Darkroom Tricks

I had my last class (until fall) at the Art League darkroom last night. I didn't want to start any major new projects, so I decided to have some experimental fun with some older negatives. It was a small class, so I took over two enlargers and used one to "flash" my print with one second of light after about 30 seconds in the developer - a technique known as solarization, or the Sabattier Effect. Summer is going to be busy, but I am going to try to make time for photography - extra challenging with no class or Artomatic deadlines hanging over my head.

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Solarization on only the bottom half of the print:

Experiment: Cyanotypes

I first learned how to do cyanotypes from a great class I took at the (dear, departed) Corcoran College of Art + Design four years ago. After the class, I tried doing some at home and completely failed. I'm still not sure why, but not a single thing came out. And I put it all away until a few weeks ago. These are just a first attempt to get back into cyanotype printing. Lessons learned:

• Coat the paper once, then let dry then, coat again instead of just applying as much as possible in one step (I wound up with damp, streaky paper)
• A sunny Virginia day means start timing exposures at 5 minutes (not 15!)

I need to make some time soon for attempt number 2 - and update this blog weekly as I originally intended. Busy summer is no excuse!

New Gallery! "Dupont Underground"

Just posted a new gallery, with some 35mm and 120 photos of the abandoned trolley station lurking underneath Dupont Circle. Having lived in the DC area (on and off) since the 1980s, I'd heard of the Dupont Underground, and even remembered its ill fated stint as a food court, but I'd never actually been inside until recently. I was able to tour it as a donor to the initial crowdfunding drive to get it re-opened as an arts space. With only an hour to shoot, I loaded my Pentax K100 and Diana+ and grabbed my crappy tripod and just hoped for the best.

New Orleans - Revolog Lazer film

We visit New Orleans once or twice a year, and for January's visit I took the Revolog Lazer film I received for Winter Gift Giving Holiday. The "lazer" effect goes continuously throughout the roll; now that I know what it looks like I wish I had gone with standard 35mm frames instead of Diana Baby square and half-frames, since some of the shots showed minimal effects. These are a few I think worked out well, though.