On Demon Wings

Ran the South farms/MBK loop for 13.75 miles. The weather was mild, low 40's and clear. I arrived at the South Farms dirt road as the sun was falling into the horizon, and I thought of Van Gogh as I watched for the big clumps of shadowed dirt and the missing crows.

Van Gogh in Drenthe
Autumn, 1883

I took a break from the darkroom yesterday, but returned today and worked on the Lake Pontchartrain negative which I printed on Friday.

Because I had to stop short on Friday, I was able to make only 1 print, so my plan today was to make a few more. I usually like to make 3 or 4 prints from one negative in a session, because that allows me to experiment with different toning schemes, and I am usually able to hit 1 good print out of 4.

I ended up with 5 prints total, and each one looks a little different from the others. Printing this negative I felt more like a painter than a printer. I was taking chances, being bold. Sometimes the effort will fail, but the risk taking will eventually lead to some breakthroughs.

I made a couple of humorous mistakes while printing. At one point I must have bumped the filter holder because it swung from its position and created a light fall-off on the right bottom of the print. I did not notice it until I had made what I thought were two nice versions, then had to curse as I threw the prints in the trash and had to start over. Paper being over a dollar a sheet, it is not fun wasting it with silly errors.

The other blunder was in the initial burn of the shoreline. Trying to create a seamless water's edge, I did not account for the final bit of land which moves toward bottom center, and so it was dodged instead of burned, and it is too light when compared against the other parts of the shore. It is a minor mistake which I can live with, but the print would be better if that little edge was darker.


On the iPod as the sun set on the South Farms today :