primo No. 19, and found some old holders for it that a label inside says need to be shaved to fit properly. That is the same for the 10x12 holders. A chap in the UK says he has a Vag that will fit them.

Darkroom curtan

2009-12-28T08:35:00.000-08:00

A darkroom door curtan was made. It consists of old heavy fabric from a camera buy and more black cloth added to the long side. It was cut into two pieces and lengthened with black cloth. One side was stapeled to the left side and top inside the door; the other half was stapled on the right side and top of the door frame inside. Now I can get out of the darkroom and not let any light into it. It didn't cost anything to do; all the materials were leftovers.

A drying cabinet is needed. Plans are at hand. But I havn't used the new table saw yet.

My web site will have dimentions of half plate book form glass holders for sale. Studiocarter dot com.

Plate holders

2009-11-10T10:53:00.000-08:00

Plate holders arrived from England, two of them. They fit the 12x15 camera. Well, they will fit it with a little fussing. They are both most exactly the same size, being just a little larger here and there. A little sanding, glue, tape, a hinge, paint inside, well, more than a little fussing is required. Beggars can't be choosers. You just can't get holders this size very often. They are older and more beat up than the nasty 10x12 what needs work. Very well. Glad to have 'em both.

The 11x14 puddle pusher may work for 12x15 plates if a dowl rod is inside the glass tube and the ends of THAT rod are built up with tape. Anything larger is a special order and costs much more. I can try to make what I got work.

Three new 19th century books were downloaded from Google books. Now I've got to read three web sites and three old books. No problem. One book has plans on how to construct drying cabinets for plates or for papers. Just what I need. The source is the article written by Ms Ross for The Light Farm located in Articles.

A Pot to pour plates with

2009-11-09T10:46:00.001-08:00

My sister in law was showing us how to clean our noses, when I said, "Hey, wait a minuet, where did you get that Pot?" I thought it would be perfect to pour emulsion out with. Since I havn't been able to find one in Thrift Stores, I went over to the local Whole Foods Store and got one. It is called a NETI POT, breath easier. www NetiPot dot org. HA, it is even from my state, PA.

That web is HUGE

2009-11-08T05:57:00.000-08:00

There are three different webs that I am studying, not just one. You can get to number two and three of them from the one, The Light Farm. The links are in the big box, under the line, at the bottom. Emulsion Coating Wells is part of The Light Farm since it is just one page. That there are three webs and not one was a revelation to me. The Light Farm is the largest of the webs, but the other two are each a good size. Everything has to be sorted out before I start studying. Sorting is studying. I have to know what I need to know. Denise W. Ross Photography is another web. That one is first for me but was last that I found. I bought a print of that image of the forest path, "Hope". The third web is The Original "Adventures in Emulsion_Making" blog

1. http://thelightfarm.com/

2. http://dwrphotos.com/

3. http://dwrphotos.com/blog/EmulsionResearch.htm

Now she's off learning more about something new and surely another web is in the making.
I'b best start on the first page of one of these three and go through to the end several times over. Hand coloring is very interesting to me so perhaps I'll read everything in drwphotos first.

follow along on my web site

2009-11-01T05:15:00.000-08:00

It has been a while since my last post. Please follow along on my web site:
http://www.studiocarter.com
Denise has sent me her old favorite emulsion well that is 10 inches wide inside. Great. Now I can finish fixing up my oldest and roughfest Vaageeswari 10x12 camera. It has a ground glass holder with loose corners. Brass corner brackets were purchased. A dremmel was purchased and it has a kit with very thin drills. Brass may be polished and screws may be installed.
Chrome Alm, Hard Gelatin, Hardener Fixer, and a new bottle of emulsion were purchased.
I want to work in the darkroom again.

Densities of negatives

2009-09-05T13:39:00.000-07:00

A 10x12 light table was purchased in order to see densities of different negatives at the same time. The photograph was made with a Canon and a basic lens. Edges of the table are less light so six different 4x5 glass plates don't photograph as well as they could, but they can all be seen together.

This marks a point of change. New work will soon begin. Getting glass to accept emulsion, exposing it correctly (?), developing it, drying and so on was the goal and it has been met.

New work will begin soon. A drape must be made inside the light tight darkroom door so I can leave plates out to dry. Larger plates must be learned how to be coated. The ultimate is 12x15, some day. And then I'd like to shoot and develop some more 4x5s, perhaps even make a contact print instead of scanning them all the time.

Strip Bracket Test

2009-08-01T16:05:00.001-07:00

Bracketed Strip Test, f 16 @ 1 second each. A bright sunny day but not brilliant dry air, a slight haze, and it was humid. It was the same time and the same kind of sun as the last shot the day before. However, the Weston meter said 100 instead of 200; it may be inconsistent, I don't know. The Luna Pro, from the subject, pointed at the camera was 21. (That wasn't done right the first time). This file is not enhanced or touched up in any way. The negative is 4x5, glass plate, Liquid Light, Dektol 1:3, but development took 6 minuets. The plate was dried two full days and no prewetting had been done prior to developing. It developed by inspection, the edges got dark first and much later the center areas. I developed it until it showed the darker steps, one side was darker and there was tone in the other areas. The other plates were still damp when I developed them. This plate is the best pour so far. The camera was the Bender, and the lens 210 f 5.6 Caltar.

What is the correct exposure? What is the ISO? The middle one is f 16 @ 4 seconds. It looks dark.

More accurate measurements of the light need to be made. Fresh emulsion needs to be used. This batch had been heated up many times. It is too soon to determine exact ISO.

Exposure of Liquid Light emulsion

2009-07-31T08:24:00.000-07:00

What is the ISO or ASA or speed of Liquid Light emulsion? Well, I got a pretty good picture at f8 at 1 second on a almost brilliant sunny day of average subject. The Sunny Sixteen Rule was applied to those factors. As it turns out, a brilliant day is 200 or 20 depending on which light meter you use. It does not matter what ISO you have to work with; all meters and cameras and lenses are based on this Rule: brilliant sun is gaged at f 16 at 1 over the film speed for the shutter. So, if you have 200 as the bright sun as on a Weston light meter, and 400 for a film speed, f 16 falls on 1/400 second for exposure. Lenses must be focused on infinity. Anything closer will cause the bellows to be extended farther, decreasing light intensity by the square of the distance. Infinity focus is required to start with in order to determine exposure using the Sunny Sixteen Rule.

My daylight and exposure fit the above information perfectly. ISO was ... the lowest setting on any light meter at hand. Get a Weston 715 just for the dial, the cell does not even need to work. Light was 18.5 on a Luna Pro or one block lower than 200 on the Weston. It looks like I'll be using the old Weston meter again.

The other part of the equation is developing the exposed plate in the darkroom. This is also standardized. Dektol is used, diluted 1:3, one part Dektol to three parts water. Mix according to directions on the package to get the one part. One minuet is used as a time. 69 degrees Fahrenheit is the temperature throughout. Agitation is minimal. Kodak Fixer is used to both stop the development and to fix. A small amount of Fixer is put in a tray and used as a stop bath for 30 seconds. The fixer tray has more in it and is used for at least 2 minuets. If milky white is observed in the plate, then longer time is required to remove it. 5 minuets of wash in water is all that remains. Plates are stood on edge on a paper towel to dry. Drying can take one hour to all day depending on how thick the emulsion is, dryer air and more of it speeds things up. I place the completed dry plate in a sealable plastic bag.

Washing comes first, Calcium Carbonate or Barkeeper's Friend are enough with a tap water rinse to get the emulsion to stick. I scrub the powder with a brush and a little bit of water over the plate in a tiny tray. Lots of tap water cleans it off. That is all that is needed.

Pouring plates every day

2009-07-30T17:18:00.001-07:00

Pouring plates after cleaning them different ways is getting easier and easier. Exposing them is coming along, too. A Bender 4x5 camera was used in order to use the lens on it that has a cable release, a Caltar 210, and a Copal #1 shutter. Accurate exposures are in order. One of two plates came out great today. It was shot at f8 and 1 second; the light was not quite brilliant full sun, 18.5 on a Luna Pro meter. ASA or ISO is below the .8 lowest so is about 1/2. The plate was subbed with emulsion and fixed then coated again; it was thick and slow to dry. After scanning at 1200 I enhanced it, and touched it up a bit. It makes a very nice 8x10 print on the PC.

The emulsion is light and loose

2009-07-29T10:36:00.000-07:00

The emulsion is very thin and light. It is also subject to humidity. As it is raining and very humid outside, it came loose. So, back into the oven with only the piolet light on to dry out then back into a bag. Perhaps it should be varnished after developing.

My First Plate

2009-07-28T12:13:00.000-07:00

This is my first image. It is a 4x5 glass plate made with Liquid Light on top of Polyurethane water base high gloss (varnish). The whole thing lifted off, then dried flat again. Weird.
The problem today was to determine ISO. Tests were done on card stock first. This image is underexposed at 1 ISO instead of 1/2. One second was used at f 16 on a bright sunny day. Dektol was used at 1:3 dilution at 69 degrees F. developed two minuets instead of one because of the underexposure. It was scanned in the computer at 1200 dpi, auto adjust, unsharped, stiched, shrunk down to 20% at 300 dpi and posted as a medium sized image. A Pony Prime No.4 camera was used with a R.O.&C. Victor f8-5.6 lens.

All Together Now

2009-07-24T19:26:00.000-07:00

Everything has been done, once. Chemicals were mixed, photographs taken, film developed, (glass broken), (emulsion peeled off and put onto another). The entire cycle has been done for the first time.
Now to do it again and again until it is done right.
The ice is broken.

Second Pour

2009-07-23T12:10:00.000-07:00

A full bottle of emulsion takes a while to heat up enough to get it out of the bottle. It was put into a slightly larger sized stainless steel coffee peculator pot, and sat on the strainer lid! Just like a pressure cooker; the lid on the bottom keeps the plastic container from getting too hot.
When warm enough to pour, some was put into a stainless steel daylight developing tank. That, in turn, was floated in warm water in a Pyrex measuring cup.
Temperature was monitored. The small amount was allowed to cool to the required temperature (do the math). More was put in there for the next time. It will be easier to warm up a small amount than the entire bottle.
The plastic apron went on, and the developing tray, white, went on my lap; I sat. The plates done yesterday were in a light safe. They were very much uneven to say the least. Both were covered again. The plates were done at room temperature and not warmed up first; that proved to be an error, warming them did.
The light safe was put onto the enlarger base, checked with a level.
This is cool: The emulsion bottle came in black plastic bag in the box. With the bottle in the pot, the bag is put over it, squeezed to get air out and slid all the way to the bottom. That way I can get out of the room without exposing the emulsion; some light gets in, when the door is opened, as this darkroom doesn't have a light tight walk way exit. Then the door is shut again. Bad design that but a cool workaround.

Science and Photography

2009-07-23T05:50:00.000-07:00

Science in High School was attractive but not enough so as to make me do the work. Now is the time. Photography gives me motivation to learn it.

C 1.8 + 32 F

F (F-32) x 1.8 C

First pour

2009-07-22T09:01:00.000-07:00

Two 4x5 plates were coated with Liquid Light. I hope. Red light was used, only one about 6 feet away. The bottle of emulsion was unpacked in red light and placed in a large Pyrex measuring cup. That in turn was filled with hot water and let sit a little bit. A two reel stainless steel developing can was also filled with hot water. A hot plate was turned on low. The glass sheets were in a 4x5 tray both on the edge and along a center ridge forming a wedge. It would have been easier to find that tray if it had been white instead of black.
The first time I tried to pour some emulsion out of the bottle nothing came out; it must melt first. It doesn't come out easy; the more that melts the easier it is. Some was poured into the stainless steel can and that was put on the now off hotplate. One sheet of glass was warmed up on the hot plate. Then, some emulsion was poured onto a glass sheet; it moved easily.
It spilled onto my pants, on the floor, on the table. Wear a plastic apron. I was sitting down for the first sheet and put a developing tray on my lap for the second try. It didn't look like it was coating the glass evenly; rather, it pooled or left holes. More was added; it spilled off into my hand; I held the glass by the sides or the corners.
Warming up the plate helped some. both plates went into a paper safe. The emulsion got sticky pretty fast.
A thorough clean up followed.
The plates are allowed to dry inside the box. I'll open it in the dark a few times to change the air inside it since it is made of plastic, but it is large.

First time at cleaning glass.

2009-07-22T07:40:00.000-07:00

My first tries at cleaning glass with things at hand:
The glass all ready has smoothed off edges on both sides; it was done underwater in a bucket. This is a must do step not to be ignored to your peril. I got sliced up right away cleaning off emulsion.
1. Windex: Nope. Water beaded and did not run off in a sheet. Glass was laid on a paper towel and it moved all over the place. I had to hold it down or hold it in my hand. Not good. Water did not run off in a sheet; water beaded.
2. Dish soap, liquid type. Nope. Same results with the added annoyance of the glass moving even more in a too large tray. 4x5 glass needs to be in a 4x5 tray that is made for it.
3. Baking Soda. Nope. Scrubbed with a paper towel and a little water the results were just like the first two attempts.
4. Tide powdered detergent that is dermatalogically neutral. This worked pretty well. A brand new sponge was used that is rough on one side; both sides were used underwater in a 4x5 tray. Water ran off in a sheet. Tap water was used. Distilled water would be even better. After it drained a bit, standing up on a paper towel, it beaded. Perhaps it would be good enough with a distilled water rince.
5. Photo Flow: perfect. After a wash in Tide, a dip in a solution of Photo-flo in tap water a smooth sheet of water dried without any beading. Film negatives are given a dip in photo-flo so why not glass?
How will emulsion adhear? That is next, now that I have a working method to start with.

Darkroom

2009-07-21T13:18:00.000-07:00

"The most fundamental form of human stupidity is forgetting what we were trying to do in the first place." Nietzshce

My darkroom has been organized; all cameras have been removed and all most everything has been put away. This is a new room but it took on the characteristics of the old room; it became a storrage place, but no more. Only darkroom things are in there now.

Now to clean it with the new shop vacume.

Too many irons in the fire

2009-07-21T06:20:00.000-07:00

Some room was needed in order to lay out glass on the table top in the darkroom. So, the good enlarger had to be set up first, and cleaned and painted in places; two more older ones still sit on the floor. Half of the table is open now that the nice enlarger is functional. YEA! The shelves over the sink are all filled with scales, soaps, various sized plate tanks etc. and the boxes on the floor cannot be emptied! I’d gone shopping several times for glass cleaning supplies and got everything but one - Lime Away with phosphoric acid? Under the sink, two 8x10 cameras wait to be restored. They got to go somewhere else. Out in the garage would be a good place for a shop to do repairs in, but that table is filled to the rafters - literally - with packing and boxes from purchases. Packing cannot be recycled and will be tossed out this week, opening up that space. There are too many projects and too little of space, and me.

Someone said that a new photographer must select carefully what will be done. My decision to make Ultra Large Format plate photographs came late. As a result there are different sized cameras for repair and lots of plate holders and contact frames and tripods and enlargers and lenses. Those things are in the way. At least I now know what it is I’ll be doing eventually.

Unicum lens iris part needed

2009-07-13T07:57:00.000-07:00

This is an iris blade to a Unicum 12 inch two piston lens. It has two pins, the one on the right is missing; one goes on the top and the other on the bottom sides at either end.
Does anyone have some in a drawer somewhere? I am michael at studiocarter dot com

Glass cleaning

2009-07-08T08:06:00.000-07:00

Now that some sheets of 4x5 glass have been secured they must be cleaned. The edges were ground round so that I would not get sliced any more. This step must not be neglected. The grinding was done in a bucket of water so dust was not a problem. However, removeal of old emulsion and grinding of edges does not clean the glass.

Instructions were sought:
The Light Farm has an article by Bill Winkler
Liquid Light has an instruction sheet
alternativephotography dot com has an article on Dry Plate Photography (googled)
The CD book: Dry Plate Photography, by towler 1865, chapter I, Preparing the Plates, 10 pages

They are all different. There is everything from using your finger tips and detergent to grinding and polishing the glass then using sulpheric acid!

Those four sources were all printed out. Now to read them and choose a method.

getting ready to coat plates

2009-07-07T13:48:00.000-07:00

Shopping had to be done; I just can't go to the school store to get this stuff; I have to go across town to the last photo store in town; then go to the grocery store. Developer has to be Dektol for light magic, and fixer must not be rapid. The grocery store provided me with powderded detergent and unflavored gelatin.
I bought a book from bwpublishing called Dry Plate Photography by Professor Towler 1865. I never knew dry plate photography was that old. The book is on CD.
Some old photo dry plates were cleaned of the emulsion then the sharp edges were sanded with 120 diamond grit. They are MUCH better now.
Those plates were loaded and unloaded in plate holders to practice many times.
My repairs still work on the 4x5 lens while those done by the "professional" do not; the repairs on a 5x7 lens of the same type do not work either. The cylinders need to be polished, that's all. He sent a very bad email to me. Most unpleasant.

Shutter

2009-07-05T15:27:00.001-07:00

Shown is the inside of a Unicum iris. The shutter was all right on this lens, not so on another one like it that is on a 4x5 camera. I had a go at fixing it. I was successful so tried to fix this one. It is larger and was on a junker 5x7. The shutter was bad AND so was the iris. Note the holes where pins are to go. Some were missing. I replaced two using thin slices of lead pencil graphite. They won't last long but the concept was proven. I - you - can do this work. There is a thread about it on LFphotography under lenses.
A 4x5 was needed to start making small plates with; the shutter was bad, It was easy enough for me to fix and you can do it, too. Fixing the iris pins is another matter entirely.

Primo #6 with a Tripod

2009-07-03T14:33:00.000-07:00

The camera needs a dark cloth and a tripod to view the ground glass. This tripod was sold to me by a neighbor during our neighborhood yard sale.

Primo #6 plate camera restoration

2009-07-03T07:32:00.000-07:00

This is a 4x5 camera. It arrived all scuffed, brown, tattered, but inside it was about as you see it. Many screws were missing, the shutter didn't work, it was dirty, the lenses fogged, ground glass was missing and the front surface mirror is still corroded.

The shutter was sent off for repair only to return not fixed enough to stay working, so, I had a go at it and afterwards it now works at all speeds. The blades were reversed and polished.

Now it is ready for work.

first time set up

2009-07-01T20:36:00.000-07:00

I'm six foot four inches so that gives you an idea of the size of the Vageeswari 12x15 camera. These tripods are very good; another is actually a little bit taller than this one.

Loading plate holders.

2009-06-29T09:28:00.000-07:00

The glass I bought all have smoothed edges. I recommend that; they are pleasant to handle. All sheets are single strength 1/16 inch thick. They were all cut to one size, 1/16 less than the full measures of 8 & 1/2 x 15 & 12x15 and that worked. Some are a little loose here and there but they all went into the holders. Some of the holders are off measure. I'm glad I don't have to trim the holders. Loading the plate holders gets the glass off the work table. I need the room on the work bench. What I don't have is the acrylic sheeting, so other work may be done till it arrives.

One stripe of emulsion will be painted upon each size of glass for a stop wedge test of speed. That much I can do now. D-76 might work to develop it. We'll see.

Lens board for 8x15 camera

2009-06-25T11:59:00.001-07:00

Everything is about ready for the 8x15; I have the glass, the border, the well, the glass puddle pusher; green stuff is ordered and emulsion is on the way. The camera needs a lens. Today I made a lens board and put the same lens on it that was used on the Korona. It is a Kodak Commercial Ektar f 6.3 with a flange.

red stuff

2009-06-25T05:34:00.000-07:00

This is where I'm starting today:
http://www.thelightfarm.com/Map/DryPlate/PlatePrep/DryPlatePart4a.htm
A product needed for emulsion spreading is listed here:
http://rubbercal.com/Silicone_CG.html
and can be had under How to Order here:
http://rubbercal.com/Order.html
They will call.

The local glass store called instead: my order is ready for pickup.

When I get that green stuff, oops, it's actually red, the glass, and the emulsion or find some practice material , I'll be able to begin coating glass, which should be very soon.

Later:

Got it (the glass). That is the picture at the top of this post. I tried to put it down here, but....

edit: I called the place that sells the sheeting after 3pm and put my order in. They know of Denise and The Light Farm; the stuff is commercial grade acrylic sheeting; she bought 6 feet of the 36 inch wide 1/16 inch red stuff. so did I.

Repairs to the Vageeswari 12x15

2009-06-24T19:17:00.000-07:00

Damage was described before I bought the camera and I figured that I'd be able to do the repair; tonight, I did. The seller sent knobs and parts as per my request; nothing actually fit or matched, but I got the idea from them. The threaded rod was broken off and the knob was missing. The part controls rear swing and holds the back tight; it is essential.
The entire side was removed. All those screw slots pointed the same way (and now still do). The slider was 78mm long, brass, and had two threaded rods. It was cut. One of the parts that were sent was cut. Two pieces now slide as one. It didn't slide at all before.
It feels good to have it working better now.

more old plate contact prints

2009-06-23T18:02:00.001-07:00

4x5 wording on signs is readable

4x5

8x10 The date on the calendar is 1943 or 8. Labels on cigar boxes are readable.

glass buy

2009-06-23T17:49:00.000-07:00

Two glass companies were visited today. One didn't have anyone there. Strange, because yesterday I spoke with a man on the phone?? The other one was on the main drag and fixed me up just fine.
Book plate holders were brought in along with a sample of Kodak's 8x10 from the 1950s? They looked at it and said it was not American. I had to explain that it was Kodak made but from long ago. It is thinner than single strength they sell. Single strength still is thinner than the wood that holds the glass in the holders, so it'll work I hope.
They measured the book form plate holders and came up with a size that hopefully will fit all of the chambers. 2" border strips were also ordered along with a base plate of double strength. All will be edge polished.
12x15 was the size we did, then I laid on the 8x15 holders. Two sets were thus ordered. Two holders for each size were at hand. So, that was 4 sheets of single strength glass for pictures and 5 pieces for the jig, making 9 pieces for each size, 18 pieces in all.
1mm was requested and the lady said she would look for some. Yea, right.

old glass plate contact print

2009-06-23T06:51:00.001-07:00

4x5 glass plate from long ago. Check out the tree growing out of the man's head.

Getting ready - again

2009-06-23T06:23:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, Monday, the lab fee was paid. $88 worth of paper, sleeves, and chemicals were used during the previous week at Touchstone. Glass plates were explored and 11 film negatives were shot; about 35 prints were made. Then, shopping was done on line for supplies for my next shoot. Freestyle Photographic was used. Liquid Light was first. Chemical storage tanks were bought, books on digital negative making, hand coloring of prints, tongs, dust busters, sleeves - a lot of stuff is needed yet. A source of 1mm sheet glass (google that phrase) was found; holders and glass were measured, they are not all the same. The 12x15 camera was made ready by making a lens board and mounting the huge brass lens. It worked, and the image was like watching HDTV:)
Yet, more needs to be done. My web page was worked on, setting it up to show photography, but it is not published yet; scans were made of camp photos, local darkroom class prints (I took that class 3 times!), and contact prints of very old glass plates. Glass will be ordered today and cutting tools will be needed. It seems that none of the plate holders are exactly alike. Glass will need to be tailored to match. Exact measurements of the two plate holders for the 12x15 Vageeswari are needed; then the cleanup and bellows check, other lens boards, tripod check, paper film, tin film ...... this is fun, this is work, this is costly, this is art, and worth doing.

glass from old plates

2009-06-22T12:59:00.000-07:00

Glass from used plates is thinner than picture frame glass or single strangth glass. Single strength glass is 1/16th inch thick. Photographic plate glass is thinner than that. It is not half as thick, because two plates are thicker than single strength glass. Not much thicker, but thicker.

Single strength glass will fit into plate holders with a little space left over. There is a lot more space between the glass and the slide if plate glass is used, photographic plates that is.

Where can I get that thinner glass?

It is about 1mm thick. hmmmmmmmmm

Old Plates

2009-06-21T05:58:00.000-07:00

An old 12 pack package of 8x10 film plates was opened in total darkness. It had been sealed air tight. Inside was a loose instruction sheet that was found after the lights were put on again. It tells what developer to use, when the film was new, however, the film is now around 50 years old. I have other packages much older. Anyway, 12 sheets of glass were inside; the film was purchased for the glass; any pictures it could take would be an interesting diversion. And, developing old plate film is part of the interest I have in plate photography.
Inside the double box, a box of two lids and one base, was a wax paper bundle of all the plates. Inside that were two black paper packages of 6 plates each. Plates were packed with white cardboard edges to hold two plates face to face. The little channels of card stock were found after the lights went on. 6 plates remain after these expirments.
What side was the emulsion face on? That was determined by pressing dampened thumb and index finger on a corner. One side stuck and that was the emulsion. The other side was rough to the touch. It came off pink in the prewash. There are no notches in the glass like there are on film. Plates are packed face to face, held together by cardboard bent edge channels.
Edges of the glass are sharp; they have not been smoothed. They never cut me, but, one must be very careful.
Some plates were subsisquently totally underexposed and so nothing happened in development. They were rated at 400 ISO and were totally off the scale, of the image shown below that shows a field, towards the light side 4 stops. That was good because the emulsion started to come off in long processing. Rubbing with rubber gloved fingers took all of it off very easily. One plate at least is ready for recoating.

first full size plate image

2009-06-20T18:52:00.000-07:00

Development was longer for these images than for normal film, 20 min, not 13. No one knew how to do this. The increase in development made the image much darker than the test, I think. Water was 66 degree so we increased time. It is a little mixed up now. Also, there are a lot of black dots on this one.
Exposure was on 12 ISO, from an average reading of the light patch and a dark stump shadow. It was f 11-16 at 1 sec.

Tri-X test exposure

2009-06-20T18:42:00.001-07:00

The old plates were rated at 100 ISO instead of 640 like the instructions said to. Exposures were one second each at f 45. The slide was pulled out seven times a little each exposure. The plate was developed in Pyro for 16min instead of 13 as for contemporary film.

ISO is rated at 12 in the middle. That means the film is 5 stops slower than it was made to be.

It worked great.

A high energy developer would increase contrast.

The 8x10 print looks just like this image. It was scanned at 100 dpi and posted untouched.

Blurry image occured as a result of moving the camera.

8x10 Korona

2009-06-20T16:23:00.000-07:00

An 8x10 Korona plate camera was taken to photo camp. Everyone loved it. A 14 inch Kodak lens in a Illex No. 5 shutter was screwed into a wooden lens board that fit it. Tripod was wood and stablizer bars held the rails securly. A dark cloth protected my shoulder, while I carried the set, and a bag on my left side held plate holders. It was bulky but then I am, too.

Plates were from of old, unopened, Kodak Tri-x rated at 640 ISO. Images were had at 12 ISO and developed in Pyro. Not the best developer, but it proved that old plates could capture images.

11 images were shot on Ilford HP5+ 400 B&W. One of the plate holders with clear glass in it was used with film and proved to be tight, but it worked. New film holders are thinner than the old wooden plate holders.

One of my prints taken at the Photo camp sold at auction there for $75. I was requested to give a demonstration at the Westmoreland Photographers Group later this year. This was the first time I ever shot 8x10 on plates or on film.

When I arrived home today, a huge box from India was there along with a smaller one from CO. Now I have to cut a hole in a teak lens board and go try out my new old 12x15 plate camera.

Packing

2009-06-14T08:49:00.000-07:00

That's too much. The suitcase will be the only thing to take besides the tripod. One type of film only will be taken, only glass plate holders will be taken. Removeing the film holders from the suitcase makes room for the one or two glass plate boxes. One is enough. The film changing bag is not really needed. The spot meeter will fit in there also.
The rule of KISS applies. Keep It Simple Simon.

Cases for 8x10 and tripod

2009-06-13T08:02:00.000-07:00

The local posh antique store had a suitcase just like Mom's. I say, "Had", because it is now mine, less $10. It is Navy blue with white leather edges and gold snaps. It has 1949 scratched on the catch. I use a smaller one just like it. However, this one is perfect for the 8x10 Gundlach Korona; the camera fits into the case like a glove; along side it go a stack of plate holders. On top goes a black cloth; on top of that just fits is a golf seat. I can sit down and focus now.
The old wooden no name tripod fits into a Induro cardboard box, now painted black. The head doesn't fit of course. Gaffer's tape holds the lid shut over the head.
A Giant Eagle cloth shopping bag hold 4 boxes of plates; another bag holds a film changing bag, a 1 degree spot light meter, a note pad and pens, and extra battery for the meter. The one degree meter is essential for the zone system method I intend to learn.

Stablization bars and tripods

2009-06-12T04:47:00.000-07:00

A Gundlach Korona 8x10 camera has a rectangular base. On the two outside parts are two slots, two on each side, four in all; the slots are faced with metal that has a groove cut into it. Round head screws fit perfectly. They just slide into place.
A no name tripod has a rectangular top that is perfect for a large format camera. It is not as wide as the width of the camera base. Put the camera onto the tripod and screws in slots dangle on each side; that is where stabilization bars go. Two pieces of wood, 3/4 x 3/4 inch and about 24 to 30 inches long will fit in those spaces nicely. The screws are centered. Screws are left sticking out of the bars a little bit. Stabilization bars thus secured hold up bellows rails on each side of the camera base. The bars attach to the camera base on each side by simply pushing them into the slots. But, knobs or brackets may interfere with bars; cut bars to fit. A tripod made for the camera would not have interfering parts.
Oak was used and screws hold tightly in it. Holes were predrilled small enough to just allow threads to cut into the wood. Extra screws attach the bars to the tripod head and use smaller holes in it as that wood is softer. Sanding, staining, drying and rubbing in sand finishes to match.

plate holder repairs

2009-06-10T18:18:00.000-07:00

The hinge on my chosen 8x10 plate holder tore off. Half had rotted away allready. Just a little bit of water allowed to soak into the old material under the paint loosened it and it cleaned up nicely. Instead of using Gaffer's tape, White Linen picture framers tape was used, then painted with a black liquid rubber after it was dry. It looks old and funky just like the others now.
Old glass plates have sharp edges. They fit perfectly into the old wooden holders. Two dry plate holders arrived today and they fit into the camera just right. I know they are dry plate holders because they have that red cardboard inside instead of the black metal with the little spring. There are other plate holders in a pile that need the same work and some more to do on the slides.
A full set of 3M diamond glass polishing pads arrived today. They will be used before the puddle pusher etc is.
Lens boards will need to be made. Only one lens fit the board that fits this camera. And that lens must be screwed into the wood since the flange is just a hair too big to fit the opening. The lens threads engage the wood just right. 16 1/2 inch in a Illex No.5. Not nearly long enough, but it'll do for now.

getting a camera ready

2009-06-10T18:01:00.000-07:00

A Korona 8x10 has been gotten ready to shoot with at Photo Camp. The bellows proved to be light tight; indeed, it looks new, at least on the outside. Someone must have covered it with new leather.
An old tripod was put under the camera yesterday and tried out outdoors. It may be a Korona, there is another on line that looks a lot like it and IT is called that, too. This tripod is too short for me, but a small stool would help. Perhaps I'll buy the other tripod as it is taller. My neighbors got an eyeful; I heard one say, that must be 100 years old. It must have been a sight to see me under the black and white cloth with that old camera all stretched out. I think it'll handle a 30 inch lens. However, the front rails sagged due to a loose joint, so, back to work inside.
It was taken apart, glued, clamped, and today it is held up by new oak rail braces. There is a pair for sale on eBay but the screws are too far apart for my camera base. The slots in the base of my camera are 2 1/2 inches apart while those on line for the banquet camera are one inch more. Having seen it, though, I was able to figure out how to make a pair.
The front of the camera pulled up when it was all opened instead of sagging. The new rails hold it from going down but the bellows pull it up above the rail. Two small screws fixed that problem.

Photo Camp

2009-06-09T05:34:00.000-07:00

A photo course called, Large Format Forever: Adventures in Large Format Black & White Photography by Richard Stoner begins June 14 and will run till the 20th. That is why no new blogs will be posted here soon.
Dry plates will be taken to camp along with a camera and plate holders for them; they are Kodak ones of several emulsions in 8x10 boxes. A report will follow upon return.
www.touchstonecrafts.com

Plate camera extras

2009-06-08T06:53:00.000-07:00

The tripod was ordered, another plate holder, and some extra knobs. I should have asked for a new shaft or whatever holds that missing knob on with; such may be possible as well.

edit:
The money was refunded, this has happened before and will be all right. So, I requested the shaft. It is only a short thing that slides behind a piece of plate metal, but if he has one...

The contractor working on our new bathroom knows where to get Teak wood and has a plainer to shape it to the exact thickness. I want to make ground glass covers. Not every camera came with one, but a couple did. He also knows a guy who plates metal for him with the same kind as my cameras.

Edit: I GOT IT and the little nuts and bolts and knobs etc.
someday I may teach again only this time it'll be ULF glass dry plate photography - all equipment provided.

plate camera

2009-06-07T17:56:00.000-07:00

A plate camera was won on ebay just now. It is a Vageeswari 12 x 15 inch. It may be seen for a while here:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&item=300319213600
That price is easily twice what I've been paying for smaller ones, but then, large ones are rare, if for plate, and not for film, but glass. That is my focus, glass plate. So, I had to have it. The missing knob will come off a rough 10x12 that needs help that I got just in case.

That 12x15 size that will require larger plate spreading equipment. Are larger than normal sizes available?

how to find stuff on the site

2009-06-06T07:39:00.000-07:00

OK, OK, I found it. Here it is: go the the Home Page and click on the one and only navigation button at the top called site index.

or just click here to make it much easy: http://www.thelightfarm.com/navlist.htm

Home page.
Site Index.

that's it.

I try to learn something every day. This day, it was site index. Every item on the complete index of the web site is a link to that page. Front Page web writing program enables one to create links like that. However, an outline for me only happens after everything is all done. Not before. So, it was not seen till exploration of the pages began.
Thank you D !

getting set up

2009-06-05T13:14:00.000-07:00

OK, here we go.
On The main page of The Light Farm, at the top, there are two navigation thingies. The one on the left is the main one to use. It is very tiny and hard to use. Carefully go down the list to the 13th level called, Dry Plate Photography > and you will see another menu open up. Go down that one to 4: Plate Prep and Coating > and another one will open up (see what I mean?) carefully select 4a: TLF System. Phew!
I feel like I have accomplished something already.
Get ready to spend more money.
In for a penny, in for a pound.
I've already bought two things. One was from The Light Farm, an emulsion Coating Well (just nevermind where it is), and one from Photographer's Formulary, a Puddle Pusher. Now, glass edge polishing pads were bought from yet another company.
You gotta really want this to get into it.

first seeding

2009-06-04T13:37:00.000-07:00

This blog is about my efforts to learn how to be a photographer. A web site called, The Light Farm, is the school I am attending, so to speak. It is the source of my information. Here is the link: http://www.thelightfarm.com/

It is all about Dry Plate Photography; that is photography on glass plates, not film. It is also photography that is mostly large format in size. Large format sizes begin around 4x5 inches. My cameras range from 3 1/2 inches to 15 inches for one of the dimentions of the glass plates.