Contact prints.

Here's a negative I acquired somewhere that was in my file un-proofed. Tyler from the air in the late 1950s or early 60s. The old Courthouse is gone and the new one built. Looking North along Fannin Street.

I've got a couple of pretty good original negatives in the files of historic Tyler.

I'll never get my negatives even contacted. The 4X5s are in boxes from the now-defunct Light Impressions numbering up into the 1500s. 5X7s are generally grouped in LI boxes by subject. All the 5X7 are contacted as I go along, so that's done. In the darkroom for an hour and a half this morning working on contacts of downtown Tyler, both old and new.

Copies of old photographs are usually bad. Copy negatives and even digital scans can't ever have any more information than the prints has, so each generation gets worse. Original prints from the original negative are the best way to go. Digitally, I would say scans from the negative are by far the best.

Barn Gates

Working at Clarksville during late deer hunting season.

This is a scan of a little non-dodged or burned 5X7 contact. I bet I can find a few things to intensify when enlarging. 5X7, HP5. Used polarizer to cut the contrast a little.

Here's a larger view done first:

Ansel Adams 110th birthday today.

On top of 4-Runner after a barn roof.

Contact print of one of the 5X7 negs.


Happy Birthday Ansel, and thanks for your good works.

Sans Lucy.

We are without our family member and burglar alarm...until Monday. Last Thursday she ran a suspicious-looking kid up the sidewalk and he called the police. She has to do seven days in quarantine at the vets, plus we have to pay a fine based on how contrite we are to the Municipal judge.

I'm carrying a pistol instead of having her along.

The Blackfork Guide for sale on Blurb.com

10 bucks off. About 1/3, which is a pretty good deal. Just put "SAVE10" in the coupon code when ordering. Only works for single copies it looks like. Good until the end of February.

Don't forget the electronic download for 1/99!

Photographers and their most famous image.

Interesting enough. Though it is usually a mistake for photographers to look at other photographers work: If it's great, they tend to copy it. If it's terrible, what's the point?