Happy New Decade !!

   I had hoped to share a detailed, yet understandable explanation for all to appreciate of How and Why I expose and process film in the unconventional manner that I do.  This time of year I’ve simply run out of time. I will however share a story and an image that is very unconventional and was really the very first image that ignited my interest in managing ultra high amounts of contrast.  5×7 Deardorff Camera Tri-X film 90mm Schneider Super Angulon f 5.6 lens, exposure was 60 minutes @ f32 and developed in HC 110 1oz. / 180 oz. water for 17 minutes, the developer being extremely dilute with infrequent agitation has the ability to significantly compressed highlight density while producing a negative that can be used for the Silver Gelatin final process.

   I first traveled to the West for photography in 1985.  I was fortunate to already be aware of a general rule of thumb for Black and White film, “expose for the shadows and develop for the highlights”.  Very basically, what that means is one must give enough exposure to the darker areas of a photograph to record information and density. The brand or length of time in developer has little impact on the final density of the darker areas of the photograph. Develop for the highlights means the brighter parts of the photograph can be manipulated very significantly through length of time, developer strength and the agitation intervals.  I was fortunate to learn some very unusual developing techniques from my mentor Jack Holowitz the year previous to my trip. With only 4 years of Black and White knowledge under my belt my quest for knowledge was high but my technique was very unrefined and untried leading up to my trip West.

   I was fortunate to learn of the “Slot Canyons” long before they became overrun with tourists and photographers.   I visited Antelope Canyon the day before with a group for some photography.  The following day I ventured out the same poorly defined backcountry sandy wash towards the canyon with a front wheel drive rental car.  The wash ended directly in front of the entrance to Antelope Canyon about 3.5 miles from the main road.  First time west of Chicago and I was alone for the day in a dark and surreal sandstone canyon on sacred Navajo land. I’ve learned over the years my interest in photography usually out weighs any concern for my general safety.   

     Antelope Canyon is no more than 150 feet long and about 50 feet high. There is a section about mid way through the canyon during the daytime it is absolutely as dark as my darkroom, you must have your hands to the side and in front of your face so as not to walk into a protruding section of sandstone.  I chose this image because of the interesting story behind the hour long exposure.  To a piece of photographic film the extreme light and dark areas extend well beyond the range of photographic film. It is the first shot  I ever made in the slot canyons back in 1985 and it’s success would set in motion a quest to harness huge amounts of contrast that still continue in my photographic interests.  I set the camera right in the center of an 8-10 ft. opening on the floor of the canyon Tripod extended to about my eye level with a 4×5 Meriden camera with a 90mm Super Angulon, the 5.6 version has a large front element and is quite an expensive lens.   I learned to set up, compose and begin the exposure before metering the scene so as to save a small bit of time.  Tracking the exposure with my watch I settled on a 1-hour exposure and began to walk ahead to scout out the next shot I visualized in my mind.

   As time went by I began to hear a strange sound that seemed to be getting louder.  With the camera in between me and the entrance to the canyon there was only one way for me to get out of the canyon.  As the noise kept getting louder and more difficult to identify I could only imagine that a stray cow (I noticed several on the drive in) had wandered into the opening of the slot canyon.  Fear was beginning to take hold of me when I thought that damn lens on the camera is the most expensive piece of glass I own !  I decided I had no choice but to head for the camera and confront whatever had clearly made its way into the canyon by now.

   Around several turns in nearly total darkness I moved towards the camera, the reverberating sound of a “boom box” sat on the shoulder of a teenaged Navajo boy with his girlfriend holding hands.  We exchanged nods as we passed, whether he realized that I was scared out of my mind by that time I never knew.  I made several more images that day but never saw the couple return in my direction.

   Interestingly, a smaller portion of my composition in Antelope Canyon was photographed in 2015 and reportedly sold for $6.5 million dollars. Albeit a heavily photo shopped version by a well known self-promoter who claims his image to be the most expensive photograph ever sold, though his claim cannot be substantiated and is generally thought to be a self promotion, see here. 

The author in a brighter part of Antelope Canyon 1987 below.  Next month I will expand upon the fundamental understanding of Expose for the Shadows and Develop for the Highlights would lead to a significant discovery.  Extreme Minimal Agitation forms of processing film have allowed huge amounts of contrast to be controlled without compromising mid-tone relationships and is the foundation of why my exposure and negative design is so successful, yet very unconventional.