timlowe

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And Now For Something by Tim Lowe Via Flickr: Completely Different. The thing to do when you land in Armenia is to grab the first bus to Salento, fortify yourself with some trout and a couple a bottles of Poker, and catch the Jeep to Cocora. This was actually shot from the mirador at the top of town. No hike for the faint of heart nor those who have not had trout and beer.

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Barn by Tim Lowe Via Flickr: I was out with a friend and this old barn caught my eye. It's abandoned. The old pump was a nice touch. This is my first try at Arista.EDU Ultra. It's the same film as Fomapan, a box of which the TSA ruined for me. I didn't remember the very odd shade of dye that came off in the initial soak. I stand processed this as I only had two sheets. The grain is quite pronounced but I think the overall effect is pleasing. I should have had a filter set in my bag. The sky was very flat and I didn't do it any favors.

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Elevator by Tim Lowe Via Flickr: There are three things in Iowa. Corn fields. Soy fields and grain elevators. OK, four. There are also prim, neat little farms that all look alike. No falling down, deserted farms with some visual interest. And it was disorienting to travel mile after mile on a two lane blacktop that used to be US Route 20 and see nothing but an endless parade of four things. I decided quite early into the trip the the grain elevators were the most compelling so that's what I shot. Note also that my shooting notes said "Elevator, some town." So I will have to consult my traveling partner to identify where these shots were made. I will. I promise. This one is easy as the name of the town is on several of the signs. In fact, I remember, that as I was shooting this, the mayor of Duncombe rolled up in his golf cart. Charming guy. Not a native. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duncombe,_Iowa

[timlowe]

Barn by Tim Lowe Via Flickr: I was out with a friend and this old barn caught my eye. It's abandoned. The old pump was a nice touch. This is my first try at Arista.EDU Ultra. It's the same film as Fomapan, a box of which the TSA ruined for me. I didn't remember the very odd shade of dye that came off in the initial soak. I stand processed this as I only had two sheets. The grain is quite pronounced but I think the overall effect is pleasing. I should have had a filter set in my bag. The sky was very flat and I didn't do it any favors.

[timlowe]

New Adventures by Tim Lowe Via Flickr: So my friend got an Eastman 8x10 a while back and set it aside. Fascinated, I decided to try it out before he converted it to use in wet process or some other strange thing. (You gotta know Hans to appreciate all the old process fun he has.) The first problem was the beautiful, pristine Schneider lens. It had no shutter. I was first thinking to shoot it stopped down and use a hat as a shutter. The I spied a really nice Schneider lens on a Linhoff board and decided I could rig it up to one of the empty lens boards. A lot of duct tape and some mild swearing and that looked pretty serviceable. All the boards, except for the one I used, had a push pin kind of fixture mounted in the board. I'm guessing this was to operate some kind of shutter that sat inside the camera, behind the lens. Where? I'll never know and there was nothing in the case to act as a shutter. I also taped up two holes in the bottom of the front standard that seemed purposed to the same end. If anyone knows about how these lenses worked, let me know. I can't find anything on the web. I cleaned up two film holders and loaded 4 sheets of film. This was not a simple task as my changing bag is really too small for this and I did damage some film. I also loaded one sheet improperly and it fell into the camera when I pulled the dark slide. I'll load the rest of the film in a darkroom. As you can see here, one holder has a light leak so I'll have to find that and get some tape on it before I load more film. My first shot was in a wooded area and I'll upload and discuss that shot later. This one was in full sun and, I think, came out pretty well. f/32 @ 1/30 sec Rodinal 1:25 tray developed for 6 mins Scanned in 8 slices and stitched in Photoshop

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Elevate by Tim Lowe Via Flickr: This is something I shot in the dead of winter with the Hasselblad wast year. I used a Deep Yellow 15 filter to amp up the contrast a little. It was a wicked hot day with a flat, hazy sky.

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Again by Tim Lowe Via Flickr: I couldn't resist another go at this. The light was good and I had a few sheets of film to burn so I could justify developing. So no point to this. Just like all the detail and texture.

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You Got To Put Down The Duckie by Tim Lowe Via Flickr: If you want to play the saxophone.

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Single Exposure (Landscape) by Tim Lowe Via Flickr: So I went back to the fen and reshoot the scene that I double exposed, being a bit more careful as to which film holder was in the camera. It was shot from exactly the same spot (the grass was still a bit trampled from my last visit) but the sky was a little flatter. The sun was shining directly into the camera. I figured since the contrast was high, I would develop these +1 and I think it was the right decision. I'm really pleased with the tight grain although I did loose a bit of detail in the contrasty areas in the tree tops.

[timlowe]

Project No 2 by Tim Lowe Via Flickr: This project, so far, has been a series of disasters and near disasters. I have heard so much about Pyrocat so I decided to try some. I developed 6 sheets of pricey ACROS Neopan according to the Massive Dev chart times and temperatures and got: 2 completely clear sheets, 2 sheets with an image so faint that I couldn't tell which shots they were and 2 sheets with barely recognizable images what were completely unscannable. To call them thin is such an understatement. They were anorexic and then some. Undaunted (OK, slightly daunted) I undertook a research project. I scanned the forums, I studied the documentation in the box and on the company web site, I asked friends. To call the body of literature on this developer "cryptic, inconsistent and contradictory" is similar to the characterization of my thin negatives above. Now, admittedly daunted, I undertook the scientific method. I loaded 6 sheets of the fogged Delta 100 (I still hate the TSA) and fired off 6 identical shots of a contrasty but easy exposure of the fence in my yard. I tank developed two sheets as per the directions on the web site: 5:15 mins at 80F 1:1:100. The thin but scannable result is the upper image above. Next, I stand developed, in a tray. One sheet was removed at 45 minutes and the other at 1 hour. 1:1:200 at 60F. This is the fairly good (allowing for the fogged film) and is shown in the bottom above. The last two sheets I'll try stand processing in my tank to see if that works. Anyone who knows anything about this developer, particularly for processing sheet film in tanks, please let me know.

[timlowe]

Project No 1 by Tim Lowe Via Flickr: Replaced bellows on the Wista 45N field camera. The original didn't leak but looked like it was ready to turn to dust at any moment. I thought replacement was the better part of valor. If you are interested in doing it, let me know. I can give you a few pointers and save you some heartburn. Project No 2 was... less successful. More on that next.

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Midway by Tim Lowe Via Flickr: Closed and decaying, this old theater still commands your attention. US Route 20 through Rockford.

[timlowe]

Glory by Tim Lowe Via Flickr: Somewhere on US Rt 20. It was an overcast day and I used an orange filter (actually 1.5 stop "deep yellow") to increase contrast in the sky.

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Overgrown by Tim Lowe Via Flickr: Forgotten house somewhere along US Rt 20. I couldn't resist the front but the back was even better.

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Rock City by Tim Lowe Via Flickr: Rock City Tattoo and cemetery Rockford, IL

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Abandon by Tim Lowe Via Flickr: Boarded up and overgrown, it sits on the corner in a nice neighborhood somewhere along US Rt 20.

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Burned by Tim Lowe Via Flickr: Found this burned out old church along route 20 in Eleroy. Still smelled like fire. From the streetview on Google Earth, it seems it was being used as a business called Stone Yard.