I'm on an Alternative Process Kick!

It may have been this past weekend's 24+ hour carbon printing spree, or the buzz from reading three different books on it, but whatever it was, I'm stuck on alternative process photography.

If you're reading this and have never made any sort of print by hand, I encourage you to try it yourself some time. There's a sense of accomplishment to it, maybe even a hint of pride that comes with knowing that start to finish, the reason the print turned out the way it did, was all because of your own actions. And when working with film from the start, even the negative used for printing was meticulously controlled, from concept to finished print. Messed up a print? In alternative process, you can't blame a printer, a monitor, paper stock, or brand of ink; at the end of the day, the success of the process depends on you and your experience.

 Let's take the following video playlist for example, featuring Norman Gryspeerdt (1911-1998). Credited with the revival of Bromoil Printing, a previously lost alternative process, Mr. Gryspeerdt was a true master of his craft. With over 50 years of this laborious and contemplative photographic process under his belt, Gryspeerdt guides the viewer from theory to finished print, in an incredibly detailed, informative hour of video.

If you're not one for lengthy video, start at #3 on the playlist, the "action" starts there.

So, what did you think of the videos? A little slow for your tastes maybe? Like 'em or hate 'em, you can definitely appreciate the time, talent, and creation that's being displayed with the alternative processes. And though bromoil is by far one of the most labor-intensive, it's a fine example of just what alternative processes are doing for me right now. In these now fading photographic techniques there's no right or wrong, heck there are hardly any rules to speak of! And in 2012 where we're snapping, uploading, and sharing more images per week than were created in the entire 19th century, it's good to have images that can stand out from the crowd.

Hope you enjoyed this little gaze into just one of the scores of different processes geared at expressing a photograph outside the norm. And again, if you haven't tried alternative processes, they're really fun, and most of them can be done with the tools you already have handy (plus the sun).

As always, long live film!

Printing Up a Storm, Darkroom Updates, and More!

 Quite a few things have been going on here since last week's little instructional video made its debut.

First and foremost, the weather outside has been frightful, compressing available shooting time to half-day spurts of creativity. I'm half way into my first and last box of Tri-X 8x10, and so far it has done as expected. Were it not 2x pricier than Ilford HP5+, and a special-order-only product, I may have switched back to Kodak stock for 100% of shooting. Unfortunately, though, that is not the case. Five more barbershop shots on this Tri-X and it's back to HP5+. I'll miss the bit more speed of TXP (pyrocat hd gives slight loss of speed), but definitely not the price!

Second on my plate is the upcoming Midwest Large Format Asylum Portfolio Review. A funny name for a funny group of large format shooters, but they're all really great guys. I met a large chunk of them last summer at Photostock 2011, and from the looks of things, I may not only be the youngest guy attending this meetup, but I may also be shooting the smallest camera! To add even more pressure to uneasy feeling of showing a bunch of seasoned LF veterans my portfolio, I promised these gentlemen an all-carbon-print portfolio, and darnnit' that's what I'm gonna' give 'em!

While we're still on the topic of carbon printing, I received in the mail a brand new, custom made coating rod from R.D. Specialties out of New York. They're great folks to deal with, and through a little help of the Carbon Transfer Group, started by Sandy King, I was able to find all the information I needed to get just the right size formed rod to coat my own carbon tissues. Fourteen have already successfully coated, five already printed, and with a good twenty* more coated and done by Friday of next week. (* hopeful estimate). For folks out there still scratching their heads about carbon transfer printing, below you'll see an embedded YouTube video that will fully demonstrate the insane amount of time that goes into a simple contact print. Trust me, once you see one in person, it's worth it!

Fourth and finally is some even more funky, out of left field news. I just got in the mail today 100 sheets of Agfa Green Sensitive X-Ray film! That's right, the same kind of film we all got to view our first broken bones on can be used in view cameras to make negatives for contact printing! Since the film is a little more quirky than modern panchromatic (most of our visible spectrum) emulsions, it gives a more early 1900's look, with it's biggest advantage being sheer economy. You're not going to believe it until you see it, so click HERE. Your eyes don't deceive you, this film only costs $0.28/sheet in 8x10!! With my most commonly shot films coming in ~$4/sheet in B&W and ~$12/sheet in color, it's easy to see why giving X-Ray film a try was the next logical step in shooting more 8x10 film. Expect regular updates in this area, I plan on exploring every inch of this wallet-friendly film!

Well that's it, I'm off to the darkroom to carbon print for hours and hours and hours. If I get too bored, don't be surprised if you see YouTube video show up (below) on the carbon print process

Have a great weekend and long live film!

Update on Saturday, January 21, 2012 at 10:17PM by Mat Marrash

Well here it is, I got bored, and just as promised, a little video from today's carbon transfer printing session! For the record, it was a great overall printing day, I went 7/9 on prints, the other 2 not even making it to the sensitizing stage as the carbon tissue mysteriously cracked while drying.

More videos like this to follow in the coming weeks!

Happy 2012, Now Featuring Workshops!

Happy New Year, and may 2012 be a happy, healthy, prosperous year for all! 

If one of your New Year's Resolutions is to try film photography, get into the darkroom more, or just learn something new, be sure to check out the brand new Workshops section of this site (above). At the drop-down menu you'll notice two available workshops at the moment, Carbon Transfer Printing*, and One-On-One darkroom time.

*the carbon workshop date isn't set in stone yet, so if you have a date/time that works for you let me know!