I have not been in the darkroom as often as I would have wished, but I have been out there shooting a lot, and now I have a backlog of negatives waiting for me. My recent experiments have been with Tri-X and Rodinal, although I am still over developing them a wee bit, just too contrasty. My old enlarger was a diffusion type, and you need slightly snappy negatives, but my "new" used Omega 4x5 is a condenser model, and lower contrast negatives are called for.
All the picturers here are taken with a Crown Graphic, it is simply so easy to move it about. The lens for most shots is the Schneider 135mm Xenar, but I recently acquired a Rodenstock Sironar, 180mm . I like 180 over the "standard" 210mm, although I cannot offer any rationale for this choice. Perhaps a year from now I will change my mind. I use both he 135 and the 180, almost always with a yellow filter for daytime shots.
I would love to travel and shoot all the mysterious places of the world, from Easter Island to the Pyramids to the ruins of old Ontario ghost towns, but I see little chance of that happening in the future, near or far. So I content myself with travels on my 12 speed racing bicycle, a fanny pack with camera, spot meter, 4 film plates at a time and two lenses for my Crown Graphic, and time spent exploring the trails of the Thames river from within my hometown. There are places along the river were you are inside the city yet be totally alone, yet
Sometimes I take a tripod, sometimes I clamp the camera to the handlebar of my bike and use it, or sometimes I sit the camera on the ground or on top of a bench or garbage can - whatever will serve.
Here then, are some of my recent pictures.
War of 1812 - Re-enactment - Battle of Longwoods
Takes place every year near Delaware, Ontario. This location is less than an hour's drive from the spot that Techumseh fell at the Battle of Morvantown. The pictures here are of American re- enactors. 135mm. More photos will follow.
BlackFriar's Bridge & Harris Park. London, Ontario
The bridge is very old, but the park is newer. One hundred years ago a mill stood on the site of this park. 135mm.
Ridout Street Bridge - South Branch, Thames River.
If you turned around 180 degrees, you would see the Labatt brewery, which was founded in London. This is not a very good photograph, I plan on shooting it again. 135mm
Fish Creek - Granton, Ontario
On the family farm. 180mm I was standing on some rocks in the middle of the creek when I took this.
Road to Family Farm
Taken about 2 kilometers tot eh east of the family farm . 135mm lens.