Two Days of Darkroom Work

We’ve been busy working on different toning methods in the darkroom which hasn’t left a lot of time for posting. We’ve worked with a couple of different scenarios using partial bleach back, sepia and selenium toning and think we’ve come up with the ideal look that we were striving for.

It’s amazing how different the results can be when you use the same chemicals but in a different order. It took a while. We had started out with a new toner that has a controller in it yesterday. After several prints we still weren’t happy with the results. Today we went back to our original chemical mix. Marks had done some extensive research and had done a couple of test strips which we practiced on to get the right look. We’re happy with the results but patience, however, is the key. We don’t have anything that’s dry enough to scan as yet,  but as soon as we do we will be sharing them with you.

We still have a couple of images from Bulow Woods which were from our trip on January 2nd this year to share, and here they are.

Bridge across the creek

In The Woods

These are scanned from negative and taken with our Nikon N90X using Ilford Delta 3200.

Enjoy the rest of the day and thanks as always for visiting.

 

More Beautiful Wild Bulow Woods

Some of the trees deep in the woods show evidence of lightning strikes. The following huge oak has lost all of its bark on the one side.  The side without the bark shows all of this amazing beautiful oak wood with lovely grain patterns. Sadly it will eventually die.

Lightning Oak

This tree is gigantic and it’s sad to think that one day it will no longer be standing. Beautiful markings and sometimes a little magic can be seen in the wood, if you use your imagination.

Close Up

Can you see what magic image resides in the close up of this grand old tree’s trunk? It will probably be a different image for everyone who looks at this. 

These are scanned from negative and taken with our Nikon N90X using Ilford Delta 3200.

Have a beautiful Friday and enjoy.

 

A Walk on the Wild Side of Florida

It’s a beautiful morning here in Florida with sunshine and blue skies. We’ve got some really great news which we will share with you in a separate post.  We’re starting on the toning of our silver gelatin prints today. Here are some more of the Bulow Woods images for you to enjoy.

Walk on the Wild Side

Burled Old Oak

It’s always amazing to see these old oak trees serving as a host to ferns that grow in their burls and along their branches. Mother nature truly is amazing.

These are scanned from negative and taken with our Nikon N90X using Ilford Delta 3200.

Have a wonderful Thursday. Thanks for visiting. 🙂

 

More from Bulow Woods

Happy Wednesday. We’re going to continue on with some more of the 35 mm images from Bulow Woods. We do have a lot of work piling up in the darkroom. Medium format silver gelatin prints that have yet to be toned, so we will be posting those as soon as we get some of them done. We’re going to try something slightly different when it comes to toning those and will share the results with you. Keeping fingers crossed.  Meanwhile here are some more of the scanned from negative images taken on the 2nd day of this year in Bulow Woods.

Take me in your Arms

This one reminded me of that song by the Doobie Brothers (Take me in your Arms [rock me rock me a little while]) as the palm tree appears to be in the arms of the oak and held there. Nature can be so incredibly cool.

Little Creek

Deep in the woods we found a clearing where a little creek of water meandered its way through the trees.  Lots of evidence of deer and hog around these parts, although we didn’t see any that day.

All the above were taken with the Nikon N90X on Ilford Delta 3200 and scanned from negative.

Enjoy the day everyone and thanks for taking the time to visit. 🙂

 

 

Happy Tree Tuesday from Florida

Tree Tuesday is here again and we have some more of our trip to Bulow Woods to share with you. There are a lot of wonderful old oak trees deep in the woods in Florida. Here are our contributions for Tree Tuesday.

The Twins

These two burled and gnarly oaks stood sentinel side by side each with their own character and beauty.

Big Foot Toes

Growing willy nilly in chaos, this big old oak is struggling for survival deep in the woods. Got to love those huge root formations.

Marks and I shared the camera, Nikon N90X,  that day and honestly cannot remember who took which image.  Film used was Ilford Delta 3200 and these were developed in our darkroom and scanned from negative.

Have a wonderful Tree Tuesday everyone.

Gnarly Roots in Bulow Woods

Continuing on with some more of our natural wonders found in Bulow Woods. Both of us love these old trees and their roots that appear to have gotten too large to fit into grounds. Almost like trees develop arthritis the older they get and their roots become big and twisted. These lend themselves so well to the type of photography that we do. Neither of us remembers who took which of these images. We were sharing the Nikon N90X that day.

Gnarly Tree Toes

This tree really captured my interest. See how the trunk appears to be twisted, roots digging in?

Gnome Portal

Some more gnarly roots sheltering a doorway to a gnome house maybe?

We can’t wait to get back there with out medium format cameras to capture some more of the wonderful detail on these.  Right now the weather is not cooperating. I know this is Florida, but believe me the sun doesn’t always shine. The last couple of months have been windy and more grey skies than blue. We are both ready for some sunshine. Marks is itching to try out his new camera, a Mamiya C330.

Both the above were scanned from negative.

Enjoy the day wherever you are and thanks for visiting.

Beauty can be found in the unusual

Some of you might know that both Marks and I have a fascination with uprooted trees, old tree stumps and tree roots. Today’s images will illustrate some of those. These were taken on the 2nd of January this year with our Nikon N90X. Film used was Ilford Delta 3200.

Uprooted

Let me know if you can see the dragon in that image. 

Stumped

Tree stumps carry their own beauty in our eyes. We both love the texture and shapes that can be found in stumps as well as tree roots. They truly lend themselves to monochromatic photography in our humble opinion.

From a warm and muggy Florida, we both wish you a wonderful day and thanks so much, as always, for visiting.

Soul Cleansing Day in Bulow Woods

After our sad start to the New Year, both of us needed some time with mother nature. We loaded up the 35 mm Nikon N90X with Ilford Delta 3200 and set off for Bulow Woods. This trip also allowed us to record, both on film and in our memories, some of the areas that we would like to capture with our medium format cameras. It was a rewarding trip for both of us. Lovely weather, albeit it too warm for the time of the year, but wonderful to be in the woods, peaceful and serene. As we were not loaded down with backpacks or snake boots we managed to walk a long way into the woods and found some amazing huge old trees with wonderful root formations and beautiful dark creeks hidden among the foliage. Definitely a lot of material for the medium format cameras. Here’s a couple of the images we captured. 

Bulow Woods

The above was taken by Marks from a small bridge over a creek. We were happy to have the iso 3200 as it can be pretty dark in the woods so this allowed  us to shoot without a tripod.

Creek in Bulow Woods

I (Joey) captured this shot from the side of the creek. It’s so beautiful and peaceful down in the woods.

Enjoy the weekend everyone. Thanks for visiting.

Rest in Peace Little Ginger – Forever in our hearts

Shortly after posting our Tree Tuesday post this morning we received a very sad phone call. Our little Shih-Tzu, Ginger had gone to sleep last night and did not wake up.  This post is a memorial to her. She left so many paw prints on the hearts of those she came in contact with. Her mom, Tina (Marks’ ex wife), is coping as best she can with the loss of her fur baby. Marks and I are trying to come to terms with the sudden loss and the void  her leaving has left. We brought her home with us and she is now in her final resting place under our grapefruit tree, together with Shumba, our kitty baby, and Piccanin our dog. Words cannot begin to describe what we feel right now. We take comfort in the fact that she did not suffer. She went to sleep and did not wake up. We love you Ginger for all the joy and happiness you brought to those who shared your short life.

Rest in Peace Sweet Girl

 Just this side of heaven is a place called the Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to the Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor. Those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent. His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross the Rainbow Bridge together

…. Author unknown…

Hug your animals for us. We never know how long they’re going to be in our lives.

Happy Tree Tuesday and Happy 1st Day of 2013

Fireworks in the neighborhood kept both of us awake into the wee hours of the morning as people celebrated the New Year.  So here we are, lacking sleep, but ready to post our first of 2013, Tree Tuesday.

Giant Oak – Tiny Joey

To give you an idea of the size of some of the trees found in the woods here, I (little old Joey) stood next to it. OK you have to look hard but I really am there.  See if you can spot me.

Marks took this with the Adox Golf 63 loaded with Ilford FP4 film developed in our darkroom using Xtol 1:1. This image was scanned from the negative.

My contribution to Tree Tuesday was taken with the Holga 120N using Ilford HP5. This was also developed in our darkroom using Xtol 1:1 and thereafter scanned from the negative.

As the weather was a lot cooler the day this image was taken, my Holga developed more light leaks than normal. It seems that the hot weather expands the plastic and the cooler weather does the opposite.  Marks has taped up Holga where the light was leaking in so this will prevent this from happening in the future. 

Tree Tuesday

Enjoy and have a wonderful first day of the New Year.