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Wayne and I are back with plenty of fond memories of our 2023 Photowalk to recap. Lots of fun was had by all, and the photography that came from it looks amazing. Both Wayne and Kevin hope to be able to share some of their photos very soon. Thanks to everyone who participated, and we look forward to doing it again next time.
Wayne has been busy in his darkroom working his way through the many rolls of film he shot while in Norway earlier this year, but he has run into a problem - actually, two problems. First, his process timer, a Heathkit PT-15000, stopped working (a process timer is the timer used for both developing film or prints and as an enlarger timer). This brought Wayne's print making activities to a halt while he searched for a replacement. He found a Vivitar PTC timer, but Wayne didn't like the way it worked, extending the printmaking pause. Finally, he found another Heathkit PT-1500 just like his old one, and Wayne resumed making Norway prints. However, a second unexpected problem arose, one having to do with motivation/inspiration. Listen to the podcast to hear how Wayne is dealing with it.
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Meanwhile, I traveled to Philadelphia and Baltimore with his wife, Debbie, to explore three world-class art museums, the Barnes Foundation and the Philadelphia Museum of Art (both in Philly, obviously) and the Baltimore Museum of Art. While in Baltimore, I noticed the many vintage photographs of the Baltimore harbor area hanging in his inn (the Admiral Fell Inn), all of which were made by a local photographer named A. Aubrey Bodine. I was intrigued by their "straight" representational style and that they all were the product of a large format camera. After some research, I learned that Bodine was a very prolific press photographer who published a number of photo books and won many awards for his work. I found his work to be very inspiring, as I am interested in using my 4x5 camera to photograph the urban environment in which I live. I'll be acquiring one or more of his books soon so that I can discuss his work further on a future podcast. In the meantime, I urge you to check out some of his work here.
For the second half of the show we opened our virtual mailbag and read some great listener email. It never ceases to amaze me how helpful and knowledgable our listens are, and they teach us new things on every snow - even with their questions! For example, listener Todd Barlow wrote in about a localized test strip printer that he makes (listen to the show to learn how a localized test strip printer works and why they are a great idea in the darkroom). He calls it his Fixed Image Test Strip printer, or "FITS." It looks very well made and very functional, but what amazed me was an idea he shared in his email that had not occurred to me. Listen to the show to learn what it is.
Todd has generously offered to send me one of his FITS printers, so look for a discussion of how it works on a future show.
You can see a photo essay on how Todd makes his FITS printer by clicking here.
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| Todd Barlow's Fixed Image Test Strip printer |
By the way, Wayne made his own localized test strip printer some time back. Here is what it looks like.
