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Peaceful morning in the #quantocks with the full plate #largeformat #antiquecamera and some self-poured emulsion glass plates and x Ray film to capture the autumnal beauty of the area - great company with @petesworldtoday . Some #longexposure images as the glass plates are only ISO2 and it was a very cloudy day - up to 7 minutes exposure times!

What a privilege to participate in the unveiling ceremony for the Stephens Monument in Clevedon this July (2025) The Stephens car was the first all British production car and the monument is a replica of a local example from 1898 ( still running and visible as a blur in the back of one image as it passes by the monument. Here are the photographs I made in two large format - whole plate - period (early 1900s) cameras - the last two made on glass plates I had hand-coated with silver emulsion - a popular medium of the era.

You don't need an specialist equipment for this! Just a digital camera. Before being able to use any of my old shutters reliably I have to check the speed accuracy of the indicated shutter speeds. I do this using my digital camera. I take a shot of a scene with my Fuji XT20 set with a shutter speed that I want check on the old shutter. (1/50s) I place the (removed) old camera shutter (without lenses) in front of the digital's lens. The setup - lens removed from shutter which is then placed in front of the digital camera’s lens With the digital camera on a long exposure of 5 seconds operate the old shutter. I then compare the histogram of this image with that of the digital image shot at the "same" speed and note any difference. In this case the shutter is firing at somewhere between 1/30 and 1/25s not 1/50s.

Comparison view of my collection of Folding Kodaks Tempted by the idea of large format negatives without carrying a heavy load of plate holders I recently added to my quarter plate pocket autographic and post-card sized 3A, two Kodak Model 4 cameras, the 4x5" Model 4B and the largest folding camera Kodak ever made, the 4A model B. Both the recent additions needed some work, in particular the removal/stabilising of the leatherette covering. For the backs, it was easiest to remove what remained and polish the aluminium. Lenses needed cleaning and the gearsfor extending the belllows took a little "clock" oil. To make them really useful however, I needed large roll film - that I have had to make myself and will be the subject of the next post. Before being able to use these reliably I had to check the speed accuracy of the indicated shutter speeds. I do this using my digital camera. I place the (removed) camera shutter (without lenses) in front of the Fuji's lens, then  I take a shot of a scene with my Fuji XT20 set with a shutter speed that I want check on the Kodak With the fuji on a long exposure of 5 seconds operate the Kodak shutter. I then compare the histogram of this image with that of the fuji image shot at the the "same" speed and note any difference. This process showed that the shutter for the larger 4A was much slower than indicated. So I gave the pneumatic cylinders a thorough clean (some light rust) and bathed the lens mechanism in brake cleaner in a vibrating jewellery cleaning bath. On retesting the shutter runs faster, but is still a stop slow. But I can work with that for the time being.

Its been a busy start to 2025 exploring the use of the 19th Century Wetplate collodion technique for making photographs. With long exposure times indoors subjects need to be able to sit still - vegetables ( and fruit) cooperate very well! I like to light them in a way that isolates them from any usual context. This does two things; focuses attention more keenly and abstracts the image. Ambrotype of a Swede A humble swede becomes a planet with a detailed surface not usually noticed. The process has been very tricky to refine - yet still produces artefacts that reveal the individual, craft nature of process - more "Arts & Crafts" than the hyper-realism of the sanitised pixel-image. Resonating with the Japanese tradition of wabi-sabi: the beauty of imperfection. Whole and sliced garlic Finished images are backed with blackened glass and sealed from the air with metalic tape to prevent oxidation of the silver. It is the silver crystals, suspended in collodion that give these "Ambrotypes" such life and depth - something the digital reproductions shown here lose.

Having tracked down a reasonably priced Kodak Panoram 4 D, it needed some cleaning and repair, but the effort was rewarded with a lovely functioning camera to use. The #kodakpanoram came in a variety of models during its manufacturing lifetime from 1899 through to 1924. The larger Panoram 4 is the one I wanted as I like to use X ray film and make contact prints. The image size is 10x29.5 cm. After a gentle cleaning of all surfaces to remove dust and a little mould, the lens needed more attention. The outer surfaces cleaned up well with dilute hydrogen peroxide and then proprietary lens cleaner, but the inner surfaces were very dirty with some light fungus. Whilst the retaining ring could be removed the glass was stuck fast and I wasn't going to force it out!. Fortunately the slot (for filters and/or Waterhouse stops?) allowed me to pour in more peroxide and then slide in a cut-down piece of cleaning cloth which could be manoeuvred around inside with a piece of stiff wire bent through the slot. After a thorough rinsing and then drying the lens has come ups very clean and useable. The biggest problem with camera was that the swing shutter mechanism didn't work. An internet search didn't bring up any details of how this works other than the original patent diagrams. So with these I set about dismantling the mechanism. Not any easy job as there is no space for ordinary screwdrivers. I didn't want to remove the chamois leather as this seemed a bit fragile but I did manage to get a screwdriver through the lens hole and start to move the 4 screws that retained the main mechanism. In the end I made a tiny finger-screwdriver by putting masking tape around the end of a 2cm long jewellers' screwdriver bit and this gave enough purchase to remove the screws. A good clean and a bit of clock-oil and I re-assembled the mechanism after many trials and errors. I did get the lens to swing but at the end of the swing the gear disengaged - it was swinging too far. The sprung gear has two square holes that the shutter release latch engage with, lifting out of the first to start the motion and dropping back into the second to stop it. However the latch mechanism's tooth was worn and rounded meaning that although it would drop into the hole the momentum of the swinging lens assembly provided enough force to lift the latch tooth up again because of its curved corner. Clearly this needed a repair. I tried filing it square but then the reduced width gave too much play in the mechanism. I didn't fancy my chances of making a whole new part - but, having slept on the problem, I came up with the idea of putting a "crown" on the tooth. I soldered a piece of copper wire on and then filed it down to size. After reassembling the mechanism - everything worked first time! A trial image made in the garden - using x ray film was a success (ignoring the bright spot where I forgot that I needed to cover over film number inspection window). Some work is need to ensure the film is secure against the curved guides - but I am looking forward to taking this camera out and about and making panoramic images. Original user manual for the 4 series cameras - pre the 4 D. https://ia600700.us.archive.org/4/items/gri_panoramkodak00east/gri_panoramkodak00east.pdf

Workshop Dates & Times Thursday June 6th 14:00-16:30 Friday June 7th 10:30-13:00 Saturday June 8th 10:30-13:00 and 14:00-16:30 There are 4 places available on each, and the cost is £25 to include all materials. Book on Eventbrite https://shorturl.at/lnJLV Location 1a West Street, Somerton, Somerset TA117PS Learn how to make new, “real”, images in old “charity-shop” cameras. Cameras will be provided but participants can bring their own. Using single pieces of “film” participants will create new images in old cameras ·      We will learn how the cameras work – Lens, Film loading, Viewfinder, Shutter ·      Using pre-cut photographic paper, we will load the cameras in a “changing bag” ·      The film negative will be unloaded and developed without the need for a darkroom. ·      The negative will be inspected against a light table and viewed and recorded as a positive using The Kodak film scanner app. ·      Participants will have time to experiment making 2 or 3 better/different images. Reviving something that has been written off as outdated/useless is not only satisfying but speaks positively to the soul. Finding out how the cameras and wet photography work reminds us what we have lost (and gained) in the digital age.

This is one good thing to have come out of lockdown for me - It gave me the time to research and then steadily work through my misunderstandings of the process of Wetplate Collodion (Ambrotype) and practical mistakes to get to a (nearly) clean and clear image. It has so much more atmosphere than the digital and you can hold the finished result in your hand! It took dozens of attempts before I made a glass plate photograph that I planned. Still not perfect - but I know what is needed to correct the technical imperfections. Some of the more useful online resources I have used are listed here: Wetplate Collodion-Unblinking Eye ​ A visual guide for beginners to making a tintype photograph ​ Rikard Österlund's Guide to Wet Plate Collodion - The Intrepid Camera Company ​ John Coffer, Quinn Jacobson. ​ Wet Plate – Collodion – An Introduction | A photographer Living in France Attila Pasek workshops http://attilapasekphotography.com/workshops/collodion/ ​ Tintypes and keeping your Silver Bath happy – The Analogue Laboratory ​ Alex Timmermans Collodion Ambrotype wet plate Photography

Testing for exposure my recently acquired Kodak Panoram 4B with some slightly fogged film after recent replacement of bellows, I have ended up with (to my eye) a beautifully rendered pictorial style landscape. This particular camera has a fixed aperture of f10. Effective exposure speed seems slower than my 4D at approx 1/30s. Yellow filter used to tame the brightness of the sky. X-Ray film negative photographed on a light table and digitised in photoshop for inversion to a positive. Location is Clevedon Somerset, UK.

Very pleased to have stopped light leaks marring the film in the 100-year-old panoramic Kodak. The solution is a piece of black paper covering the back of the sheet of film - simple but effective. Great to have the fabulous Hartland Quay to explore with the panoramic format which is ideal for this location. These pictures are a foot wide and 4" high.

I'm enjoying exploring the capabilities of this 100-year-old panoramic camera - gradually identifying where the light leaks have been coming from and making adjustments to the lens swinging mechanism. Today I've been back to the Clifton Suspension Bridge to test it further. It is possible to turn the camera through 90 degrees and make vertical panoramas too - perfect for a location like the #cliftongorge The lens swings across the view and projects the image through a rectangular aperture onto a curved film surface. The effective shutter speeds available are approx 1/50 and 1/100s The lens is f6.8 and can have stops inserted - I have made stops for f11 f16 f22 and f32. A yellow filter is used to reduce the blues and tame the skies. Each frame is 12 inches by 4 inches I use single sheets of orthochromatic AGFA X-ray film (ISO100). Stand developed in X-ray film developer diluted from usual strength 1:5. #panoramic #Xrayfilm #largeformatphotography #largeformatcameras #analoguephotography #diydeveloping #vintagecamera #largeformat #darkroomprint #blackandwhite #Kodak #artspacecreatives #discoverclevedon #facesofclevedon #clevedoncraftcentre #studiothreegaller_#Studiothree_Gallery #artspacecreatives #visitnorthsomerset #westonartspacewsm

Designed by Kodak in 1890, this particular model (Panoram 4D) was built between 1920 & 1926 the camera is simple to shoot but loading/unloading film is challenging. Originally using a (103) roll format there would be 4 shots per roll. I use single sheets of X-ray film, which though much cheaper than ordinary film it is double sided and scratches easily. Given that shooting in the field necessitates swapping film in a changing bag scratches were a real problem. I have now come up with a system of putting each sheet of cut film, together with a black paper backing, into a glycine folder and am able, most of the time, to load and upload the film without accumulating dust or scratches. I have added (non destructively) some foam supports inside the camera to try and keep the film flat against the curved guide. This isn’t always successful and so some sections of the image can be slightly blurred. Composition is a challenge as the top-mounted viewfinder shows only the middle third of the field of capture, which is 142 degrees. The fast shutter speeds mean the camera can be hand-held - but, unless done for artistic reasons, it must be level or the horizon becomes curved, and straight lines become distorted and curves either flattened or emphasised so I added a period Kodak bubble level (fitted on other models). The shutter mechanism is a, beautifully simple, spring loaded trigger mechanism which can be cocked in the 1/50 or 1/100s position alternating left to right after each shot as the lens changes sides each shot. The spring operates a toothed plate that engages with the spindle on which the lens is mounted turning it as the spring is triggered from the shutter button. My camera has been well used and there is now only a very fine range of vertical adjustment available to engage the toothed plate with the geared spindle and it took a lot of time to find a working position. At the end of its swing the lens arrangement is caught by a sprung catch to stop it - these too needed fettling to get a good working position. The lens (C P Goertz f6.7 110mm) has waterhouse stops and I have added a permanent yellow filter as the X ray film tends to blow out skies being most sensitive to blue/UV. Behind the lens is a rectangular cone that creates the defined projection of light that sweeps across the film. There is the satisfaction of shooting with something that I have revived and renovated. I have always liked the panoramic format and produced and printed some large digital panoramas. I love the fact it produces such big negatives that mean I can make good-sized contact prints - whether as ordinary silver-gelatine prints, pigment prints or cyanotypes. I enjoy the fact that the camera, lens and process impact an aesthetic to the image that makes viewers stop and wonder about the age of the image. Lastly, and I’ve appreciated this more and more as I have used the camera, it’s format means I have to change my eye for composition. “Leading lines” are a common feature of effective pictures and are particularly important here; otherwise there can be dead space with nothing of interest in the a large part of the scene. Then there is the opportunity to play with distortions the camera produces which remind me of some of Bill Brandt’s work. Not every scene works in panoramic - but some scenes and subjects are just made for it - like the balloons over the Clifton Suspension Bridge. The first problem to face was where to stand to get the shot. This was wind dependent - in which direction would the balloons be flying? Fortunately the forecast was for westerly blowing from the launch point across to Bristol over the bridge and gorge. I wanted to get the balloons flying over the bridge and the bridge with as little distortion as possible so that meant being some distance away from the bridge on the cliff top path where it curves in towards the river. This was an early morning shot and the sun was going to be well off to the left from this view point which was good. With the panroramic format there is always the restriction that the sun will be in either end of the shot and blow-out one end of the image or the other. So the fact it was slightly cloudy also helped in this regard. Then I needed to be able to get a shot holding the camera absolutely flat horizontal, without getting any of the bushes on the cliff edge in the bottom of the image - fortunately turning up early enough (5:30am) I was able to get to a point here the bushes were lower than elsewhere. Being so early in the morning (at sunrise) the light level was low. My Maximum aperture of f6.7 with my ISO 100 Xray film was looking to give an underexposed image by about 1 stop at my slowest shutter speed of 1/50s. Fortunately the balloons were another hour from launch and by the time they started to come over my light meter app was reading for 1/50s and all images were properly exposed. I took one shot with the first balloon so I had at least one ‘in the bag’ because a change in wind direction would mean not shot to be had. It took 2 minutes to change the film and now more balloons were up in the air - I waited to see if some of the balloons would rise above the horizon, which fortunately they did. This shot is soft at the ends - probably because the film was not flat agains the curve - it happens - but in fact to my eye this helps the image. The negative is developed in a tall glass cylinder (5” diameter flower vase) in dental X-ray developer and develops out in 15 seconds, then into another vase for the fix and finally a wash tank. Once dry the negative was photographed with my fuji XT20 (23Mp) on a light table, inverted in photoshop and had a treatment applied in SilverFX 2.