Tests

Woodbury, Connecticut (On Cheat Mountain, WV), The Comanche, Buena Vista, CO)

It's a good thing I like these two pictures, because I'm making far too many test prints from them as I try to get the whole sequence exactly where I want it.

Backyard in Sunlight

Woodbury, Connecticut

From a few minutes ago. I think it's much prettier in the rain.

Light Fog

Woodbury, Connecticut

Woodbury, Connecticut

The Beatings Continue

But morale has improved a bit. Two days of trying to solve a very major "issue." Even though the OHP negatives didn't visibly stick to the coated sheet of paper in a regular split back frame, as it had in the vac frame, there was still trouble. I found odd mottled tone in the prints on close inspection, then found that tiny coated paper fibers had lifted from the sheet and adhered to the negative. Ruining both, of course. Not a matter of the ink not being dry enough, I was amazed to see that there was just as much transfer of fiber to the clear, un-inked film between two test images on the sheets. After a lot of research there appeared to be a few possible cures, none of which were too appealing. But I located a roll of 1 mil mylar (extremely thin but very tough, utterly transparent material) that I'd gotten years ago as part of the testing of another printing method.

Last night I output several new negatives to test, and hung them in the darkroom to cure overnight. I got some mylar from the roll and trimmed sheets on the rotary cutter. Today sandwiched the OHP negatives and mylar, then printed the same test negative of two images five times, checking out two different papers and a couple coating formulas. To my great relief, there was (as expected) no sign of adhesion or transfer between the coated sheet and the mylar, and with even more relief could find no tendency for the film to stick to the other side of the mylar, and no transfer of ink. So I sandwiched up another of last night's negatives and gave it a try.

Woodbury, Connecticut (Dawn on the Ganges, Benares, India, (1969)

Woodbury, Connecticut

Some of our dogwoods flowering just now, as a thunderstorm rolls in.

By The Water

Bethlehem, Connecticut

Bantam, Connecticut

Bantam, Connecticut

Cold and Foggy

Woodbury, Connecticut

6:50 this morning. The fog made the air a lot easier to breath, but then it burned off and the pollen went back on the attack.

Fields in Sunlight

Woodbury, Connecticut

Clear, hard sunlight is seldom my choice for looking at anything, country landscape in particular, but the nearly blinding sunlight late yesterday afternoon did some fascinating things with the color and texture of the slowly emerging spring foliage.

Woodbury, Connecticut

Woodbury, Connecticut

The trees are all flowering, and my allergies are killing me. The prolonged pollen season has been absolutely punishing.

Having Fun Yet?

Woodbury, Connecticut

New pair of step tablets output last night to replace the ones damaged by the vac frame.

No Magnani left, but I want to find the time and curve for New Platine, printed without the vac frame.

No sticking with the plain spring back split frame. This looks pretty close. Five minutes seems to be the right exposure, but I'll have to take the test all the way to fully dry to decide which curve is better, or whether I have to try something in between.