London Family Portrait Photographer, Children's Portraits and Platinum Printer

Platinum Print Alexandra Palace

admin — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 17:19:53 +0000

I created this image in February 2009 at Alexandra Palace. It was snowing heavily, and this test print is an attempt at getting somewhere close to a mood I’m hoping to build on for the final version. I’m happy with the mid-tone contrast, but the shadows could be darker, and the highlights dustier for the final print. The half frame directly below is nice and moody, but a bit too flat… I’m off to find some middle ground!

The figures at the top show temperature, humidity, the month/year the developer was mixed, and the drop count of Ferric Oxalate Sensitiser, contrast agent, Palladium and Platinum. As always, I make and live with a test print before committing the valuable Platinum to a larger, final version.

Platinum Printing Step Wedge

admin — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 14:25:56 +0000

A Step Wedge is the foundation on which an expressive, modern Platinum Print is created. As a chemical process, the relationship between negative and final print is non-linear. That is to say, the density and contrast of highlights, mid-tones and shadows on the negative do not translate directly to similar values on the resulting print. Successful Platinum/Palladium prints are made from a negative that is both high in contrast and very dense. These are undesirable qualities for a negative that is to be scanned or printed optically, but for a Platinum/Palladium Print, result in an image of ‘correct’ density and contrast.
By making a test print with a ‘Step Wedge’; a transparent substrate of known densities, the printmaker can create a correction curve that matches the negative to the properties of the emulsion it will be printed on.

This Step Wedge has been created to match negatives to a Palladium rich emulsion (5:2pd/pt), coated on Arches Platine, and developed in 3 month old Potassium Oxalate Developer. Changes in humidity, temperature, paper from batch to batch and dozens of subtle variables all contribute to a cumulative change in the appearance of a print…. so I make Step Wedges frequently, and take notes ALL of the time. This is one of my favourite ‘recipes’ for Platinum Portraits of children and families, because the Palladium and developer combine to create great warmth, while the Platinum helps with the richness and depth.

French Portrait Photographer, Camille Silvy

admin — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 11:28:04 +0000

On Sunday I went to see an exhibition of photographs by French photographer Camille Silvy, at the National Portrait Gallery. In 1859 he moved from France to London and set up one of the largest, most important photographic studios in the capital; photographing on average, one portrait sitting every 12 minutes. With the time and labour intensive process of Wet Plate Collodion, the photographic medium of the era, Silvy had a staff of 40 to develop the plates and produce more than 700,00 cartes in three years. It was truly an operation of epic proportions, and a workload testament to his reputation.

Aside from commercial projects, Silvy made some incredible personal photographs, and my favourites from the exhibition. I love the dusty tones and darkness within his 1859 Studies on Light series, and especially the print Twilight (above left). This was supposedly made by combining four separate negatives, with exposures of suitable length made for the lamp, foggy sky, people and architecture. Unlike modern photographic processes where the spectral sensitivity of film (or digital sensor) is relatively linear, the Collodion process rendered colours in an unusual, seemingly illogical mix of greyscale values. Combining negatives, a tricky and time consuming process, would allow the photographer to manipulate the tonal values of the print; bringing them in line with a result more expressive, or photorealistic.

The exhibition runs until the 24th of October and features more than 100 images. It is well worth a visit, while the book that accompanies the show features even more stunning photographs, with brilliant supporting text from Mark Haworth-Booth.

Flower Portraits

admin — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 10:50:35 +0000

This series is two years in development. I’ve shot 40 odd rolls of film, and have spent the last few days proofing and collating the bulk of it. Depending on the results of my most recent film batch, which is still awaiting development, I’ll probably be winding up the photography and working on printing and promotion over the next few months. Much more to come…

Shot on Ilford FP4 medium format film, with a home-made macro lens. Semi-stand development in Agfa Rodinal.

a true charmer

admin — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 20:51:00 +0000

A portrait from the 2010/11 Spring and Summer collection from Aravore Babies. While most of the campaign is completed in colour, for use in magazine advertisements and the company website, with me the odd black and white can’t help but find its way in. This was a really productive shoot, and as ever, there were some really sweet moments!

A fresh start!

admin — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 14:26:10 +0000

In the process of changing web hosts; the design, content and functionality of my website has gone completely out of the window. While this brings with it obvious frustrations, I’m hoping that reworking the website will allow me to build on and improve the previous design… so please bare with me! Another frustration is that my previous posts seem to have dissapeared. While it might be possible to resore them, I will be making even more effort to populate this blog/journal with newer content, more frequently. Everything should be back in order over the next few days!