Silver Gelatine Photography · 27. April 2023

Spring is coming here in Switzerland! First shot this year in the garden with the ERWIN LÖBER field camera from 1895, lens made from 100 years old binoculars, 3D printed waterhouse stop f45, ILFORD Multigrade RC Deluxe rated ISO 6, exposure 4 minutes, developed in my Afghan Box camera (as a mobile darkroom). It was fun!

12. March 2022

Some time ago I printed with my "ENDER 3" a small pinhole camera with the idea to develop the picture directly inside the camera, using the "Peroxide Reversal Process". The camera measures 75mm x 75mm, focus length is 50mm. I made a simple 0,5mm pinhole using a beer can and a needle. For the process I work with ILFORD RC Glossy and I expose 4 times longer than usual, means with ISO 1,5 instead ISO 6. Developing is simple: After exposure I add 25ml of fresh developer into the camera for 2...

Afghan Box Camera · 28. February 2022

Spring is coming and the temperatures are raising. Time to take out the Afghan Box Camera and to test the new updates I made during winter. I optimized the paper holder for easier handling and I found a new tripod for the heavy camera.

23. June 2021

Finally summer arrived and the weather is warm and wonderful. Perfect conditions to make some new experiments with my new formula "Cyanotypia Cita". After the last experiments during winter I'm able now to have only one solution for the sentisizer. Ant it seems to be very stable during many months of storage. The sensitivity is still very good. The paper reacts in the sun within seconds. But that makes it also sometimes difficult to handle outdoor. A half second of sunlight and the paper is...

Silver Gelatine Photography · 08. June 2021

Last weekend was really bad weather. No chance to go out to take some photographs with my Afghan Box Camera. So I had the idea to make some experiments in my lab. I picked an older paper negative I made with my old LÖBER field camera from 1896 and made a contact print to vintage FOMA 312 paper. Instead to develop in the developer tray I took a cotton ball which I dipped before in developer and splashed some drops over the paper. After 10 seconds I started to put more developer with the cotton...

Silver Gelatine Photography · 14. May 2021

Yesterday I made some experiments with my old LÖBER camera and the lens from a WW1 binocular. I tried to shoot a flower in my laboratory with old FOMA 312 paper and the vintage studio flash. Finally I had to fire the flash totally 15 times to get an exposure, with an f-stop of 22. It was a lot of fun and the result was OK. Because of the full expanded bellow of the camera, it was 40cm, I had to increase the exposure time by factor 6.

Iron Process Photography · 08. May 2021

Today the weather finally became better and sunny again. Time to test the new lens and f-stop configuration of my big camera "Soul Catcher". I coated a sheet of Hahnemühle Platinum Rag with the new Cyanotypia Cita formula and exposed it during 60 minutes with the new f-stop of 5.6. Before I used the camera with f3 and the deep of field was too small to get nice results. Now with 5.6 it's a lot better, and the exposing time didn't raise much. The result is great! Now I'm ready to shoot large...

Afghan Box Camera · 02. May 2021

My Afghan Box Camera has no shutter, so I control the exposure with the lens cap. That works fine as long you have a model to photograph. During my tests with the camera I had the idea to shoot myself, because I like to hang out in the garden alone - only with my camera and whit a cold drink. I love it to be inspired from the amazing photographer Borut Peterlin. His YouTube Channel is really worth to follow, if photography is for you more than only taking pictures. He is using a self made...

24. April 2021

Almost all of the iron processes are negative processes. That means you end up with a negative, and there is almost no way to get a positive from a typical cynonegative. This because the contrast of the whites and blues are way too weak for a contact copy. But there exists a forgotten process from Louis-Alphonse Poitevin. This Ferro-Gallic Process is a positive process and is very fascinating. I worked some time ago with this process and discovered the potencial for Iron Photography. Actually...

Iron Process Photography · 16. April 2021

Today I made a small experiment with my vintage TAXOTA enlarger from the '60. I took off the lamp and replaced it with a can as light channel and a simple LED flash lite. Many people are trying to expose normal cyanotypes with an enlarger and a common 35mm negative, but often the UV source is too weak and the loss of light in the enlarger results in many many hours of exposure time. The standard formula is too slow for such a process. My new "Cyanotypia Cita" is basically designed for Iron...