Bill Smith's Photography

Surprise, a colour shot. I do like shooting colour once in a while, Alex and Charlotte came out to visit last Saturday morning. I can't believe how much my niece has changed. I think she is starting to be a bit of a ham like her older brother Marcus. I used my Nikkormat Ftn with a Nikkor 50/2 lens and Fuji Superia 400 C-41 film.

I love neutral density filters, there is no way I can take the below photographs with out them. I was using my Nikon F Photomic Tn with my latest favourite combo Kodak Tri-x@ ISO 200 and processed in Rodinal 1+50. I can slow things down even in bright sunlight and get great results with the water. I took both waterfall shots at Spencer Gorge last Sunday on an Oakville Camera Club outing.

The last two from the weekend printing session. Printed on Kentmere VC Select Finelustre RC paper with Dektol 1+3 with a Devere 504 enlarger with Nikkor 50/2.8 lens. The photos are along the Trimble branch of the Bruce Trail which takes you from Forks of the Credit Road to the Befountain Conservation Area. I used my Nikkormat Ftn and Kodak Tri-X with these two photos.

Results from a printing session last weekend, all these photographs were taken along Oakville's waterfront in the past two weeks. The top photo printed from a negative that was my last roll of Classicpan 400 I shot in my Nikon F3HP. The bottom two photos were printed from Tri-x pulled to 200 ISO and processed in Rodinal 1+50. Prints were made on Kentmere paper developed in Dektol 1+3.

So Tri-x being a very versatile film, you can get different looks with different developers. In the previous post I showed a couple of examples of Tri-x processed in ID-11/D76 1+1. This post I show what happens when you process Kodak Tri-x pulled to 200 ISO and processed in Rodinal at 1:50 (one part Rodinal and 50 parts water). I used an Asahi Pentax SV with Super Takumar lens system. Again if I was truly anal I would be running this through one camera but regardless if it's Rokkor, Takumar, Zuiko or Nikkor you are going to get some really nice results. I printed on Kentmere RC Fine lustre paper with a Devere 504 enalarger with a 50/2.8 enlarging lens. I like this look, I would not use it all the time, I think this developer/film combination has it's applications and lends itself to the right subject matter. The shots below were taken around Oakville.

The two classic black and white films with a long pedigree on the world market is Kodak Tri-x and Ilford's HP5, both are traditional emulsion 400 ISO films that have tons of latitude. Photographers everywhere will stick by one or the other to the death. The top two were taken with my Nikkormat with Tri-x up at Belfountain and the bottom two were taken with HP5 with my Olympus OM-1. For purposes of comparison, I shot with both films and processed in ID-11 (Ilford's clone of Kodak D76) at a 1+1 dilution. I printed on Kentmere RC Fine lustre paper with a Devere 504 Enlarger with a Nikkor 50/2.8 enlarging lens. Ok, if I was really going to be anal and do a proper blind comparison I should have shot with the same camera. I think though you get a good idea the personalities of HP5 and Tri-x. To be honest both have a home in my film pile as go-to 400 ISO black and white films, I am very comfortable processing with both to a point I can make a really good negative to print from. So Tr...

I standardised pretty much on Kodak Tri-x or Ilford HP5 as my go to ISO 400 black and white film. To date I have have not done the same with a slower emulsion. So to give T-Grain films another go, I am a big fan of traditional silver hallaide but I have an open mind. I picked up two rolls of Kodak Tmax 100, shot one through my Nikon F2 and processed with HC110 Dilution B. Well first lesson if you get a pink tone after fix and rinse, the film has not been fixed long enough. Learned that the hard way I refixed the negatives and now I get it. I have not printed from these negatives, that will have to wait. I might try Ilford Delta 100 and see which works better for me. I am starting to warm to T-grain film and I just have to be careful with my developing. I shot these two entries up at the Forks of the Credit in Belfountain Ontario. I never get tired with this part of the world.

Part One of my Kodak Tmax 100 experiment.

Two shots taken up at Belfountain Conservation Area back in early March with a Nikon F2 with Nikkor H 28/3.5 lens with Adox CHS100 film. I printed on Ilford Multigrade IV 5x7 RC glossy paper with Dektol 1+3 on a Devere 504 enlarger.

Two Oakville Harbour shots taken with a Nikon f with Nikkor H 28/3.5 lens with Classicpan 400 film processed in D76 1+1. I printed on Ilford Multigrade IV 5x7 RC glossy paper with Dektol 1+3 on a Devere 504 enlarger.

More Leica M3 images shot with Tri-x processed in D76 1+1. I was up in a familier neighbourhood a few weeks ago meeting with classmates in regards to a case study. I got there an hour early and walked along Bloor St east of Jane. I would love to live around here at some point.

I pulled the Leica M3 out and took it with me to a job interview downtown a few weeks ago. I went in early to take some pictures and prepare myself mentally to meet with a professional association for a PR/communications writing position. The interview was a bust but I got some decent pictures as the faint consolation prize. I used my M3 with 50/2 collapsable Summicron with Kodak Tri-x processed in D76 1+1. I have some more shots from this roll to be posted later.

I am back, my class is over and the PR certificate is on Hiatus until the fall when my last course is offered. Some cool night shots from the downtown core shot in January and printed last weekend on Ilford Multigrade IV 5x7 RC glossy paper. I really dig the Brookfield Place Atrium print I have to make a bigger one of that. I used a Nikon F2 with Ilford HP5 pushed to 1600 and I got some some more prints to make from this roll down the road.

I'm back! I am nearly done my second to last PR course and I got some time to hit the darkroom over Easter. I got some really good winter shots this year. I plan to do some more shooting when the weather warms up around Belfountain when more of the snow melts and there is still a lot up there. I just finished off a roll in my Leica and I got a couple of shots the scream to be printed so stay tuned. I am going to use the M3 a little more often this spring.

Got a note in the Fun With Cameras virtual mailbag from Earl. To answer his question, I print mostly 8x10" with 5x7" as a secondary smaller size for family photo albums. Another bit of business, I am taking a break from the darkroom for bit. I am nursing the second cold in the past four weeks and I am not having fun. I find I make stupid mistakes in the darkroom (mostly wasting paper by not loading the easel properly) when I am fatigued and I am running out of inspiration. Secondly I am concentrating on my second to last course in my Public Relations Certificate and job search, both areas have been neglected and I have get started on a few class projects. I will be back by mid spring with some new prints. I am still shooting, don't worry about that. You can find my negative scans on Flickr. Both Prints are taken around Befountain Ontario, the top two weeks ago and the bottom on the Bruce Trail back in November.

We have real winter this year and I am re-joicing. Nothing is more depressing than mid winter with no snow on the ground and super cold tempretures. These prints are of locations in the Belfountain Conservation Area.

I came up from the darkroom a fan of Kentmere's VC Select RC fine lustre paper. It behaves just like their Fibre paper which I have been using on a regular basis. The exposure times on the enlarger are the same which makes me happy, if I decide to print a RC print on fibre, I don't have to fiddle around with the times. VC Select responds well to Dektol. What I love is the almost 3-D look the prints have you usually get with the glossy finish.

I pulled out an old favourite to shoot with before last week's Reputation Management class at Ryerson. I packed my Nikkormat FTN because I know it would work flawlessly in the cold. I used Tri-X rated at 1600 ISO and processed in Diafine. I really have to find out how long that developer lasts. Metering was touch and go as the battery decided after three years to start to fail on me. Lucky guesses help out.