End of June Photography Meetups

As the days grow longer and warmer, photographers all over the northern hemisphere are finding it harder and harder to stay in their homes, looking for excuses to buy more gear. While in the midst of these gorgeous summer days, many photographers will find themselves meeting up, sharing stories, trading prints, and enjoying the days together. If you should find yourself so inclined, make sure to mark your calendar for the next two week's worth of events: 

• Photostock 2012 - A four day long photographic adventure in Harbor Springs, MI hosted by world-renouned photographer Bill Schwab. Follow the link for location details, as well as a fine list of things to expect. This year they'll also be featuring another famous photographer, Andrew Moore, author of the best selling photography book, "Detroit Disassembled". Be sure to check this marvelous event out; did I mention it's FREE?!
• Analog's Pulse: A Weeknd in Cleveland - An all-analog photography meetup in the heart of Cleveland, OH. Hosted by Scott Meivogel of Aperture, folks young and old will have four unique photowalks exploring different historic neighborhoods of downtown Cleveland. If you're into urban photography or into film, make sure you don't miss this event. There will also be a variety of prizes in store courtey of Old School PhotoLab and The Film Photography Podcast. Check out the event on Facebook, here. 

That's it for now folks, it's back to the darkroom printing off some carbon transfers for Photostock 2012, hope to see you at one or both of these fantastic events!

Happy shooting, and long live film.

B&W Darkroom Q&A: Video Edition!

Today's YouTube upload is a bit different from my brief "B&W Darkroom" series of how to videos. This time around, the inspiration for the vid comes from FPP listener and YouTube channel viewer Kris Pearson:

Hi Mat,

Thanks for returning my comment/question about drying fiber paper.

You and FPP have both been a huge factor in getting me back into film.  I took film photography in high school and college during the 80's but got back into film a year ago with a Konica Auto S2.  From there I added a Mamiya 645  system with an assortment of lenses which has become my primary camera.  Your Youtube video on E6 processing encouraged me to try developing slide film at home.  The results have been great.  Now I'm also developing black and white negatives and printing in a bathroom/darkroom with a Beseler 23c that I got off of Craigslist for FREE!!!.  I has a ZoneVI cold light too! I look forward to spending a lot of time this summer improving my skills in the darkroom.

I am currently printing with resin coated paper.  Eventually I would like to try printing with fiber paper but I've read that drying fiber papers can be problematic and the process may cause the paper to wrinkle or crease if not done correctly.  What method do you recommend?  I don't have a heat press but I may try to find one on the 'Bay if having one is the best/easiest way to go.  Are there alternatives?  I read somewhere that taping the print down on a flat surface as it dries is one way to do it.

Congratulations on your recent shows.  Your work is a pleasure to look at.

Kris Pearson 
Accord, NY

Well Kris, not only do I have an answer for you, here's a complete How-To!

Northeast Ohio Meetup, May 11th - 13th

As the Spring weather warms up and the days grow longer, photographers in the temperate Northern Nemisphere begin to come out of their hibernation. Soon after, large groups of these odd creatures will meetup at random places all across the continent, to get together and share their knowledge of photography. Often times, they're share their previous year's trappings, demonstrate learned, successful techniques, and take many pictures of each other; a strange phenomenon, indeed.

The elder and tribal leader (left) is often seen asserting his dominance by use of a much larger 7x17 camera. Fascinating!

One of these peculiar meetings of photographers takes place this weekend, May 11th - 13th in Bath, OH. Be forewarned, though, this is no ordinary group of shutterbugs. Most of them shoot film, have crazy large cameras, and have work worthy of museum collection. Should you wish to witness some of this madness and more, look ahead at their forum posts on APUG. As a recent inductee into this nomadic flock of photographers, I'll be demonstrating a technique that's been popular with me this past year, Carbon Printing. This demo is completely free, inquire to the above link for details.

Stay tuned, as images and maybe even some video from this meeting of photographers will be making their way onto this blog soon.