I’ll admit, I love a good exotic film developer that can develop any film to their ideal conditions. But lets be honest here, some of these developers are expensive, hard to acquire and require rigorous attention to detail to make them work perfectly. And often are so fine tuned they will only work on a handful of film stocks that a also difficult to come by. Sometimes you want a developer that will do its job and nothing more than that. It doesn’t have to be fancy, compensate for over or under exposure. Produce ultra-fine grain, or enhance tonality and edge sharpness. Rather than presentRead More →

Several years ago, when I was starting to branch out in my home film developing, I would try a lot of different, strange, and odd-ball developers. Sure I went with the basics, D-76, HC-110, Rodinal. But as I continued to listen to the Film Photography Podcast, I started to get my hands on stranger items, PMK Pyro being the first speciality developer and from there Pyrocat-HD which has become a fast favourite. But then I heard Matt talk about a developer call FA-1027. The next trip I made to New York City, I popped into B&H and got myself a bottle. Sadly I have onlyRead More →

Do you know that Kodak D-76 has a cousin? Although in the grand timeline of things, I can’t place exactly when the stuff was first released. But if I had to hazard a guess it was sometime in the 1920s. It proved to be a favourite of Ansel Adams along with HC-110. Today Kodak no longer produces D-23 in favourite of the far more shelf-stable D-76, but you can still mix it up from raw chemistry if you know the formula (I’ll be sharing that later) or you can purchase pre-made kits. Personally, I enjoy working with D-23 when I need some compensating capabilities andRead More →

If there is one film developer that I will always go back to and use until they cease production (which isn’t any time soon) that developer is HC-110. Released in 1962 to little fanfare, Kodak HC-110 quickly found traction as being the developer of choice of Ansel Adams and those who use the zone system extensively. Kodak HC-110 is the third black & white developer that I ever used and became my developer of choice. Personally what keeps me coming back to HC-110 is the general-purpose use, the excellent results, economy, stability, and results that it continues to give. Kodak HC-110 has never let meRead More →

Other than the location, one of the best parts of Photostock is the people! This being my fifth event and having missed last year’s event for an awesome reason (having just gotten married), it was good to get back and see old friends to reconnect and to meet new friends in the process. While I did spend more time away from the Birchwood than I did at the hotel itself. The weather on Saturday morning kept me in (both to take in people’s amazing portfolios and the Print Exchange) I managed to capture many of the faces at the event. Photostock is first and foremostRead More →

Anyone who has been in photography for a long time will remember the legendary Kodak film, no, not Kodachrome, the other one…Panatomic-X. Panatomic-X was first released in 1933 and continued until 1987 this fine grain ASA-32 panchromatic black & white film produced a huge tonal range and allowed for even 35mm negatives to be printed extremely large without noticeable grain…and when there was grain is was very pleasing. These days you cannot find fresh film, or even another film on the market like it. Most of the film I’ve shot expired back in the 1970s but can still be shot at box speed (ASA-32). TheRead More →

When I call the Rolleiflex 2.8F the oldest camera in my toolkit, that doesn’t mean it is oldest by age, rather oldest having been in my toolkit the longest of any other cameras. I got the camera in 2010 after buying it from the original owner. The original owner having purchased it in Germany in 1969 along with most major accessories, and since then it became a near-constant companion. And the camera saw a lot of action from trips to abandoned buildings, nature to weddings and other portrait sessions. The Rolleiflex 2.8F is my third and honestly final TLR in my kit having solidified myRead More →

I seem to have found yet another home away from home. Emmet county is up in the northern part of Michigan. I was first introduced to this beautiful part of the United States in 2012 at Photostock. Photostock, the brainchild of world-renowned photographer Bill Schwab is a gathering of photographers in his backyard. And in its early years, it was literally in his backyard, but by the time I started going, it had moved to the Birchwood Inn; this throw-back backwoods hotel would make you think you had stepped back into the 1960s. I have written about Photostock before, but this time it’s different. PhotostockRead More →

I was remiss in posting about this year’s Photostock back in June! As with last year, it was a fantastic time, more so for me this year, as I stayed at the Birchwood to party it up with the group late into the night. Late nights and early mornings. Three things make Photostock great. The Place, the People, and the Community. So the photos I took reflect the first two items, the Place and the People. The third one can be shown in the photos. However, video drives the point home. This group of photographers shoots a wide range of cameras and techniques, yet weRead More →

The key to photostock was not the location, or the trips, the food, the road…but rather…the people. No one looked down on anyone, everyone helped out eachother, talk, shoot the breeze, drink. It just felt comfortable, especally for me, a first time participant in the event, I knew…one other person who was going, Mat. But in hte end it didn’t really matter I was welcomed be open arms. The People of Photostock 2012 If you want to see all the Photostock Images, head on over to Flickr!. How many days until Photostock again?Read More →