For the Photographer
When I
discovered some of the color photographic printing papers I had used for years
were not going to be available in the near future, I decided it was time to
begin printing with digital equipment, which happened to be the future direction
any way for many of us photographers. The new method added a bonus in which I
could also bring to life images which had been taken years before, now so
dimmed and faded with age it seemed impossible to detect an outline in the
transparency. Some of the oldest images you see here in this exhibit were
photographed 60 years
ago. The scanning magic of a high-resolution scanner, the Flextight Imacon,
feeds into a Hewlett Packard computer loaded with memory and over size hard
drive. The print emerges from an Epson 7800 model printer, the picture once
again vibrant with color and sharpness.
The
technique was somewhat daunting. I mentioned this to one of my old students,
Mike Sellers, who was always looking for a challenge, offered to assist me in
the production of prints and drove all the way from Ohio. Discarding the old
darkroom with its blackout curtains and ever smelling fumes of nonTnal photo
processing we set up shop. While none of the images have been changed in any
form, their colors have been revived.
The
scanner used will create 5760 dots per inch for 35-millimeter slides, 3200 dots
per inch for medium format, and 1800 for 4x5
inch films. The printer prints with seven inks, deep black, gray,
deep magenta, light magenta, deep cyan, light cyan and yellow. These colors are
known as Ultra Chrome pigmented inks, with a life span of 80 plus years.
As far as making the images, many of the older pictures were taken with a 3 1/4 x 4 1/4 Speed Graphic, with an ordinary 127 mm Ektar lens. For night shots I used two flashbulbs before I could afford to purchase electronic flash. Later, I bought strobe lights to create better modeling of highlights and shadows.
My present cameras are a 6x7 size Pentax and a 6x 4.5 size Pentax. The former is used for scenic, flowers, anything that holds fairly still, especially when I use extension tubes. The smaller Pentax, since it is more flexible, I use for wild life, utilizing long telephoto lenses, up to 600 hundred millimeters. Films used are either Kodak 200 speed, or Fuji 100.
I am now using a digital camera. My primary concern now is to scan and print from the transparencies in my extensive library. With each new print comes a rush of memories of hiking with the
family through the wilderness or camping in the West’s remote canyons. It’s
like magic.
Nature Photographer
