Digital Darkroom Workshop Announcement

For a while now, I've been wishing to teach photographers more about how to 'interpret' their images during the post processing stage of their image creation. Like Ansel Adams, I do not believe that the creation of an image stops at the moment the shutter was fired. Learning to 'see' whilst out making images shouldn't just stop at the point of capture. Learning to 'see' is an extremely valuable asset in assessing images for post editing. What do we do with our work, how we manipulate it, should come from a strong sense of vision. We should be able to see themes, patterns, relationships within our images and know that these are the essential building blocks of our editing sessions. To do that, we must understand what is going on in our images so we can bring about our message.

Digital Darkroom Workshop Announcement

Starting this November, I am introducing some Digital Darkroom workshops, with the primary focus on learning to 'interpret' what is there, and how best to apply your tools of your choice to suit the nature of each image. The emphasis is on learning to look at your own images and know how best to approach them during the editing stage.

I must stress that these workshops are not about learning Photoshop / Lightroom or Aperture. Instead, they are about teaching you to interpret and understand what is going on in your images, and how best to approach them in the editing stage.

These digital darkroom 'image interpretation' workshops will be based at my office, situated in Edinburgh, Scotland. The workshops are weekend affairs, starting on the Saturday morning at 9am and finishing on Sunday at 5:30pm.

To find out more, click here.

Silver & Light - Collodion wet plate process

I've been interested in the Collodion wet plate process since I was introduced to it by a client last year whilst on the isle of Harris running a workshop. If you've not heard about this process, then I strongly urge you to watch this video to the very end. What appears to start off with someone making crystal-meth, is in fact the intro to a beautiful video about someone who is so passionate about creating images, he has converted a van into a massive camera. Each image he makes with the Collodian wet plate process costs him around $500 USD. Yep, that's right $500 USD.

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I would dearly like to thank Alex Learmont, who came on my Eigg workshop this April, for bringing this video to my attention. Alex is an artist himself, and it was so great to share some thoughts on photography with him and the group I had on Eigg.

I'm so keen to try out this process myself.

I think there is something inherently beautiful about an image that is captured once: when the negative and the image are one.

Ian Ruhter, who is featured in this video, defines himself as an alchemist.

Well, isn't that what all photographers really are?

Aren't we really magicians, creating an illusion? I think so - an alchemist uses chemicals to change the appearance of a substance.

Ian Ruhter shows the majesty and mystique of the photographic process to the full. In the good old days of silver halides, we were all alchemists, turning light into shapes and tones on paper. Only, with the Collodion process, Ruhter and others are doing it with metal and glass.

Before I end this posting, I would like to say that there are many photographic workshops here in the UK that deal with the Collodion wet plate process. From what I understand (very little to be honest), the plate has to be wet for it to work, so the materials have to be taken out into the field (which is partially why Ruhter takes a van out into the wilderness with him - the main reason is scale). Anyway, Alex Boyd, who is currently residing on the isle of Skye, is offering Collodion wet plate workshops. My dear client Anne Thompson has been on one of Alex's workshops and highly recommends it. Worth checking out.

Photographic Talk, Dundee 22nd April

If you would like to attend, you can simply turn up before 7:30pm. The society would appreciate a small donation - £2, and if you can let yourself be known to the treasurer Stuart Dodd on the night, that would be great.

Michael Kenna Exhibition Book for £10

I love Michael Kenna's books by Nazraeli press. They're gorgeously printed. But last week, I picked up this soft shell book of Kenna's work for £10 from Chris Beetles Gallery in London.

As part of a recent exhibition at Chris Beetles fine art gallery, they printed up a small 210mm x 210mm book of Kenna's work. The book comes with a price list for his prints and also, what I liked the most, was that each image had the title written in Kenna's own hand. Which is rather unusual. It's also pretty cheap at £10 a copy.

It by no means as beautifully printed as the Nazraeli titles are, but it's an unusual offering, and one for those who would like to have something by Kenna in print, or maybe for those fans like myself, who just have to own anything he does :-)

If you'd like one, then best get it at http://www.chrisbeetlesfinephotographs.com/publications/michael-kenna.html.

How far have you come, in your own photographic development?

Last year, I conducted my first photographic tour of the Bolivian altiplano. We made our way from San Pedro de Atacama in Chile across the southern side of Bolivia to the capital La Paz over nine days. It was quite a tour.

I'd originally shot the altiplano in 2009, and the images from that particular shoot were at that time, an epiphany for me: I saw the start of my journey towards more simplified compositions.

Returning back in 2012, I wasn't so sure I could add anything new to what I'd shot back then, so it was a surprise to me to note that my compositional style has become more reduced and more simplified in the intervening years.

One could argue that shooting a square aspect ratio camera helped me achieve that look of simplification. I would indeed agree, that square offers the opportunity to be more abstract with compositional elements than any rectangular aspect ratio can. I also feel that rectangles are more traditional, whereas square has no deep roots in art history: rafael did not paint his images on square canvases.

One could also argue that I've had a chance to become more familiar with the altiplano. This is also true. I do believe that we often need two visits to a location: the first to understand it - to know what works and what doesn't work, the second visit to do the work with a more refined viewpoint.

I'll be heading back to Bolivia in two months from now, and I'm really looking forward to seeing what new material may transpire from the tour we will be doing there.

By looking back at my previous work, I'm often able to see that there has been a shift, a subtle change in direction. I feel all photographers should do this as a matter of course. Consider, reflect, open up an inner dialog, ask yourself some questions about your development. Other times, I feel the changes are less apparent, but usually something comes along to show us just how far we've come.

Note: I'm returning to the Bolivian altiplano in June to conduct a photographic tour with six participants. If you'd like to come along, I'm pleased to say there are two spaces left. The tour was originally full, but there's been a couple of cancellations due to health issues and other commitments. If you would like to find out more about this trip, you can read all about it here.

Think long and hard before changing your workflow

A few weeks back, I bought £1,000 worth of Fuji Velvia RVP 50 film. My reasons for the purchase were not only due to the price increase that has just been announced for all of Fuji's films, but more importantly, to know that my workflow is not interrupted over the next few years.

Before I get on to the main topic of this post, I'd like to let you in on a little secret: I'm not a prolific shooter. It has taken me about three years to get through 200 rolls of film.

Anyway, back to the main point of this post: Workflow.

Workflow is important.

My own workflow has been developed over a 20 year period, and I'm fully aware that buying anything new, changing software, doing something different to my workflow, can and will influence how my final images look. I have something good going on with my current workflow, that I'm unwilling to change it, and that of course means, not changing film stock.

And this is the core of this posting today: I think we should take time to reflect and consider any new acquisitions or changes that we take on board with our existing workflow. This I feel, should start with the kind of film / sensor / lenses - right through to the screen calibrator, film scanner / editing software that we choose. Small changes can have massive impact to how the final results can turn out. Change too many things in one go, and it can lead to creative frustration (as well as long learning curves ), when all that really matters is being free to create new work. After all, this is what we are here for. So the most fundamental thing for us, is to have a workflow that enables the creation of new work, rather than inhibiting it. I can't think of a more effective way of stifling my creativity than introducing something new into the equation with little thought or knowledge as to how it may change things for me.

So I would argue; if you are getting results that you are very happy with, and you have confidence that it's as good as it can get for you, then don't be swayed to introduce something new without much consideration as to what it might do to the look and feel of your existing style. I'm not advocating that you should stand still and never change, but instead, consider the impact of any alteration to your workflow, during the introduction, and also for some time to come.

I'm very happy with my workflow. It has become transparent (invisible) to me now. I seldom have to think about anything to do with the tools I use, because I know them so well. I may not have much new to learn from using the same tools, but I still have a lot of growing to do. There's a subtle but very big difference in that. If you know your tools well, you can continue to grow and evolve with your own style of work, because you're working in an environment that you feel comfortable and safe in.

I have two particular examples in mind that I would like to tell you about. Firstly, I found that my film scanner software is no longer supported and has problems running on my computer. After some battles, I decided I needed to change software. Well, it was perhaps a good year or more before I felt I was getting scans that matched what I had come to expect from my old software. I had to go through a long learning curve to get back to where I was a few years before. Some things of course are inevitable. Software becomes end of life, operating systems move on and drivers for hardware no longer work. I despise the term 'upgrade', as it often means 'headache' when all you really want to do, is get on and work with the tools you know so well, because they don't inhibit what you do. They are simply an interface between you and your vision. I was worried for a long while as to whether I'd reach the look and feel I was used to, from using the new software. I'm lucky that it was really just down to learning the nuances of the software, but some things aren't as simple as that. They can radically change your style and there's no going back.

About 2 years ago I bought a Hasselblad 500CM camera from a dear friend. I knew at the time that:

a) It would take at least a year or so to get used to it. This included being familiar with the actual mechanics, but also, getting used to composing in square. b) By using a new system, my style may change, for the better or for the worse. I really like shooting 6x7 or 4x5, so I wasn't sure if 6x6 was a way forward for me, or a dead end. I was also worried that I might not be able to go back to rectangles and if that happened - my older style would have vanished.

I had an awareness that by reaching out and trying something new, something that I may cherish about my current style may be lost in the process. Just having that awareness is important.

I'm happy to report that after a few years of using the Hasselblad, I now see it as an extension to what I do. I've found I can move between the Mamiya 7's 6x7 aspect ratio and the hasselblad's 6x6 aspect ratio when I feel I wish to. But It's taken a few years to get to this, and I was always thinking about the consequences of my choices when I did decide to give it a go.

Yep, I love equipment, and I'm a bit of a gear head at heart, but I also know that the final work is what's most important. I also recognise that by changing, or introducing something, or too many things in one go, what I may like about my current work may be lost. But it also may be enhanced in some way I never imagined. Change is good, but without time to master new things, and time to reflect as to how it is impacting your existing style, it's an unnavigable landscape we're working in. And for my own creativity's sake, I'd much rather be somewhere where the terrain is familiar, and isn't going to lead to any creative frustrations. Think long and hard before changing your workflow.