Analogue Journal Issue 12 - Summer 2021 by Royal Photographic Society

Analogue

FILM ALTERNATIVE HYBRID DARKROOM

ISSUE 12 LARGE FORMAT

Contents Inside SilvergrainClassics Chris Osborne ARPS takes us behind the scenes at a prestigious German analogue magazine published in English. Second Pass Lith Printing Dr Tim Rudman explains what Second Path Lith is and how to go about it. Portraiture with an antique lens Mark Snowdon ARPS shares his experience of a brass Petzval lens which can trace its ancestry back to 1840. Spotlight Contemplative large format images from Norfolk by Paul Bullock. Large format in New York The results of Tony Lovell FRPS’s trip to New York show that all the preparation that went into it was worthwhile. Members’ Darkrooms Paul Bullock has created the perfect place to recharge the batteries. What’s in the Bag? No space is wasted in Paul Bullock’s compact bag. Intrepid 10 X 8 If you thought this format was too heavy and expensive, Roger Harrison will change your mind.

Developing large format film R.E. Windcrank reviews the Stearman SP445 and Charles Binns suggests some alternative tanks. Three Highland Landscapes Malcolm Macnaughtan puts the icing on the cake of our first large format edition.

Editorial

4 10 18 20 24 34 37 38 42 44

Analogue is the journal of the Analogue Special Interest Group (SIG) of the Royal Photographic Society (RPS) and is free to Analogue SIG members. Committee Chair: Currently vacant Secretary: Richard Williams LRPS Treasurer: Kay Reeve FRPS Journal Editor: Charles Binns Journal Designer: Owen Andrew Web Content Manager: Fern Nuttal ARPS All rights reserved on the part of contributors and authors. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopied or recorded without the written permission of the copyright holder. Requests for such permission must be addressed to the Editor. The RPS, the Analogue Special Interest Group and the Editor accept no liability for misuse or breach of contract by a contributor. The views expressed in this journal do not necessarily reflect the policies of the RPS or of the Analogue SIG.

Cover image: Hudson Yards complex, Manhattan by Tony Lovell

Welcome to our large format themed edition of Analogue. I have to start by thanking our contributors – you, as members. The response to my request for input to this edition has been top notch. We have a fantastic lead article and cover from Tony Lovell ARPS and his large format trip to Manhattan, Dr. Tim Rudman FRPS presents us with a definitive follow up article on Second Pass Lith and Paul Bullock invites us into his darkroom for a look around and shares his ‘what’s in the bag’ large format story. Our camera review this time - appropriate for this edition, is the Intrepid 10 x 8 recently acquired by Roger Harrison and we have a review of large format film processing using the Stearman SP445 from our special correspondent R.E.Windcrank. I am a subscriber to the SilvergrainClassic analogue journal published in Germany. Our member Chris Osborne ARPS is part of the editorial group for that journal and gives us an account of its origins. We also have an account of using a the topical Petzval lens on an MPP from Mark Snowden ARPS. One of the most useful accessories that we can take with us on our large format shoots is a mobile phone, and we take a look at some of the best apps to support the process. I am very pleased to say that Paul McKay of Analogue Wonderland has not only congratulated us on the quality and content of our journal but has also confirmed ongoing support for the 10% member discount and the voucher award linked to our Spotlight gallery pages. And again members have come out in support of the journal following Hon Sec. Richard Williams’s request with large format images submitted by Paul Bullock and Malcolm Macnaughtan for the Spotlight pages, with additional images submitted for the next edition. Congratulations go to Paul Bullock for taking this month’s award of a £25 film voucher from Analogue Wonderland and we could not let Malcolm’s fine images go unrewarded so we have managed to dig out another £25 voucher for him too.

We are now accepting entries for the delayed exhibition which will go head this year. The venue is booked and 80 frames have been ordered (high quality Nielsen frames from Best4Frames) as well as a secure mounting system ensuring that the frames will stay safe on the wall and cannot be removed without a special tool. You will find full entry details in the RPS Analogue SIG newsletter sent out by Hon Sec. Three entries per member are allowed – two plus a reserve, and we intend to hang as many entries as possible – even all of them, if we can. The official close off date for entries is July 31st. . Fern Nutall advises that she has completed our new microsite and would like to invite us all to submit images to the gallery pages within it. I have just done mine and look forward to others following suite. Full details inside. How many cameras does an analogue photographer need? The answer apparently is N+1 with N being the current number the photographer has. Congratulations go to Hon Sec. Richard Williams on the recent arrival of his Sinar P monorail outfit bringing him into the large format photography family as well as the acquisition of a Walker Titan SF 7 x 5 by me from SWMBO to acknowledge my 70th birthday. The 7 x 5 is a bit of a forgotten format – but more on forgotten formats in a future issue. The large format sector is very active with new and used equipment readily available for what is a very satisfying type of photography to participate in. For those of you who do not do so – I hope we have given you some friendly encouragement here. Do get your exhibition entries rolling in and I look forward to the possibility of meeting as many of you as possible at the opening. Charles Binns Editor RPS Analogue

As the famous football club owner Delia Smith once said ‘Let’s Be Avin You!

Inside SilvergrainClassics magazine By Chris Osborne ARPS

SilvergrainClassics magazine was the brainchild of German photographer Marwan El Mozayen. Together with Charys Schuler and Andreas Waldeck, the trio have created a high-quality quarterly English language magazine that is published in Germany and sold worldwide. The magazine focuses on analogue photography and sits somewhere between a traditional photography magazine and an art journal. “The idea started on the German PhotoKlassik magazine stand at Photokina 2016”, explains Marwan. “A group of Japanese photographers came to the stand. They all subscribed to PhotoKlassik, but none of them could read German. I thought, we really should try to do something about this. And so PhotoKlassik International was born. The original idea was to share material with the German magazine, but from day one we attracted so much quality content that this never happened. After a year the magazine became SilvergrainClassics”. “I learnt everything about photography from reading magazines”, explains Marwan. “But I cancelled my last subscription in 2002. Photography magazines had become catalogues, whose only purpose was to convince the reader to upgrade their digital camera. The only thing that mattered was megapixels. I wanted to recreate that experience of sensing something, smelling the ink and being inspired to do something that I could not achieve on my own”. Marwan El Mozayen Marwan El Mozayen is not your typical German. Affable, approachable, and always upbeat, Marwan is always ready to promote photography, especially analogue photography. He has a significant collection of cameras ranging from Minox spy cameras to a 5 x 7 Plaubel. Although he describes himself as a medium format photographer, we spoke about the large format workshop he arranged in Brussels under the SilvergrainClassics banner. “I studied in Brussels for three years and had always wanted to run a workshop there. The city has a kind of Parisian flair but is small enough to walk across. I had always been impressed by the Palace of Justice building, but it is difficult to shoot because there is always scaffolding somewhere. “Planning for the workshop took weeks of telephone calls. The city was still on a high state of alert after a series of terrorist attacks, and it took days to gain permission to shoot. In the end, seven participants from Germany and Lithuania joined us for a four-day workshop “I met Christoph Morlinghaus through Tetenal. He had

begun to exhibit work from his acclaimed series Superlatives. He didn’t know Brussels, and as I was telling him about the Palace of Justice, he was searching it on the internet. He was immediately interested”, recalls Marwan. “We had arranged accommodation in a beautiful art deco apartment in the city centre. The kitchen immediately became a hub. We cooked, developed and scanned film, hung out and chatted there. “The group had two experience levels. One half was very experienced large format photographers who had come to see how Christoph made such dramatic images. The other half had less experience. At the extreme, there was one participant who had the most beautiful Linhof 8 x10 camera with lots of lenses and accessories, but had never used it before. “We met on a Friday evening, and the first thing that Christoph did was take us on a scouting session. It is really interesting seeing how an artist like Christoph works. He walked around looking at everything to determine where we would shoot the next morning. He took photographs on his phone and his digital camera and made light meter readings everywhere. It reminded me of the way that a portrait photographer talks to his model, but is really stalking the scene for the right combination of body language and expression. “When watching Christoph it is immediately clear that all of that creativity, craziness and beautiful style is based on a strong foundation of basic skills and workflow. Learning and following a routine is boring, but knowing that everything is correctly set generates a level of confidence that allows him to work beyond the technical aspects of the equipment. “Andreas and I were helping the less experienced part of the group. We stand back and watch and try to understand each participant’s thinking process. The points that this part of the group took away were, think more and shoot less, how to meter a scene properly, how to balance the camera and lens and so on. By the end of the course, they had all developed a good basic workflow. And, if you are going to shoot large format, you had better have a good tripod. “The more experienced group were all very accomplished large format photographers, and they had booked the course because they have a personal drive to push their creativity further. They followed Christoph’s every move. He has an amazing knack of hunting out a combination of foreground and background that no one else has seen.

Flowers. Graflex with Aero Ektar. Andreas Waldeck

When you see the results it is like discovering a whole new universe exists next door. And this course allowed them to spend four days with a true master. Interestingly, like Christoph, this group typically took two to three photographs a day”. Andreas Waldeck Andreas is a man of sharp intellect and is a veritable fountain of knowledge across a wide spectrum of subjects. He has a very dry sense of humour and his eyes light up behind the gold wire frame glasses when he is teasing or making a joke. In addition to helping form SilvergrainClassics, he also runs Grossformatfotografie.de, the German language large format photography forum. That said, he is at pains to point out that his photography is not defined by large format photography. “A camera is a tool, and you should use the right one for the job. Failing that, you should use the one in your hand!” Andreas has several large format cameras in his collection, including a Speed Graflex that is so pristine that it looks as though it came out of the shop just a few days before. The accompanying image (above) was shot

on this camera with a Kodak Aero Ektar lens. It was Andreas who suggested US photojournalist Dave Burnett talk at what became the longest SilvergrainClassics Fireside Chat (episode 6). Burnett is the photographer who would turned up to briefings by Donald Trump with a Speed Graflex complete with Aero Ektar lens. (A recording is on the SilvergrainClassics YouTube channel). We talk about his attraction to large format photography. Andreas reflects for a moment. “On one level they are such simple cameras. The design is reduced to the bare minimum. Of course, they offer a high technical quality, resolution, tonal values, and colour gradation. But large format photography is very time-consuming. If you do it well, you may make as many as two to four images a day”.

Abstract. Developed with Charys Schuler’s son Ethan

Working in large format has other benefits too. “Mastering large format will teach you about camera technique, process, patience, composition, and that will, in turn, reflect back into your other photography”.

money. He announced that the site would close and it was such a shame to lose ten years’ worth of data so, I contacted him and agreed to upgrade the site and take over the running costs, and as a result, it is still operational. A few years ago we were growing at 150 users a year. In 2020 there were more than 600 new users”.

I asked Andreas how he came to run Grossformatfotografie.de. “The man who set it up had lost interest and was short of

We talk about why large format photography is increasing in popularity. “It has become much more accessible.

Second hand large format cameras are still available, and there are new cameras too. Intrepid, Chamonix, Stenopeika and Gibellini for example. And of course, digital post-processing means that you no longer need a huge enlarger – just a reasonable scanner to see the results”. Andreas smiles. “Back in the 1990s Sinar’s pricelist was amongst the world’s best kept secrets. They would only provide catalogues to professional photographers”.

Charys Schuler Charys brings a different perspective to the SilvergrainClassics team. She moved to Germany from Wisconsin when she was 17, and somehow never left. She is a violinist in the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, mother of two, wife and the editorial force behind SilvergrainClassics magazine. She laughs. “Gear and technique are never going to be my specialities”. I can understand the inference. She is surrounded by photographers with a very high level of technical proficiency. “My contribution is in balancing the content, style and editing”.

Charys Schuler. Marwan El Mozayen

I ask Charys what she has taken away from the past two and a half years. “It is the interviews with amazing artists from all around the world. It is the interaction. Photography isn’t my main art form. But I discover that these people also have a secondary interest in creative writing or music for example. This happens more often than I had expected.

Juliette Grace Kelly. Marwan el Mozayen

“I suppose that this experience has made me realise that all art forms allow people to communicate what they have experienced in the world. It is said that music provides a universal language for communication. I think that is true of photography as well”. We talk about the highlights of the magazine experience. “Visiting Ansel Adams’ house one day and then Edward Weston’s house the next. Meeting these families which still have photography in their veins was such a privilege. “Being contacted by Jeff Bridges PR team, and then talking to him was cool. “And being woken up early in the morning by the staff at Freestyle. Our magazines had been despatched to Frankfurt Airport, but somehow ended up being re-routed by sea. Not only did this take eight weeks longer, but the boxes were damaged and many magazines had gone missing. Someone replaced them with Bibles. It seems much more amusing in hindsight!” I ask Charys how she manages to fit everything in. She Gruppenphoto. Palais de Justice, Brussels. Marwan El Mozayen

laughs out loud. “Housekeeping has suffered. You have to find what is really important to you. Physically finding

room (for her husband Marwan’s photography equipment) is a challenge, and mentally? It is a case of only doing things that I love”. I can’t help notice the Christopher Burkett Cibachrome image that hangs on the wall in Charys’ living room and ask about it. “I had such difficulty choosing which print to buy. I would love to choose another. I grew up in Wisconsin surrounded by four hectares of forest. I miss that”. I ask which other artist prints she would like to collect. “Oh, Edward Weston of course. She refuses to be drawn on other artists. There are just too many”, Charys explains. We finish by talking about the print she has chosen for this article. It is shot on 35mm. “I make a lot of images with something abstract going on. I like the pattern. I like interesting lines. Think Bruce Barnbaum’s Corn lily or the dark shadows zigzagging through an Andrew Sanderson print for example. I am drawn to photographs which have are abstract, yet have a flow that reminds me of musical structures”. RPS members can subscribe to SilvergrainClassics at a 10% reduction by using the code RPS21 until the end of the year.

Second Pass Lith Printing Dr Tim Rudman FRPS

Images by Tim Rudman

I very much enjoyed the winter 2021 edition of Analogue and the fact that it was a lith printing issue. When I first started writing about this process in the early 1990s few darkroom workers knew of it and fewer still understood how or why it worked. Today it has enthusiastic practitioners all over the world. It is such a flexible and expressive form of silver gelatine printing that many darkroom creatives, who favour the photographic art genre, find it both artistically liberating and quite addictive. Paradoxically, whilst its popularity has grown, the number of ‘lith printable’ papers has steadily diminished. It was always the case that not all paper emulsions work really well or at all with lith developers. As Richard Williams pointed out in his article The highs and lows of Lith Printing in the previous Analogue, the wonderful range of papers once offering such a variety of different and distinctive results has shrunk dramatically with the demise of the original Kentmere, Agfa and Forte paper production plants. However, the choice of lithable papers and the variety of results is still greater than many lith workers realise. There is a ‘hack’ that is simple, controllable and fun and will expand your repertoire.

WELCOME TO SECOND PASS LITH

Second pass lith print on Ilford Multigrade Warm Toned paper, split bleached in Photospeed ST20, redevelpoed in lith developer.

Burls. Second Pass Lith print on Kentmere Document Art with later snatch point giving warmer tones.

Burls. Second Pass Lith print on Kentmere Document Art with early snatch point giving cooler tones.

‘Second Pass’ lith printing?

Variables and control

I coined this term in the 1990s to distinguish this process from other bleach/redevelopment procedures and the term has now become part of the accepted lith printing lexicon.

In any artistic process creative print makers generally seek both flexibility for personal expression and reproducibility when a favourable result is achieved. Second Pass Lith printing offers both.

The term ‘Second Pass Lith’ refers to a development – bleach – redevelopment sequence in which the first developer can be any developer, but the second developer is a lith developer. It is easy to do and has the advantage that the lith development can be done in normal room light, so you can see what you are doing. It also works well with many papers that are not suitable for lith printing and may also give quite different results with some that are. The following link will explain the process better than a long written description. It is from one of my one week lith printing courses at The Photographer’s Formulary in Montana, US. One year, with the agreement of the participants, they recorded the entire week and this clip is of my day three introduction to Second Pass Lith. It is an informal live recording and lasts about 15 minutes. It is intended as a metaphorical illustration – NOT a chemistry lesson!

Tim Rudman on Bleach and Redevelopment (2nd pass lith) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fa3h7o9ZQsU

Every stage of the process can be varied to affect the outcome to one degree or another – and then (with practice) can be reproduced with reasonably predictable results. If you don’t like the results you are getting, change some of the following: Paper This is a major factor as every paper has its own individual characteristics, but as explained in the video, you are effectively recreating a new paper emulsion with different properties, so any paper is worth experimenting with – new or old. Exposure As with normal ‘one pass’ lith printing, the print is not developed to completion in the second (lith) developer, but is ‘snatched’ as it progresses through development. It will therefore always be lighter than it was after the first developer and like a lith print will need some degree of over-exposure to compensate for that. How much? This depends on how early or late you want to snatch the print. Commonly ¼ to ½ a stop overexposure is sufficient. It may be helpful to make a set of black and white prints in the first developer at ¼, ½, ¾ overexposure and experiment with snatch points in the second developer.

Fomabrom Variant 123 in lith developer. Although popular with many, I’m not a fan of this paper’s coarseness in lith.

First developer Black and white developers are not all the same. The choice of stage 1 developer may have a considerable impact on the end result in the second developer. Try a variety. Stop, fix and wash as usual. This first cycle can be done at any time - not necessarily on the same day as the next phase. Bleach 1 The simplest bleach to use is a ferricyanide/halide formula, either to make at home (simple formulae available online and in most of my books) or to buy off the shelf bleach from a sepia toner kit. As these vary in formulation they can give different end results in lith. They are all based on potassium ferricyanide + a halide (bromide, chloride, iodide) or a mixture of halides, which together with the silver in the print will effectively reconstruct the new paper emulsion. Fotospeed’s ST20 is a good example, works very well and the bleach is available separately, without the toner. 2 Another fun bleach to try is a copper sulphate bleach. This is quite different, but not available ready-made as far as I know, so only for home brew fans. This can give surprising fast-changing colours and chemical solarisation with tone reversal, especially dramatic with Foma Fomatone warm tone emulsion. Snatch point in both the bleach and in the second developer can critically affect the result. I’ll add the formula and instructions at the end. 3 Other bleaches, such as dichromate bleaches can also be used. I have had best results with the two above, but the more experimental amongst you may like to try them. Second (lith) developer The choice for a lith developer is now simple: ready made or homemade. Moersch lith

Fomabrom Variant 123 with second pass lith development. Note the change of colour, texture and mood with the same paper and developer in second pass.

developer (with optional additives) is widely available pretty much everywhere and Arista lith is available in the USA from Freestyle. Homemade lith developer is not difficult to make and one formula with good results was featured in Richard Williams’s article in the previous issue of Analogue. The results are greatly affected by the dilution used, additives, snatchpoint and the number of prints passed through the developer. Snatch point(s) The snatch point with lith developer (and with copper bleach) is that critical moment of intervention to interrupt and stop a progressing process. In the case of lith printing it is also a rapidly accelerating progress. This adds an element of anxiety! Would the image be even better if you wait longer? Or would it be spoiled? Initially, the only way to know is to press on and see. Hence it is a good idea to start this cycle with two or three identical prints and note the sweet spots and times with the first print. As with normal ‘single pass’ lith printing, the print is constantly changing in density, contrast and colour throughout its development, but now in room light you can see this much more clearly. As the image continuously evolves, the point at which you snatch the print has a significant impact on the end result. If left to completion, many papers will revert to black and white again, or to a brown monotone. Some papers will tolerate a second round of bleach and redevelopment well. Some don’t, but it’s worth a try (see images). Second cycle fix It often comes as a shock and a disappointment that when the print enters the final fix much of the colour fades, but it changes again on drydown and even the more gentle colours can be

Yellowstone. Second Pass Lith print on Ilford Multigrade Warm Toned paper in Multigrade developer. The snatch point determines where to place the separation of planes into grey and brown.

very attractive. Increasing the initial exposure may help this, especially with earlier snatches. It might also be that a rapid ammonium thiosulphate fix is more colour destructive than a slower sodium thiosulphate ‘hypo’ fixer or an alkaline fixer with some papers. Both density and colour change again on drydown. It is what it is. The action of this bleach is quite unlike the action of ferricyanide bleaches. For some time nothing much seems to be happening, then suddenly changes happen in the mid tone band with colours shifting and maybe some solarisation and colour/tone reversal, so snatch point is really important here too.

Second pass lith with copper sulphate bleach. Chemical solarisation effect.

Currently manufactured paper favourites of mine are Foma Fomatone papers for strong effects with copper sulphate bleach and Ilford’s Multigrade Warmtone paper in Multigrade developer followed by Fotospeed ST20 bleach for gentle subtle warm brown/cold silver-grey splits. The blacks can be kept unbleached by snatching, or bleached entirely. The MGWT image redevelops initially in a soft sandy brown and then the highlights start to change to light grey. If left longer the entire image will revert to black and white, but if snatched earlier the planes of the picture can be separated into warm and cool tones. This adds depth to the picture and is particularly useful separating mist from background tones (image 2).

Notes on papers Any paper is worth trying for this, current or old, FB and RC, with or without incorporated developing agents. I have included a few of each here and more extreme and colourful examples can be found on my workshop students link below.

Other links of interest http://www.timrudman.com/content/workshops#alumni-gallery Tim Rudman’s Two Golden Rules of Lith Printing (workshop video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_usLWWVh_k Silver gelatine print making and toning (darkroom video) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=em4LxWxy_Is

Copper sulphate bleach formula Cupric sulphate 50g Sulphuric acid conc. 6.50ml** Sodium chloride (pure) 50g Water to make 1000ml **If you want to avoid concentrated acid (96%) use 13ml of 48% sulphuric acid

Caution! Always add acid to water – never the other way

www.timrudman.com

Cross roads snow. Fern Nuttall ARPS Fern Nuttal ARPS

The Ross Portrait lens mounted on an MPP Microtechnical Mk VII

Portraiture with an antique lens by Mark Snowdon ARPS I have always been interested in old cameras and lenses and like to try them out to see how they perform. One lens which I bought several years ago at a camera fair, was a brass barrelled Ross Portrait lens with a focal length of approximately 6 inches. The lens is of the Petzval design. The Petzval lens was the first photographic portrait lens and was developed by Professor Joseph Petzval in 1840. This design of lenses is currently undergoing a resurgence and new ones are being made to fit today’s cameras. The lens serial number is 12,586, which according to the lens collector’s vade mecum dates it to about 1870. It is a fairly large lens and I have mounted it on an MPP Microtechnical Mark Vll panel. The lens has a slot in it to take Waterhouse stops. These were used to vary aperture before iris diaphragms were introduced. The lens has a maximum aperture of around F4. Unfortunately the lens did not come with any stops, so I made one using a thin sheet of black plastic, cutting a circular hole in it to give an aperture of F5.6. I wanted to use the lens to take some portraits using open flash. The short duration of the flash would freeze any movement in the subject. Focussing is

Your images needed for the microsite!

Portrait of Adam

critical and with the aperture of F5.6, which was needed given the power of the flash unit I had and the speed of the film, depth of field was only a couple of inches at best. In order to pre focus accurately I tied a length of string to the tripod with the other end of the string up against the subjects face. The string would be held taught up against the subject and then dropped out of the way just before the exposure was made thus positioning the subject at the predetermined distance from the camera. Careful control of the subject’s position in front of the camera was essential given the length of time between focussing and making the exposure. The subject was lit using a single 200 joule flash head with a shoot through brolley, positioned above and at 45 degrees to the subject. The modelling light was switched off as the room had to be dark before the exposure was made. A white reflector provided fill in. Film was Foma 100 rated at EI 50 and developed in ID11, 1+1 for 8.5 minutes at 20 deg C.

The procedure was: 1.

Pre focus using the string as a positioning guide for the subject

Insert 5 x 4 double dark slide in the camera

Position the subject using the string so the subjects face is at the correct distance

With lights off in the studio so it is dark, remove the dark slide and lens covering

Fire the flash manually

Cover the lens

Re insert the dark slide

Turn on the room lights

Despite being 150 years old, the lens performed well. The portrait is sharp with a smooth tonality. The depth of field is narrow but the eyes are sharply rendered. The print was made on Ilford Classic FB paper at grade 1.5 using a LPL 7451 enlarger.

It has been well over a year since the Royal Photographic Society’s website was transformed, and with it an entirely new Analogue Group microsite too. Though the essence of the microsite is the same, with its events page, monthly news updates and beginner’s guide, I have decided to give the space a little update with some new images and features. The main page now features a section dedicated to the new Analogue with its own page featuring links to digital editions of back issues. As new issues drop through readers’ letterboxes, the page will be updated with a link to the latest digital copy. On the Analogue page, you will also find an archive of old Analogue magazine issues with links, where possible, to their digital editions too. On the microsite, there is also a section focusing on our social media accounts, with a page directing readers to our Facebook group including some brief rules for members, and the Instagram page, along with how you can get your work featured. Don’t forget, the social media accounts are an opportunity for members and enthusiasts to share their work, tips and information with others, as well as keeping abreast of the latest group updates and information. Elsewhere you will notice a refreshed Committee Members page, with a reminder that you too can join the committee and take part in the general running of the group - we are still on the lookout for a chairman. Though there are some new members’ images on the site, I’d like to take this opportunity to make a call out for more. Ideally, the site will be updated each year with new work from our members, so if you have some images you would like displayed on the website, please send them to analogueweb@rps.org with a width no less than 1000 pixels wide. Name your images and ensure you include the name you would like to be credited with (including society distinction, if you have one). These images can be classic 35mm, polaroid, lo-fi, large format or any other analogue photography you can think of. Take a look at the microsite to get an idea of how they would be presented. I hope the microsite proves useful and easy to navigate, if you think there is something missing or any new ideas, please do not hesitate to contact me or the committee. Visit rps.org/groups/analogue to take a look. Fern Nuttall ARPS, Web Content Manager

T O SP HT LIG

Sponsored by

LARGE FORMAT IN NEW YORK

TONY LOVELL FRPS I have been a keen large format photographer since 1994 when I bought my first 7 x 5 camera, I currently shoot half plate, 7 x 5, whole plate, 10 x 8, 11 x 14 and 8 x 20 on film and the same formats and larger, up to 20 x 24 inches on glass (Collodion). I’ve had a darkroom for the past 34 years and print all my own work in monochrome. I recently finished building a horizontal enlarger from which I and can print from 10 x 8 to 20 x 24 negatives up to 40 x 60inch print size. When making the larger prints my studio doubles up as a darkroom in which I can get four 48 inch by 72 inch trays on tables. For a number of years, I have been inspired by the long lens work, and in particular the New York skyline photographs by Andreas Feininger taken during the 1940s. Andreas used a 40 inch (1000 mm) lens on 5 x 4 film. His books, of which there are many, show he used a 5 x 4 bellows camera with homemade box extension to the front to allow the focusing of the long lens.

THIS TRIP WAS YEARS IN THE PLANNING, FROM DECEMBER 2019 TO JANUARY 2020 The preparation behind this trip was years in the planning as will become clear later in this article. From December 2019 to January 2020, I made a trip to New York with the intention of taking views in Feininger’s footsteps. Unfortunately, several the views he took, particularly with the Empire State building surrounded by much smaller buildings no longer exist. However, with the aid of Google Earth, I was able to pinpoint a number of possible viewpoints particularly across the Hudson river which looked promising. As 5 x 4 format is not one I use regularly, I estimated that I would get roughly the same view with around 1200 mm focal length lens on 7 x 5 format. When planning my locations and views I soon realised that the buildings are somewhat higher than they were in the 1940s and decided to use a 1220 mm lens on 10 x 8 format rather than have the tops of the new buildings out of frame.

I FOUND A NUMBER OF BOATS WITH MANHATTAN BACKDROPS 24

I have several large format long lenses, but I needed something small and light enough to take to the US and of practical size (if there is such a thing) to move around and set up in multiple locations during my trip. I decided on a Wray 1220 mm lens which is mounted on an 8 inch lens board.

The lens was made in the 1940s, originally as an arial photography lens, the body is aluminium, so not too heavy and it’s a telephoto design so I don’t need 1220mm of camera length to focus on infinity. The aperture is F8 to F22, so fast enough for me to focus and have a reasonably bright image. Being able to stop down to F22 was only just adequate and I would have preferred the ability to stop down to F32 or F64. The lens has no shutter, but from previous experience using a lens cap this did not worry me providing I could use an exposure time of around two seconds or more. The lens didn’t have a lens hood, so I made one from pipe ducting painted black (mat black on the inside) Foam on the inside of the tube gave a nice snug fit over the front of the lens. I was proposing to use HP5+ film rated at 200ASA and would always use B&W filters during daylight with ND filters should I need. I made myself a 150mm filter holder to slip over the back of the lens so they would sit inside the camera during use. None of my 10 x 8 cameras would take the 1220mm lens so I made a 10 x 8 adaptor back to allow me to put my 10 x 8 Canham camera back on to my 11 x 14 studio camera which takes an 8 inch lens board and has sufficient bellows length.

LOOKING UP 42ND STREET, MANHATTAN Taken from across the Hudson River in New Jersey. Four minutes at F22 with no filters

Set up under the Williamsburg Bridge

A view from New Jersey

New York On the aircraft, the lens in a rucksack together with filters was my hand luggage. The lens hood and my tripod went in my suitcase, the camera had its own rolling Pelli case.

THIS WAS MY NORMAL KIT WHEN MOVING AROUND

I didn’t have the room or weight capacity to take a second lens but did take a pinhole mounted on a lens board which I used on a few occasions to good effect. I decided to stay in an Airbnb place in Brooklyn for my visit, my normal mode of transport was to use the tube or Uber, but also used the overground rail system in New Jersey and the ferry to Staten Island. I photographed Manhattan from New Jersey on a number of occasions, the view across the Hudson River looking up 42nd Street being one of the principal shots planed for the trip. I took a number of exposures during the evenings ranging from 2 seconds at F22 with a red filter and ND filters to 8 minutes at F22. The picture on the previous spread was taken at 4 minutes at F22 with no filters. I found a number of nice boats with Manhattan backdrops in New Jersey including one called Pegasus which I took on both the long lens and with my pinhole (see page 24). I should say this was taken between early morning joggers due to vibrations of the bridge I was set up on. Towards the end of my stay, I went to Queens to

The Unisphere Globe at Queens and the set up for the pinhole photograph, left.

photograph the 43m high Unisphere Globe. I made good use on the pinhole lens at this location and was able to frame the globe and its reflection by using a card pinhole of around 4 to 5 mm and then swapping it with the 1.2mm pinhole to take the picture. To get this picture with the long lens, I was set up in the middle of a roadway; the day before I had been moved on by the New York police (sirens & blue lights the full works) near Brooklyn bridge when I thought I could safely set up on a traffic island between the highways. They thought otherwise! Anyway, on this day I had just

The Enlarger

On the 3rd January the Queen Mary II was due to sail out of New York and sail past Staten Island, I thought this would make a great long lens shot from the Island looking back onto Manhattan (about 5 miles away) as a backdrop. The early evening views onto Manhattan were spectacular but it was too dark by the time the Queen Mary II was in the right position. Between trips out with the camera I used an app called SetMyCamera to estimate the view I would expect to get based on 10 x 8 with the long lens, with the nearest equivalent which was 1260mm. I found this very helpful in advance to assess where I would need to set up the following day. Through the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges.

set up when an NYC Parks police car pulled up along side me and I thought OK, .. here we go again. To my surprise they asked questions about the camera and asked if I would take their photos on their iPhones standing with it! I took a photograph of the Statue of Liberty under the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges from below the Williamsburg Bridge (which was around 4.5 miles away) on three occasions, each time hoping to have better light. The most successful one was on the morning of 1st January, for this I shot with a red filter and an ND filter to give me 4 seconds at F22.

Opposite page: Field of View App. Right: Set up for taking Manhattan Bridge from Washington Street

Over 17 days I shot three boxes of HP5+ (75 sheets) and developed them on my return. The exposed sheets of film were brought back in the film boxes, labled up for N-1 N & N+1 development. The negatives were developed in Pyro developer in trays four at a time slosher trays. Each batch takes about 2 hours so 150 hours of developing with each batch being dried overnight. On my return in 2020 and during lockdown I finished building a horizontal enlarger which has overall taken me around six years to complete. The light source is a panel of LEDs. The first serious printing was from the 10 x 8 negatives made on this trip. I have a range of enlarger lenses but the most useful for this particular project have been 360mm, 480mm and 600mm APO Nikkors which are also I would add amazing large format camera lenses in my opinion.

rolls of Multigrade FB paper. Once I had worked out a sequence of working to cut and fit the paper on the board using magnetic strips its now almost second nature but was certainly a daunting task the first couple of times. After exposing the paper (I use the split grade green and blue system) I roll the paper up and put it into a telescopic light tight art tube and carry it through from the darkroom containing my enlarger to the adjacent studio darkroom. I thought this might be an issue in daylight, but to date this has worked perfectly every time. I have a large Kodak timer on the wall now that I can see from anywhere in the room. New York skyline negative projected to 60” X 40”.

The developing trays in the darkroom.

I unroll and develop the prints in PQ Universal or Multigrade developer for 3 minutes as I normally would and then roll the print back up and drain before moving on to the stop tray and then the fix. I was initially just dragging the prints across, this worked well with the smaller ones but I stared getting the

occasional crease on the very large ones, so I now roll them between trays and no longer have any issues. The last tray in the development process is my wash tray and I also have a trough with sodium sulphite for wash aid. I have found that I need a greater volume change than I currently have to reduce the final wash times and will shortly be installing a large tank in the loft over to provide a greater flush through when I need it. Lastly, I generally like to tone my prints, so I have been washing and drying; then on a separate session setting up a sequence for soaking, bleaching, toning and rewashing. All the New York prints have a subtle warming of the lighter shades using a thiocarbamide (thiourea) toner. I have been dry mounting the final prints on to an aluminium composite board using a standard hot press, then over matting them using Museum board and finally framing them under glass.

The two Manhattan syline prints toned and framed.

My 760mm Apo Nikkor is currently my most used lens with the larger formats. I have been printing the resulting negatives, (the sharpest I have ever produced) at 40 inches by 60 inches over the past few months and the detail is just amazing. In a shot across the Hudson River at one mile from the buildings you can count the Christmas trees in the windows and see the pictures on the walls. Initially I used troughs for the development, but had issues with uneven development and decided to invest in some

large 72 x 48 inch trays. As it turned out I think the issue with uneven development was more a fault of some old paper I had been sold, but I prefer to work with trays in any event. The trays are set up on heavy duty pasting tables (2 tables/tray) in my studio, built a couple of years ago with this in mind and wired with safelights from day one. Each tray takes about 50L of chemistry to give a depth of around 25mm over the full area. I have successfully been using 42 inch wide x 30m paper

11 X 14 in New York

Members’ Darkrooms

What are its dimensions? Externally it’s 9 feet by 7 feet, which is both a comfortable size for the garden as well as meaning not too much shuffling about inside (something I learned from walking back and too, a lot, in the community darkroom) and I didn’t want just to end up with space that would get filled with junk. Is there anything unusual about it?

Name: Paul Bullock Occupation: Global IT Service Manager

Externally it’s a lovely shade of green otherwise it’s a shed. What factors did you have to take into account when converting it? Probably the insulation – I used 70mm Celetex foam/foil panels cut to sit inside the frame of the shed with stick-on feet to provide an air gap to the membrane then lined the walls with 9mm OSB sheets, varnished to minimise dust. Was any major work required? Insulation, walls, ceiling and engineered floor install Electrics Plumbing Sink and benches Did you have to make any compromises? It’s compact and I chose to use a large Ikea ceramic sink to maximise space and versatility. What do you like best about it? It’s a great space that stays warm (it’s heated permanently and the recent snow on its roof didn’t melt so the insulation works!), everything is to hand and my initial workflow seems to be working, there’s an old B&O portable radio (analogue of course) but it does have a wifi hotspot with an Echo Dot to provide Spotify as required. And least?

How long have you been making prints? Not that long really having started printing in a community darkroom about an hour’s travel from home www.lightbox.photo (West Kirby, Wirral) following a day’s course in February 2018. Visited once or twice a month through 2018/19 and also took some training from ex-Ilford Printer Dave Butcher during this period. At the end of 2019 I decided to build a darkroom at home as the two hours round trip wasn’t helping the frequency of printing.

So far not much, if the sink was just 20mm to its right then the washer wouldn’t have needed a little stand to sit alongside it (I changed my thinking on positioning of this too late to realise). Has anything about your darkroom changed over time? Not yet, but I’m sure it will. Where did you purchase your darkroom equipment?

Which room became your darkroom?

Mainly from eBay the enlarger I bought two years ago and just kept buying stuff as it became available – some was donated to me very kindly.

Dedicated shed build at the bottom of the garden.

What would feature in your perfect darkroom – currently missing?

When did the build begin? The shed was built by a local company at the end of January 2020 using 38mm Thermowood for wall construction, with an insulated floor, a cedar tile roof, and a moisture membrane, this left me to install insulation for all surfaces, wooden wall panelling/ceiling, flooring, electrics (1st/2nd fix) running water and benches. The build was impacted by the Covid situation (three weeks delivery on a tin of varnish…..) and that fact that working full time my work became very busy, so I finally had the darkroom completed in October, with the final step being the electrics certified to Part P.

Running hot water might be nice (I use a Cinestill TCS-1000 to warm water) and maybe an LED conversion for the Ilford head might be a luxury. What are the oldest and newest items in your darkroom? Oldest is possibly the DeVere 504, given how long the design has been around, newest is the Nova Print Washer as I had to wait for Nova to build a batch before I could get it. What does your darkroom represent to you? Just a lovely space to go to, experiment, learn and re-charge my batteries. Darkroom equipment and process table:

Darkroom Equipment and Process Table

Film

ASA Rating

Developer

35 mm Ilford FP4+ 35 mm Ilford HP5+ 120 Ilford Delta 100 120 Ilford Delta 400

Various

Ilford ID11/Adox FX39ii/HC11 0

Enlarger

Lens

LIght Source

De Vere 504

Rodenstock Rodnagon 50 mm 80 mm 105mm 150 mm

Ilford 500H

Various

Paper

Developer

Method

Stop Bath

Fixer

16” X 20” Nova Slot Processor

Ilford

Ilford Multirade Ilford Multirade RC Wash

Toning

!6” X 12” Nova Print Washer

N/A

Drying

Solution & Time

Agitation

Various

Typically 30s then 10 s each minute using Massive Dev App

What’s in the bag? Paul Bullock

Usual Aperture Usual Exposure

Water filtration Misceleneous

Drying Rack RKP RC Dryer Osmio Durst UT 100 EZFITPRO-300 Film Dryer

Helland LED Lighting Film & Paper Fridge U/V Light Box

Darkroom Layout Plan

Billingham 445 Bag Bought used from eBay, it’s the original style so quite used but Billingham support is so good, I lost one of the pins used to secure leather straps and asked Billingham at an exhibition if they had any and they gave me two new ones, but they didn’t fit due to the age of my bag, emailed them and they sent two of the original style for free – what service! Chroma Advanced 5 x 4 Field Camera This is a new 5 x 4 made from Acrylic (hence the British Racing Green colour) which I’ve now had for about two years, mine has been uprated with some the newer features the maker has introduced so I have some extra 3D printed parts and the newer focusing deck and rear standard. Lenses I use Schneider-Kreuznach lenses

and have the 90mm/6.8 Angulon, 135mm/5.6 Symmar and 210mm/5.6 Symmar-S all mounted on lens boards. I can fold the Chroma with the 90mm lens still attached which can be useful. Pentax 5.5 X Loupe Used as a focussing aid though quite often now just taking may glasses off suffices.

wheels on the side of the holder, I use the same holder across all my cameras. Nisi Filters in case A couple of Medium Graduated filters (GND4 and GND8) and a few ND filters (2 x ND8 and an ND1000). Step Rings In various sizes to mount the filter holder according to lens choice.

Filmholders Four is about the maximum I carry (I also have the option of taking a Grafmatic - not shown- which is six sheets of film in one holder).

Paramo Dark Cloth This is waterproof so when the rains come you can just throw it over the camera and keep things nice and dry.

Pentax V Spotmeter This is the old analogue (needle) version but it seems to be holding its own still, I have the Zone System stick attached that makes life quite easy.

Head Torch

Nisi Filter Holder with Landscape Circular Polariser You can turn the polariser via little

Micro Fibre Cloth

Cable Releases A couple of Nikons and one German model, all cloth covered. Lens Brushes

There is a zero detent for the rear standard. It's not a very pronounced detent and I generally find myself using a level to check that the back is properly square before applying any movements. The camera does come with built-in spirit levels on the front and rear standards but they are tiny and I generally ignore them. Actually, I use a bubble level app on my phone which I find quick and convenient. Focus is geared using a knob rear centre, which seems to be the in vogue thing at the moment (also used by Chamonix and others). This works well, although to be honest I'm not a huge fan of this system. The proper place for a focusing knob to me is on the right hand side of the rear standard, as it is on my Sinar Norma and Ikeda Anba. I can see the design benefit of having it in the centre, but to me it seems unnatural in use, although I'm getting used to it.

The Intrepid 10 X 8

I must say that I do find composing and focusing on a 10 x 8 so much easier because of the larger screen 5 x 4 seems small in comparison! Intrepid do offer an add-on fresnel which I haven't tried. With my Fujinon 250mm F/6.7 I haven't felt the need so far. One minor quibble is that I wish Intrepid would use

On location at Sgwd Gwladys, Nedd Fechan, South Wales

clipped corners on the ground glass. On 10 x 8 it is quite easy to run out of lens coverage if you use extreme movements and without clipped corners it's impossible to see where the limits of coverage are. Another minor quibble is loading film holders into the back of the camera which require considerable wiggling to get them to insert fully. This was pointed out by Tony Santos in a Youtube video over a year ago and it's disappointing that Intrepid haven't addressed this as it would probably

Reviewed by Roger Harrison

I took delivery of a new Intrepid 10 x 8 in December, just before Wales went in to lockdown. So to begin with I was restricted to using it in my makeshift 'studio' at home. I've had a Mk2 Intrepid 5 x 4 since 2016 and when I decided to add a 10 x 8 camera to my collection Intrepid was the obvious choice, not just for price, but also the light weight and compact size when folded. The Intrepid weighs in at 2.5kg, which is half the weight of most other 10 x 8 cameras. This is important from my point of view because I want to be able to carry it in a backpack. The Intrepid has quite a generous range of bellows extension from 100mm to 550mm and a very generous range of movements (rise/fall, axis tilt and shift) on the front standard - exact figures on the Intrepid web site, but you're more likely to run out of image circle before you run out of movements. Rear movements are restricted to forward and backward tilt only. Rise/fall and tilt are operated by separate knobs on the front standard, although I do find on mine that they bind together sometimes and you have to hold one while turning the other. It's not a major issue for me, though, and

it is definitely better than having one knob to control both as on my 5 x 4 Mk2. The Intrepid is a Phillips design, so when setting the camera up you choose which screw hole to use depending on the focal length of the lens you will be using. The screw that fits into the bed of the camera has a retaining washer so it is held in place and there's no danger of losing it. Again, that is a great improvement on my Mk2 5 x 4. The same screw controls shift and swing. It's easy enough to line up shift so that the front standard is centred, but there is no zero position for swing. I used a set square and ruler to mark the camera bed so that I can ensure that swing is zeroed. It's a little disappointing that these marks aren't provided on the Intrepid (they are on my Mk2 5 x 4). There is also no zero position for rise and fall. This is actually not a problem for me because I use Technica boards with an adapter and nearly all of them have off centred holes, so any zero position would be spurious for me anyway. Also, there's no zero position for front tilt, but it's easy enough to line it up by eye so, again, not a major problem for me.

Sgwd Gwladys, Nedd Fechan, South Wales. Paper negative shot on Ilford Multigrade RC taken with an Intrepid 8 X 10 and Fujinon 250 mm F6.7. Contact print on Ilford RC Pearl developed in Ilford Multigrade.

only take a minor design change. It's exacerbated by the springs being a little flimsy and on my camera in wiggling the film holder one of the springs sometimes pops out. It's not a major problem but mildly annoying. The back is held on by magnets and two latches, and can be removed to change from landscape to portrait orientation. This works very well. Perhaps having magnets and catches is overkill, but I like having both. I haven't had many expeditions with the camera since travel restrictions have been eased, but I did take it for a four mile hike over some pretty rough terrain in the Neath Valley recently and carried the camera with lens and three film holders without a problem. Setting up and using the camera was easy and it coped admirably in some difficult conditions. Incidentally, I found that a 45 litre 'Military Tactical' style backpack that cost less than £30 was perfect for carrying the camera and other gear. I do have to report that I've had trouble with the bellows of my camera - the bellows have come unstuck from the rear standard and caused a light leak that took quite a while for me to track down. However, Intrepid do have a very good reputation for customer service and once I had pointed out the problem they were happy to take the camera back to repair it, although I have opted to glue it myself. This is mostly because I've enjoyed using the

camera so much I really don't want to be without it. At the time of writing I haven't actually done the repair - tape is doing the job for now - but it should be fairly straightforward. Overall my impression of the Intrepid is very good. Yes, there are some minor annoyances but for me they in no way affect my enjoyment of using the camera and one has to remember that it is very low cost compared to other new (or even used) 10 x 8 cameras and for that I am willing to accept some minor glitches. Good points Lightweight and compact when folded Excellent range of movements on the front standard Precise focussing Pleasure to use in the field The cheapest 8 x10 camera available (as far as I know) Excellent after sales service Bad points Putting in/taking out film holders is fiddly One of the rear springs keeps jumping out on my camera Separate rise/fall & tilt knobs sometimes bind together Spirit levels very small Bellows are not interchangeable No movement on rear standard apart from tilt Problem with bellows on mine

Sgwd Ddwli Uchaf, Nedd Fechan, South Wales. Intrepid 10 X 8, Fujinon F250 mm F6.7. Fomapan 100 developed in Pyrocat HD.

East Orchard Castle, South Wales. Paper negative shot on Ilford Multigrade RC taken with Intrepid 10 X 8 and Fujinon 250 mm F6.7. Contact print on Ilford RC Pearl developed In Ilford Multigrade.

Derelict barn, South Wales. Paper negative shot on Ilford Multigrade RC with Intrepid 10 X 8 and Fujinon 250 mm F6.7. Contact print on Ilford Multigrade RC pearl developed in Ilford Multigrade.

Developing large format film

Product Review

The Stearman tank reviewed opposite, is an excellent solution for processing your large format film (£102 from Firstcall) – as always there are some interesting alternatives and I have tried most of them.

but based on the good old Paterson bound to be OK. I read it is a bit fiddly to load but practice makes perfect. If I was starting out this is what I would be buying.

Tray processing

This is the top end solution, ideal for colour film processing but many also prefer the temperature control and consistent agitation for fine mono film processing as well. The basic film tank takes 5 x 4 and is a little tricky to load. Larger formats can be processed in print drums with the CPE Processor. The CPA Processor takes the expert drums designed for larger format films – new (from Firstcall). We are talking about over £100 for a 2500 series tank and 5 x 4 reel and the processor on top of that £1214 without a drum or the drum lift an additional £549. The second hand market price is also very high. If you see a setup going cheap (as I did at a Camera Club auction) then grab it.

This is where I started; three trays in a blacked out room using a cassette recorder tape as a verbal countdown. This process was used by both Ansel Adams and Edward Weston and once you get the knack it is easy. It is coming back into use with the introduction of ortho based films and dry plates which can be inspection processed under red safelights. Yankee Deep Tank This is just a big plastic box that takes a lot of developer to fill. It relies on turning off the lights and rocking the film holding rack, putting the lid back on then putting the lights back on. Not a fan of this system, uses too much chemical and left streaks on the negatives. Probably OK if set up as a dip and dunk tank with a floating lid and replenisher but I am a one shot man. I now use it as a 5 x 4 negative washing tank for which it is excellent. Combi Plan tank No longer made but for a full explanation of using it refer to the writings of the late and excellent Barry Thornton and his Elements book. I have used this tank a lot and it has never let me down. It is easy to load and relies on inversion agitation. The Stearman is very similar in operation and currently available unlike the Combi. Paterson large format inserts Mod 54 £44.40 from Process Supplies). I have not used one of these

Stearman Press SP445 Developing Tank

It seems strange that one of the oldest types of photography should be able to benefit from one of the newest devices. But so it seems as one of the best accessories you can deploy in large format photography is your mobile phone. It has to be a smartphone though, taking apps uploads.

Jobo Processor

Regular users will have the usual film generic apps no doubt, The Massive Dev Chart and a downloaded lightmeter app (for emergencies only for me this one). But in addition we have: Viewfinder Mark II Essential as it allows framing the image with high mobility before setting up the tripod and camera for real. It emulates all formats and lenses – but needs a wide angle adaptor for some wider lenses. You can also use the selected lens and format to capture an aid memoir image. https://www.artistsviewfinder.com/

Paterson Orbital This is my favorite system for large format processing. It takes either one 10 x 8, or two 7 x 5s and lastly four 5 x 4s. It uses very little chemistry, is simple to load and with the motorised base is a doddle to use. I have never had any streaks or other issues with this system (start with a water pre rinse). Sadly no longer made due to loss of tooling, but well worth picking one up second hand if you see one. Expect to pay over £100 with motor base, perhaps £75 without. They need to be modified for film use - full details are on the late Roger Hicks site here. :https://web.archive.org/web/20180925150051/http://www.r ogerandfrances.com/subscription/ps%20how%20orbital.html C. Binns

This rectangular tank designed by large format photographer Tim Klein is made in USA of quite thin but tough black plastic having a stipple finished exterior and a smooth interior. All parts are well made and fit together well. The filler is at one end of the lid and there is a vent at other with screw on caps on both. Sheet films are held in slides not dissimilar to film holders and stand upright in the tank. In Use Loading is easily done by sliding the film into a holder with the emulsion side facing out like loading a film holder, ensuring that the developer works on the entire film. Properly loaded, there is no risk of sheets touching and film cannot fall out of the holder. One sheet goes in each side of the holder and there are two holders so four films can be developed. The tank takes 475ml solution making it more economical than most. The Stearman SP445 is only for 4 X 5 inch sheet film, not part of any system and cannot be adapted for other formats. Loaded holders fit easily into slots in the tank but care must be taken to ensure they are in corresponding slots. Lid put on the right way round, the vent cap is slackened and solution poured in, slower than some tanks due to narrow diameter filler. The filler cap is screwed on firmly and vent cap screwed on loosely, then thee flexible sides of tank are squeezed before tightening vent cap. This last point is important to ensure a watertight seal and the rubber ‘O’ ring in the lid is crucial. The maker recommends wetting the ‘O’ ring, easy in a darkroom, but not quite so if loading in a changing bag. I did not wet the ‘O’ ring but found that a perfectly good seal was made and the tank did not drip when I used it. Undo vent cap slightly to drain the tank. Result Four evenly developed negatives without bubbles or scratches. At around £90 it seems expensive for a few pieces of plastic and does not look as impressive as some others, no shiny finish or colour contrasts but it is easy to load, economical and is cheaper than rivals. It should provide years of use so all things considered, it can be recommended. R.E. Windcrank

Photo apps for large format photography

Reciprocity Timer Long exposures are part of the norm for large format practitioners and this app gives the extra time needed on top of base exposure to compensate for each film’s reciprocity characteristics. It also allows for filter factors and bellows extension exposure compensations. https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/reciprocitytimer/id459691262

Holders Each film holder in large format photography should have its own unique identifier, different for each side of the double darkslide, so that notes taken can be related to the specific sheet of film accurately. Pro forma slips can be used but this app allows you to use your phone for the same job. In truth I use both. Now we do all have each of our film holders numbered up don’t we? Well I did not until recently – it is an essential element of organizing your large format work flow I now find. Sadly now deleted from the App Store, previous purchasers can recover with a new phone but no longer available for new users? Unless you know otherwise. F-Stop This app emulates the function of a set of programs I once had on my old Psion hand held computer called a Vade Mecum. This gave all of the depth of field calculations for any given lens/aperture. This app covers off that utility, very useful with the longer lenses used in large format photography. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/f-stopcalculator/id344976830

Pin Hole Master Many of us use a large format pinhole camera and this app supports that type of work – a further review of this one in the next Pin Hole Special edition of Analogue….. A number of Youtube videos give a full review of these and other useful applications. Just search under large format photo apps e.g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swxX_nn4VzU

Three Highland Landscapes

by Malcolm Macnaughtan Special Additional Award of £25 to Malcolm Macnaughton for sending in this fine set of Highland Images, submitted as three stunning silver prints scanned for this edition.

Above: Loch Achtriochtan – Glencoe Ebony 45S with 120mm F8 Super Angulon, Ilford FP4+, ISO 100 Negative developed in Presycol 1+100 semi stand Print made on Ilford Multigrade Warm Tone paper developed in Ilford MG developer 1+9 Split grade printing Opposite: Lochan Na Stainge – Rannoch Moor Ebony 45S with 210mm F5.6 Sinar Symmar S, Ilford FP4+, ISO 100 Negative developed in Presycol 1+100 semi stand Print made on Ilford Multigrade Warm Tone paper developed in Ilford MG developer 1+9 Split grade printing Right: Sgurr of Eigg from Arisaig Ebony 45S with 210mm F5.6 Sinar Symmar S, Ilford FP4+, ISO 100 Negative developed in Presycol 1+100 semi stand Print made on Ilford Multigrade Warm Tone paper developed in Ilford MG developer 1+9 Split grade printing

On Photographs David Campany Thames & Hudson, 2020, ISBN978-0-500-54506-5, 264pp, £25

points, no matter how finely nuanced are expressed clearly in a readable style though your reviewer didn’t fully understand every point made. Nevertheless, the extent of the research and original thinking in this book is impressive. On Photographs is informative and absorbing and reading it might encourage us to reflect more objectively on our own photographs leading to a better understanding of what we are doing when we take a photograph and from there to more confidence in our work. I would recommend it to photography students and keen amateurs alike and I am certain it will become one of the classic reference books on the subject.

Campany’s text for each picture begins with some background information on its author and context and then goes on to explain its meaning and significance. All

a prize

R.E. Windcrank

Places Of Power

Please include a short caption for each image and a paragraph or two about yourself and your photography.

Congratulations go to this edition’s contributor Paul Bullock who recieves a film voucher worth £25. Write an article for RPS Analogue If you have something inspiring to say to analogue photographers please send us a short synopsis of your article and some jpg images. It could be about the benefits you have experienced from analogue photography, a technique you could share, an outing with camera and film or really anything of interest. This is a book to inspire any large format photographer. John Sexton, long time assistant to Ansel Adams, moves away from the Yosemite aura of his mentor to give us 83 masterful industrial images mostly taken on 5 x 4 film.

Please do not send the full article in the first instance. If your idea is accepted, we will contact you to discuss it further.

Finely printed in duotone, each image is a lesson and an inspiration, but what really makes this book a gem is the excellent and comprehensive technical notes both in overview and image by image.

Do you have a favourite camera or one that is a bit out of the ordinary? If so, tell us all about it.

Published in 2000 and sold for $60, expect to pay about £100 for this book in good condition from a reputable second hand book supplier, (Abe Books etc.) . It is a fine book and one of my regular ‘motivator’ reads when my commitment to large format photography is running low. C. Binns

to journals will apply, for example the Editor will have the final say in what will be published. The email address for all contributions and correspondence is: analoguenews@rps.org.

Please be patient as your work may not be published in the next issue of Analogue but might be held in reserve for a future issue. We will contact you before publishing your work. When your work is published in Spotlight, you will be awarded a free film voucher by our sponsor Analogue Wonderland. Your details will not be passed to any third party.

David Campany is Managing Director of the International Centre of Photography, New York as well as curator of many exhibitons throughout the world and a prolific author of books and essays on photography.OnPhotographs is slightly larger than A5 and 25mm deep with a tactile linen effect covered hard back featuring a photograph by Guy Bourdin inserted on the front cover.

The selected images are analysed to show how photography has evolved from its invention, how people have used it in many ways to inform and entertain and how it has changed the way we see our world. Some of the images were not captured as photographs in the accepted sense but are included because they essentially photographic, for example, photograms, fine art prints which incorporate photography and lasting records of temporary conceptual installations.

Have your work featured in Spotlight and win Send us from six to twelve of your images, scanned or digitally copied and output as jpgs by WeTransfer or similar service, or on a CD. If sending them on a CD, be sure to write your name and email address or phone number on the disk. Alternatively, arrangements can be made with the Editor to accept prints.

John Sexton Ventana Editions 2000, ISBN 0-9672188-1-0 83 Dutone illustrations and Technical Appendix, $60

In this book the author delves far below the surface to discover the significance of each of 120 photographs. Some of the chosen images are familiar and by well known photographers but many are not. All have been chosen because they exemplify a particular characteristic of the medium. The photographs are printed on the right hand page of each spread with the accompanying text on the opposite page and thanks to the high quality coated paper used, the reproductions are bright and clear.

RPS Analogue is your journal

Your favourite camera

Your darkroom Darkrooms are important to analogue photographers but can also present problems. Do you have a permanent, fully equipped darkroom or do you have makeshift set up in a cupboard or bathroom? Helpful ideas would be welcome. Letters If you would like to express an opinion in this journal please send it to the Editor. The usual conditions for letters

Analogue photography - Who can play? When discussing the entry requirements for our aborted exhibition we reviewed what we would consider to be a legitimate analogue print for entry, and by inference the type of photography that qualifies as analogue within our group generally. We summarize as below. All images taken on film to produce the follow‐ ing outputs: • • • • •

Silver prints either trade or self processed Digital prints either trade or self processed Digital files from scans for PDI sharing Slide Transparencies Alternative print processes, including Wet Plate

Images captured digitally to produce the follow‐ ing outputs: • Silver prints either self or trade processed • Alternative print processes Non Analogue images: Images that are outside the scope of our group and not eligible for exhibitions or submission in our published gallery are digitally captured im‐ ages that are then digitally printed or used in PDI sharing. It does give the widest possible scope to the definition of the analogue process and as such is intended to be as inclusive as possible,

The Linhof Super Technika is the definitive field/press camera that has both a rangefinder and a direct vision screen. It is described as the large format Leica due to its German build quality .It can still be bought new today for just under £6,000, and if buying second hand will probably need an expert service. A full review of the camera can be found on Todd Karol’s Youtube channel. If funds are tight an MPP MkVii Linhof clone made in the UK (a favourite of mine) would be an economical alternative.