Greenbriar Lake and White Trees work.

Dogwood, Greenbriar Lake. Very late in the evening, about a 12 second exposure.


Moonrise across Greenbrair Lake.


Wild Pear I have been photographing for 20 years.

This month. All with 5X7 Deardorff. Not as happy with Xtol as I thought I might be. Might be going back to HC110. Xtol can really build density along the film edge. Proofing in the real darkroom and digitally copying the proofs. I am getting a pretty good idea about what I'm going to run into in the darkroom

Hawk and Owl Feather.

From about 1980. My Deardorff with a 4X5 back on it. Window light. 210 lens and a camera darkcloth for a background.

Darkroom.

Knives in an old beaker from Tom Swinney's darkroom. Digital file.

Water temp very good. Nice time to be working.

Xtol and HP5.

One of the signs that the end times have come and gone is the conversion of normal American products into metric measurements. A gallon has been a gallon forever but now in the end of darkroom processes, (since Kodak ruined Tri-X), I decided to try Xtol, the last Kodak black and white film developer that their will ever be.

Mixing it is a pain though...because it's in LITERS. And not just four liters that more or less equal a gallon....FIVE liters. A gallon and about a quart more. What do you do with the extra quart? Put it in a spare bottle? Use it one the spot? Dump it? Find some container that holds, (as none do) five liters? And the mixing can't be done in two 64 oz stainless steel pitchers that have been mixing chemicals for 40 years....you have to get a big plastic bucket.

So. Gallon bottles abound. What the heck holds five liters? God IS dead.

Mixed Xtol, stored a gallon, processes 24 ozs worth- two sheet film runs and dumped the extra.

Tap water and white trees.

Big limb seen overhead here broke and is angled out of the tree on the grass, all bloomed out. Like a huge garland. This same thing happened about ten years ago when a whole white tree fell out of the woodline and then bloomed. I print that image but it's difficult because I was using new Tri-x just after they changed it without telling anyone. They ruined the high values with the new emulsion and it prints with an odd flatness I didn't expect. Now using Ilford HP5 and Xtol. I'd used Tri-x and Hc110 for 30 years, with happiness.

Out with film to get a couple images that matter of white trees. Windy yesterday at my favorite tree out on Hiighway 64. Give it another shake today. Going into the darkroom to run film now and reload my holders. Beautiful time of the year.

Making a real effort to shoot in the most dramatic light of the day.

Tap water running at 50 degrees. Have to turn on the hot water heater to get a little help. Usually I just walk down to Brady's coffee with a 64 oz pitcher.

Snow Days

At her first look out the front door, she headed back up the stairs to hide. Later, Lucie was ready to rumble.


Greenbriar Lake next to an old favorite tree.


Lakeside with 5X7.


Scattered owl feathers in the brambles and cat briar.


I had on some snow boots we bought on the way into Yosemite during a Winter trip. Ski pants. Stayed comfortable enough.

We only get a few snow days a year here in Tyler. Usually we wake up to a trackless fairyland, by noon it has taken a beating and the roads are open and in the afternoon it sags into slush. I got up early and got out into it.

Snail Hand on exhibit in University of Dallas collection.

"Fragile Connection" is up at the University of Dallas campus. The Comer Collection. I have no clue how they got a print, though they certainly are on the market. Amon Carter exhibited a big 20X24 or this in their Masterworks gallery a couple years ago. Nice image. Glad to have it seen.

Photographing at Shiprock

Scenes from our vacation. I broke out the 5X7 at Shiprock for the overnight that we were there.

100 degrees on the cold side.

The hot side is cooler because I don't have the water heater turned on. Water in the tank about 74 due to the A/C.

Blew through a 25 sheet pack of Ilford Multicgrade warmtone RC proofing 5X7 negs. Used Agfa warmtone developer. Gotta go back to Adorama and order a 100 sheet pack I guess. Fun proofing. My old Royalprint Chem is still good but all the paper shot. Guess I need to toss it all along with the little processor. It's on its last legs with the nylon gears missing a tooth here and there.

Update: Looking at proofs with a set of white "L" shaped cropping bars. Helps to isolate the image. Couple of nice photos in the group. You can always make a successful photo. Real magic quietly happens by some mechanism of its own. Got a couple of those.

Snail Hand.

Amon Carter has it along with Houston Museum of Fine Art. Several collectors. Just got the word that it's going to be used to represent the Marilyn and Jerry Comer Collection in a show in Dallas. The snails will be proud!

Shiprock, morning shadow and West Dike.

One of my favorite views after spending the night on a nice ledge and being run into the climber's cave by an evening thunderstorm. Trapped behind a waterfall I finally just went to sleep. Was up early for the series that contains this negative. 5X7 Deardorff.

Shiprock, Moonset.

A view with the Moon setting in the early morning light. Shiprock looked very metallic.

If you click on the "Shiprock" link below this post, you get all the Shiprock images.