Feel of the print

Indeed, I am printing some new stuff. I have been in the darkroom (technically, the chems are still out) and waving hand-cut cardboard shapes on reclaimed wire hangers above photo-sensitive paper for fun.

It's really for the craft.

I am also learning that I print much better with good music. I will update my muxtape very soon to reflect the darkroom music. I even stopped printing halfway through to reroute some speaker wire and old 2-ways to pipe right into the laundry-er-darkroom for my listening pleasure.

Ultra-low numbers on these shots from my TLR and a secret bit that I've added on. Lush.

Now I'll take another break to get some food together for dinner and polish off some dishes. Maybe. See there's this new (old) camera sitting here without a shot to it's name. It's big. I am inspired by a fellow photog to name it Gozilla! Mine's a little shinier so it must be...

Robot Gozilla Prime!

3 new exhibitions coming extremely soon. The DNC is slow and empty compared to my schedule.

Sometimes, we do bad.

At some point, I will stop lusting after, and acquiring cameras.

That point is not right now. More medium format goodness to come in a bit.

Two shows coming up for September and a big shoot for my friends who have put together bocumast. Details to come, but you could be there August 29th for the big party.

Why not? Sometimes you just have to.

Darkroom Update II

We got some negs. Lessons learned:

A: The darkroom is not very light-tight during the day.
B: Rodinal + Delta 400 is a little grainy. Delta400 is normally so creamy smooth, I'd shoot it for that property when wanted. Otherwise, I could pick from a handful of films that are going to be grainy in anything or known to be smoother in Rodinal 1:50. This is 120 film, by the way. It also takes 20 minutes. Diafine has spoiled me.
C: My Yashica does not cease to amaze me. Having that bigger neg to capture otherwise missing detail is so choice. The Yashinon 80mm lens is no slouch.
D: My darkroom officially rules so far. I can go in there and print this roll right now if I wanted to.

Right then. There's the sample, up there.

Now Playing: Freddie Hubbard, Chocolate Shake

Eight to Nine

Evenings are now related to in terms outlined in the Glasgow Coma Scale.

Math(s)

5 of 5 in 2 with 2

Melatonin

I need more melatonin.

I know

I really don't need to blog again today. There's just a lot swimming around in my head. Today felt so busy. I look around and not much appears to be changed. There are fresh prints in front of me. A couple are even on fiber. I still struggle with finding a reason to become absorbed in the enigma (and sometimes elitism) that is fiber printing. It looks nice and all. I can see a slightly better diffusion with regards to grain, maybe a little more depth, maybe...but...am I just trying to find a reason? It is not solid.

Further, there are a lot more groceries, dirty dishes, signed receipts, music from the library, on and on. There is also that list of things largely undone. I should be tackling one item on it right now for a meeting tomorrow. It isn't coming along, at all.

What swims through my brain is a lot of the same. The images of past are so slight. Nagging worry about the future is present. Simply not knowing what step is best is dull torture. In the midst of mild turmoil tempered with 65 degree days with light breezes there is the underlying mess of things left undone. What's worse is a growing apathy towards it. I do things not on the list. I must have pulled 30 dandelions from the grass in a brief flurry. My intention was to relax on the patio with the dying light of the sun shining through a beer bottle in front of me. It sort of happened. (even in doing, another left undone, or worse, poorly done)

Maybe I am just tired. Slumber hasn't been very restful. A shame with all this great sleeping weather.

Could be I just need sleep. Could be I just need to step and not know.

These lists are stupid

I don't think I've ever shot at f32. Might have to try that.

The lists I make are unrealistic and ridiculous. I would just like them to be smaller. ...and completed by someone else.

There's nothing for it.

Now Playing: Apostle of Hustle, Gleaning
I'm enjoying the 'no-effort-to-be-cleanly-masked" animated collage. Especially the goat skull-guy.

Scheduled

I wanted to fix this relic today. The snow says wait. Usually, I am not a patient man. Happy Easter.

It's all right

Should have gotten up earlier.

I don't have much to report other than developing Agfa Scala in Diafine. There is a chance that Diafine is so magical that if you drink it from a purple pimp cup, you could live forever.

But things are busy.

This image has little to nothing to do with this post. I just wanted to put it up.

Buy this car to drive to work.

Drive to work to pay for this car.

Trap?

Metric says so.

The Nature of the Experiment

I may be away tomorrow. In fact, I mean to. I think 'server maintenance' means the tracking software, or whatever it is they are intending to do is operational. So that means I will be ignoring the little firefox icon. It won't be easy.

So I'm leaving you with a couple things. One a picture I think is pretty cool. It's kind of that 'pulling my soul away from me' kind of thing to it. i dunno. Remind me to just seriously start shooting with the Yashica all the time. Maybe I resist because I think it's magic and I don't want to waste it.

I also have something you may not have heard of but really should. In case you're new, I'm really into music. Really. So when I find something that I immediately go out and buy the next day, literally hours after I have heard track one, well, it's kindof a big deal for me. Off I went to Twist and Shout, a local kick-ass record store that used to have the CD music in another bulding entirely, across the street. Good thing is now they are merged, bad thing is it's still fucking cramped in there and now it's further away. Further or farther?. I can never remember that and really I can't be bothered right now. It's past my bedtime and I need to be extra lazy tomorrow to make up for all the productivity that will be flowing through me. So it's Tokyo Police Club. Those of you with a finger on the pulse of the amazingly productive Toronto music scene have no doubt heard of them. For everyone else, check the video, check the mp3's on the site and then go buy the EP. Very heavy rotation. So go, enjoy. I'll try to check in the evening.

Someone's watching you

Yes indeed. The paranoia of one person has reached an all-time high around here. Soon, there will be internet monitoring and tracking installed on all of our workstations. The machine is not making carbon-copied widgets fast enough...

Once again, I find myself in a relationship that I have allowed to go on too long for sake of comfort and ease. I tend to be overly-loyal in this respect. It really can't continue.

If you don't trust me, or anyone else really, then why did you hire me/us? Why are we in continued employment?

I'm sure that we will be allowed to 'surf aimlessly' during our lunchtime or something like that. But when one paranoid owner is sifting through printout after printout of who is where and when, the last thing I'd like to do is point him in the direction of this particular stream of conciousness. Or maybe that's just what I want or could really need.

Time to get the work together and show someone else.

Someone has a problem

10:14 AM and I'm ready for a drink.