Bill Smith's Photography

More prints from the notorious Shanks CD Release party last fall. I used Zone VI Glossy Double Weight Fibre paper and Ilford Multigrade Paper Developer. I am going to switch to PQ Universal with FB papers going forward, I find I get a little more oommph with it.

Two more prints on Forte Polywarmtone FB paper, I took the Photos at Forks of the Credit Provincial Park last fall with a Pentax Spotmatic II and Kodak Plus-X.

Since Forte is no more I decided to buy a small pack of 8x10 Polywarmtone Museum weight Glossy fibre paper to try out and see what the fuss is. I am going to state off the bat, I love the warmtone results, it give the print an almost organic feel. Now to get these results I realized after the first printing session I had to up the strength of the Ilford Multigrade paper developer from 1+14 to 1+9. Even then, I was leaving the paper in to develop for extra minute or two. Also, I had get used to the longer exposure time. If I reprint any of these photos on Ilford double weight FB,I will have to cut the times back on average ten seconds. I realised as much as I love the results, I am an Ilford guy at heart. The photos below were shot last fall in Kensington Market and Chinatown in late September with a Pentax Spotmatic II and Kodak Plus X film. I scanned the prints in colour and desaturated by 50% to give the approximation of the warmtone appearance.

Some Photos of life on Spadina Avenue from Queen St. West to Chinatown. I shot the photos on a Sunny day in December 2006 with a Minolta XE 7 and Kodak Tri-x film. I went back to printing on RC paper quick wash and drying and I was experimenting with dodging on two the the three prints. In both "Chinatown fruit market shots" I had to expose the bottom left of the print for less time than the rest, call it a partial eclipse. I practiced the move before putting the paper in the easel. I am getting a little more comfortable with printing from less than perfect negatives.

Call this an odds and ends posting. I did some printing back on Thursday and I used RC paper as I wanted to preserve my fibre paper stash. RC paper is much easier to wash and dry and that has a lot going for it. The top photo was taken back in December 2006 on Queen Street West at Palmerston. The second photo I shot in Bronte and I figure Bill Hill's Marketeria becomes kindling in the spring.